£150,000 competition for innovative teachers

Let Teachers SHINE 2013 is open to any qualified teacher working in England with students aged up to 18. The judges will choose up to 10 winning entries. Each one will receive up to £15,000 in funding from SHINE for a year's pilot programme, which must benefit disadvantaged students. The pilot will enable the winning teacher to demonstrate that their idea works as well in practice as it does on paper. 

At the end of the pilot year (summer 2014), the most successful programmes will be considered for longer-term funding from SHINE and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, to enable further expansion and development.

Paul Carbury, SHINE's chief executive, said: 'SHINE has always supported innovative teaching methods that can produce excellent results and thereby help to close the attainment gap between disadvantaged students and their more fortunate peers. We know how important teachers are to academic success, and have often witnessed how fresh ideas in the classroom can produce impressive results. We were delighted by the response to the first competition last year and so are very pleased to be expanding it to cover the sciences, as well as maths and English. I very much look forward to seeing the wide range of proposals I know that this year's competition will bring.'

Application forms can be downloaded from the SHINE website. The closing date for applications is 19 May, after which shortlisted teachers will be invited to discuss their proposals in more detail with the judges. These will include representatives from SHINE, the TES and Bloomberg, which this year has provided funding for winners that use technology in an exciting way.