ACE lead tutor and Miltoncross Academy and Regional ACE (A Champion for Every Child) Lead for the Coast and London (City) at The Kemnal Academies Trust. 

My priority is to create a safe and caring environment where all children have the opportunity to build and believe in a bright future for themselves. Growing up as a looked after child, school was the place that I felt safe. The people and opportunities that I had access to within school made me feel valued and helped me to see that I can shape my own future.

I studied Childhood, Youth and Community at University and discovered an increasing number of ways that children and families can be supported to thrive through the education system. During my time as an ACE Lead and an ACE Tutor I have witnessed new relationships being built, self-esteem and self-efficacy increase and a changing education system, where children and families are valued as individuals and have support in place to help them overcome their individual barriers, so that they can access high quality education. With the right care and support children and families can be empowered to overcome the barriers that they face and can be shown pathways that can lead them to a future they might not have known was accessible. 

My work currently focuses on:

Supporting disadvantaged children, mental health and wellbeing

For this January 2024 edition, they asked the community to send case studies about implementing mentoring programs, counselling services, and receiving supervision for the staff. 

Mentoring programs and counselling services are two ways in which schools can support young people’s mental health. 

Mentoring involves pairing young people with an older peer or adult volunteer who acts as a positive role model. The mentor could provide support to the student, helping them to build confidence, relationships, and overall resilience. 

Summer Fox ACE Lead at Miltoncross Academy School and Regional ACE lead for London has shared an extraordinary mentoring program that has been rolled out through 45 schools in The Kemnal Academies Trust (TKAT) and talks about the research and planning that went into this much lauded program. 

Read the report here (page 6-16)