Staff Innovation Fund

Backing exciting ideas

We provide funding to the school in a number of different ways and are keen to invest in good ideas from all sections of the school community that can bring benefit to pupils.

In September 2025 we launched a staff innovation fund which is an annual pot of funding reserved for ideas put forward by members of the teaching staff within the school. The funding is available for ideas that can drive forward attainment, boost educational engagement and experiences and which align with the core strategic aims of the Trust.

We are delighted that after the successes of this initiative over the past six months it will be continuing in 2026-27 as a core part of our funding work within the school.

The development of this fund lies in our belief in the skills and passion of staff across William Ellis School. As a resource for all of the school community we are keen to be a part of bringing others visions for impact into being.

All applications will be initially assessed by our director and put forward to a three person panel consisting of our trustees,and a member of the senior leadership team at the school who helps guide decision making. Our aim is for all decisions to be made and communicated by the end of each half-term with the funding being made available as soon as possible after this to allow the funded projects and initiatives to begin.

On Friday 22nd May 2026 our panel met for the third time to review applications submitted by staff members at the school, funding worth over £6,600 was awarded to the projects below. You can read more them here.

  • Access to audio and e-books through a set of tablets, headphones and secure storage

  • Support from The Brilliant Club for Year 10 and Year 12 pupils to undertake greater depth projects alongside tutoring from current PhD students

  • A Year 9 street art project to enhance the school environment and encourage reflection on the school motto, “Rather Use Than Fame”

  • New Key Stage 3 curriculum resources to strengthen subject knowledge and support lesson cover across department

  • Visualisers for business and economics teaching to support live discussion of graphs, key concepts and pupil work

  • A new set of headphones for modern foreign languages to improve listening, speaking and audio recording skills

Here is a list of all the resources and initiatives funded by the staff innovation fund in the 2025-26 financial year. The impact of many of these are ongoing, and we have begun the process of understanding the positive changes they have helped with,

  • Access to the London Zoo learning programme

  • New tents to support residential trips at the Mill

  • Additional resources to strengthen the work of our attendance team

  • Chromebooks and software to enable deeper, enquiry-based learning about pupils’ local area and the wider world

  • Further development of initiatives such as ARTiculate

  • Purchasing Raspberry Pi’s as part of a project to teach practical entrepreneurial skills to students wishing to learn about setting up a business - and the role coding plays in creating secure online profiles

  • Funding the costs of an EdTech subscription for Modern Foreign Languages - a core subject at the school. Last year, 90% of students sat a languages GCSE - and this resource provides cost-free access to high-quality learning materials for all pupils, as well as improving the communication between teacher and pupil

  • Funding access to music ensembles for pupil premium students through the next two academic terms to ensure they can access these enrichment experiences without having to self-fund

  • Purchasing 8 Chromebooks for the Drama department to allow pupils to explore the world of theatre online, as well as to ensure all pupils are able to complete key coursework in school