UK Aid Match II Annual Review: Narrative Report - Aidstream

UK Aid Match II

Annual Review: Narrative Report

Please refer to the detailed guidance on completing your annual report to complete this

template accurately. You may be asked to revise and re-submit your report if it is not

completed properly.

1.0 Grant information

Organisation

1.1 Grant holder’s organisation name Street Child

1.2 Grant reference number 205210-230

1.3 Project delivery partners (if applicable) Street Child of Sierra Leone

1.4 Previous annual review score/s (if applicable)

N/A

Project

1.5 Project title Count Me in

1.6 Start date 07/08/2019

1.7 End date 06/08/2022

1.8 Project budget total

£1,610,340.59

DFID budget total

£1,416,524.21

Project budget this year

£343,805.59

DFID budget this year

£258,613.21

1.9 Country(s) of implementation Sierra Leone

1.10 Counties or districts in country(s) of implementation

Northern Province of Sierra Leone, in Falaba, Karene, Kambia, Koinadugu and Tonkolili districts.

1.11 Reporting period Year 1, August 2019 to August 2020

1.12 Provide a brief summary of the project

The aim of this £1.6 million project is to increase enrolment, retention, and quality in schools for 17,000 highly marginalised children in Sierra Leone. To achieve this, the project will

• Provide access to JSS for 5,000 highly vulnerable children and increase their chance of success by training social workers to identify and support vulnerable OOS children, give them targeted assistance, deliver preparation classes, place children in a school and give financial and emotional assistance to keep them there for at least a year.

• Improve the ability of 3750 caregivers from extremely poor households to keep their children in school and encourage 5000 of their siblings to start attending school, by working with them to develop a business plan, provide training and support to implement the plan by supplying a grant to fund the business, monitor and incentivize training.

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• Provide increased access to quality primary education for 8,000 children in remote rural communities, with a focus on upper primary classes by working with 40 schools, training 120 teachers (including supporting some at university) using the TaRL approach, mentoring teachers and junior primary classes, improve infrastructure, advocate for education at the community and set up community income generating activities to cover school running costs.

• Provide 1,000 children with disabilities with specialist support to attend school (provision of assistive devices or referral services)

If the project is successful, by 2022 we will see:

• 17,000 children have increased access and quality education (primary and junior secondary)

• 80% of the children in (40) partner primary schools with improved literacy and numeracy outcomes

• 4900 will successfully enrol into JSS from project-supported transition classes

• 70% of the children in junior secondary schools will have improved learning outcomes

• 1,500 children will successful complete their basic education (including passing primary 6 exams)

1.13 Acronyms Avoid the use of jargon and acronyms. Only use acronyms where necessary and avoid those that are sector or context specific. If acronyms are necessary, please list them here.

BECE: Basic Education Certificate Examination

CWD: children with disabilities

JSS: Junior Secondary School

MBSSE: Ministry of Basic & Senior Secondary Education

MSWGCA: Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender & Children’s Affairs

NPSE: National Primary School Examination

TaRL: Teaching at the Right Level

2.0 Beneficiary data

2.1 Complete the Beneficiary Data Summary

2.2 Use the information in the guidance to assess the overall progress you have made against direct beneficiaries and justify your assessment

3

Assessment Tick one Justification

On track

X The project has exceeded its target for direct beneficiaries reached this year, reaching 12,716 unique individuals (11,467 children, 1130 caregivers and 119 teachers). The total targeted reach for the project has been updated to 20,990 using the new beneficiary data template (17,000 children, 3750 caregivers, 240 teachers). Indirect beneficiary reach for year one is 15,793 which includes the additional members of households supported with family business grants and caregivers taking loans from school seed banks.

Getting there

Off Track

4

3.0 Performance against outcomes

3.1 For outcome indicator one, plot your actual end of year performance against targets in a graph

Outcome indicator one: Number of project supported children with

increased access to education

3.2 For outcome indicator

one use the guidance to

assess progress [please tick]:

On track X

Getting

there

Off track

3.3 Explain the results

The total number of children reached by the project during year one significantly exceeds the

milestone for this stage in the project with 11,467 children in total (5873 female, 5594 male)

benefitting from project support to increase opportunities to access education. The target for children

directly enrolled in JSS under the individual component was met (1500) and the targets for siblings

additionally supported within households and children enrolled in supported remote rural primary

schools were both exceeded. Within the 1500 children individually supported to enrol, 301 are

children affected by disability (190 children with disabilities and 111 children whose caregivers have

disabilities) and 161 are teenage mothers. An additional 3 teenage mothers and 12 children with

disabilities have benefitted as siblings of primary beneficiaries.

A total of 1130 families (5 above target) benefitted from business support this year, to establish a

sustainable source of income from which the ongoing cost of retaining their children in school can be

met. From within these households, 2698 additional at-risk children were identified, with families

receiving a top-up grant to ensure all children in the household are able to return to education when

schools re-open. This support has therefore reached more than 1000 additional children than

originally targeted, which has been possible primarily due to exchange rate gains in the budget. In the

declining economic context, with the poorest families worst hit by the restrictions imposed by the

COVID-19 pandemic, this support has become even more critical. Although it has not yet been possible

to measure the enrolment of siblings in school (due to COVID-19 closures), 84% of caregivers are

currently making savings at target levels, providing a positive indication that families will be financially

able to enrol their children at the start of the academic year.

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10 Q11 Q12

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Duration of the 3-year project

Performance against target for number of children with increased access to education at the end of Year 1

Target Actual

5

In total, 7269 children have benefitted from improvements to rural primary schools, exceeding the

anticipated reach of 4800 in year one. The higher level of enrolment in rural schools is encouraging,

with greater potential to increase transition to JSS from rural communities during the lifetime of the

project. Community participation in project activities, particularly school construction/renovation and

planning for income generating initiatives, has contributed to the high enrolment. All of the children

enrolled have benefitted from access to better resourced classrooms and provision of learning

materials, whilst teacher training and mentoring has focussed on teachers responsible for upper

primary classes.

3.4 Explain the evidence you have to verify this result

Each beneficiary supported under the individual component has an individual case file maintained by a dedicated Social Worker and monitored by the Project Coordinator in each district. The case file logs all first contact information and contains details of all project support received, including social support, school enrolment packages, and family livelihoods support. Enrolment and attandance is verified using school enrolment records and Social Workers conduct frequent monitoring of each beneficiary in the school and the home to ensure continued attendance. The case files are used to update the project database which is verified by the M&E Manager and SMT during quarterly monitoring. In the rural primary school component data is captured at the school level. Teachers use project provided registers to capture enrolment and attendance data from each class. During fortnightly in-classroom mentoring, project Teaching Specialists conduct spot checks on attendance using their own registers to cross-check against the school records.

3.5 Next steps

The next steps towards achieving targets under outcome 1.1 are to ensure that beneficiaries

supported during year one enrol in the next academic year in October and continue to attend,

complete the identification of the second intake of beneficiaries under the individual component and

prepare rural primary schools for re-opening.

Project Social Workers are conducting street-outreach and coordinating with DPOs, the MSWGCA and

other key stakeholders to accept referrals of children at-risk of not returning to school. Each potential

beneficiary will be assessed against the vulnerability criteria before being registered onto the project

and will follow the same cycle of social and livelihoods support as the year one beneficiaries.

Project Teaching Specialists are working closely with teachers across the 40 target rural communities

to ensure that schools are prepared for re-opening, with handwashing facilities and procedures in

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place and teaching and learning resources available. Throughout September catch-up classes will be

facilitated based on the TaRL model to re-engage children in learning ahead of the new school year.

3.6 For outcome indicator two, plot your actual end of year performance against targets in a graph

Outcome indicator two: Percentage (and number) of upper primary

level children in project-supported rural primary schools

demonstrating improved literacy and numeracy


two, use the guidance to


On track

Getting

there

Off track X


This outcome has been assessed as off-track because, despite significant progress at output level

towards improvements in the quality of education in rural primary schools, data collection to evidence

learning gains at outcome level was not possible due to the closure of schools during the COVID-19

pandemic. The rural primary schools component kicked off in January following the selection and

assessment of 40 schools. During January, the project Teaching Specialists delivered practice classes

to familiarise themselves with the TaRL-based approach adopted by the project and the initial teacher

training took place in February ahead of rolling the approach out across target schools. The baseline

literacy and numeracy assessments took place in January and the midline assessment was scheduled

to take place during term 3. As schools closed nationwide on the 31st March, there is therefore no

data to evidence gains in literacy and numeracy at the time of reporting.


0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10 Q11 Q12

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Performance against target for number of children demonstrating improved literacy & numeracy at the

end of Year 1

Target Actual

7

Baseline literacy and numeracy assessments were carried out across all 40 target rural schools in

January. The assessments were based on the ASER assessment format from Teaching at the Right Level

(TaRL) and aim to determine the highest level in literacy and numeracy that a child can complete

successfully and are administered orally. Key findings from the baseline are summarised below:

• Overall, 39% of the students were able to read a short paragraph or a short story text and 44% of

students could read a few words. 17% of students could only identify letters or were at the complete

beginner level in literacy.

• On the numeracy assessment 61% of individuals were able to identify 3-digit numbers. Only 10% of

students were assessed to be at the beginner level or 1-digit recognition level.

• 38% of students were able to complete the addition questions, meanwhile few students were able

to complete subtraction and multiplication. Only 4% of students were able to complete the division

questions.

The midline assessment will now take place during year two following the reopening of schools, at which point it will be possible to evidence progress on learning gains.

3.10 Next steps

A second cycle of teacher training has been scheduled to take place in September ahead of schools

re-opening in October. When teachers are back in the classroom in October, the Teaching Specialists

will pick up the in-classroom mentoring and coaching, initially focussing on the roll out of the TaRL

based approach to rapidly improving foundational literacy and numeracy for upper primary level

students. Data will be captured using the ASER assessment format to measure the progress children

are making. In addition to the delivery of TaRL-based classes, Teaching Specialists will also

recommence coaching on delivery of the national curriculum, classroom management and inclusion.

Once this component is underway, a schedule will be developed to roll out the cascade training for

lower primary level teachers within the 40 target schools.

3.11 For outcome indicator three, plot your actual end of year performance against targets in a

graph.

Outcome indicator three: Number of individually supported children

successfully transitioning/intending to transition to next academic year


three, use the guidance to


On track

Getting

there

X

Off track

8


There was no milestone set for this indicator this year as it is not yet possible for project beneficiaries

to transition to the next academic year. Also, because schools remained closed during the final term,

it was not possible to measure continued attendance until the end of the year as a proxy.

The year one milestone, however, for the number of children directly enrolled in JSS has been met,

with 1500 children enrolled and attending up to term 2, and 2698 additional out of school children

within the 1130 households supported via the family business model have benefitted from top-up

grants to enable a return to education when schools reopen. This represents a significant

overachievement against the output 2.3 milestone.

The key to the retention of children in school is the family business model, which provides the poorest

families with the means to cover the ongoing costs of schooling. During year one a total of 1130 family

businesses were successfully established and at the point of reporting, 953 families (84%) have been

making savings at target levels. This falls slightly short of the target of 1000 families, however

represents a significant achievement in light of the COVID-19 context. Project Social Workers have

also continued to follow-up with vulnerable children and families throughout the pandemic, ensuring

that children are in the best possible position to re-enrol in October, and placing the project well to

meet transition targets.


The results for school enrolment are verified using the school registers. Project Social Workers

facilitate the initial enrolment of the children into schools and conduct fortnightly follow-up visits to

verify continued enrolment and identify any attendance issues. A record of these visits is kept updated

in the individual beneficiary case file and logged in the project database. Spot checks are conducted

to verify enrolment records at a sample of schools as part of regular quarterly monitoring by the senior

project team.

0

2000

4000

6000

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Performance against target for individually supported children transitioning at the end of Year 1

Target Actual

9

Each caregiver supported via the Family Business Scheme has an individual case file. Following grant

disbursement and training, Business Officers conduct follow-up visits to caregivers on a weekly basis

to conduct mentoring as required and collect savings data which is monitored weekly by the Project

Coordinator and verified by the Head of Sustainability who consolidates savings records in the central

tracker and circulates. Savings made are entered in the savings track sheet with the caregiver

appending his/her signature as confirmation. A caregiver is considered as on-track if making a regular

minimum saving of SLL 5,000 per week.

3.15 Next steps

Social Workers have continued to monitor individually supported children through home visitations

during the closure of schools. During September, these visits will focus on preparing beneficiaries and

families for the reopening of schools and identifying any potential barriers to re-enrolment in the next

academic year. When schools open in October, Social Workers will re-commence school monitoring

visits and follow-up at home for any children who have not re-enrolled. Transition data will be updated

in the individual case files and project database.

3.11 For outcome indicator four, plot your actual end of year performance against targets in a graph.

Outcome indicator four: Number of children completing basic

education with project support


four, use the guidance to


On track

Getting

there

X

Off track


There was no milestone set for this indicator this year as it is not yet possible for project beneficiaries

to have completed basic education. The final exam (BECE) will take place in September for the 19/20

academic year and 557 project supported children in JSS 3 are expected to sit the exam. 458 children

0

500

1000

1500

2000

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10 Q11 Q12

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Performance against target for number of children completing basic education at the end of Year 1

Target Actual

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participated in additional catch-up classes coordinated by the project in July. This suggests that the

project is on-track to meet the year 2 milestone of 500 children.


School enrolment records verify the number of children currently in JSS 3 and catch-up class attendance records completed by teachers and verified by project Social Workers evidence the number of children attending classes to prepare for the BECE. Exam attendance records and results will be collected from schools when available later in the year.

3.15 Next steps

For children who are currently in JSS 3, Social Workers will continue to follow-up and ensure that they

are prepared to sit the exams in September. When results are available, these will be collected from

schools and recorded in the beneficiary case files and updated in the project database. Children who

have not been able to pass the BECE will be supported to liaise with families and school authorities on

next steps – for example where repeating may be the best option. Project Social Workers will register

and support another intake of beneficiaries to enrol during the next academic year, and will continue

to conduct follow-up with those enrolled during year one to troubleshoot issues and support

retention/progress towards completion.

3.16. Use the guidance provided to assess your overall performance against outcomes in the past year

Assessment Tick one Justify your assessment

On track

At this stage of the project, and particularly due to the disruption of

COVID-19 to the academic year, it is only possible to accurately measure

results against outcome indicator 1.1. The project has exceeded its year

one target significantly with 11,467 children benefitting from increased

access to education (against a milestone of 7800). Significant progress

has been made against each of the other 3 outcome indicators, placing

the project well to meet year two milestones once schools reopen.

Getting there X

Off track

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4.0 Performance against outputs

Output one 5000 of the most vulnerable children are able to access and be retained in better monitored, more inclusive secondary education

Overall output score (Self-assessed)

A

Output Indicator 1.1

Number of the most vulnerable children benefitting from individual social support

Milestone target Achieved Self-assessed score

1500 (850F, 550M, 100CWD) 1,500 (970F, 530M, 190CWD) A

Explain how you verified the result. Describe what data you used and how it was collected

During the beneficiary selection process, project Social Workers complete a first contact form and develop a case file for each beneficiary registered onto the project. The case file captures the details of each beneficiary including their education status, individual barriers faced, etc. It also provides space for details of the caregivers including the socioeconomic status of the family. Social Workers follow-up with each child on a fortnightly basis and each individual instance of social support/counselling/family mediation is recorded in the case file and reviewed by the Project Coordinator in each district. These files are used to update the project database and are checked and verified by the Project Manager and M&E Manager during quarterly monitoring visits. Before confirming a new cycle of beneficiaries, a thorough verification process takes place:

- Project Coordinators (based in each District) check all casefiles for accuracy and use the database to visit each beneficiary in their station, assess against project selection criteria, and update the database to confirm recommendations.

- The Project Manager and M&E Manager conduct verification visits to a random sample of at least 10% of recommended families in each station, check the database for accuracy and correct any errors

- SCoSL senior management team and SC UK in-country team, conduct final verification ahead of any disbursement of financial support

Explain any differences between annual milestones and what has been accomplished. If you have scored B or C, explain what you will do to get back on track

The target of 1500 beneficiaries was met, with the target proportion of females and children living with disabilities exceeded. Strategies used to identify target numbers of children affected by disability (explained in detail under output 4) led to a higher number of CWD being reached by social workers this year.

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Number of children successfully completing project operated pre-JSS preparation classes


1000 (550F, 350M, 100CWD) 1087 (701F, 386M, 146CWD)

A


Results from the pre- JSS preparation classes are verified using the attendance registers which include the names of every child. Class teachers are responsible for completing the attendance register on a daily basis and each day an assigned Social Worker visits each class location to monitor progress and collects records for logging centrally. Children who have attended at least 11 out of 15 days of classes are recorded as successfully completing.


The pre-JSS classes were intended for children who had been out of school for a longer period and required additional support to enable a smooth transition. Attendance at the classes was higher than anticipated due to additional children hoping to use them as an opportunity to catch-up and prepare for exams.


Number of highly vulnerable children enrolled in junior secondary school as a result of the project


1500 (850F, 550M, 100 CWD) 1,500 (970F, 530M, 190CWD) A


The results for school enrolment are verified using the school registers. Project Social Workers facilitate the initial enrolment of the children into schools and conduct fortnightly follow-up visits to verify continued enrolment and identify any attendance issues. A record of these visits is kept updated in the individual beneficiary case file and logged in the project database. Spot checks are conducted to verify enrolment records at a sample of schools as part of regular quarterly monitoring by the senior project team.


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The target of 1500 beneficiaries was met, with the target proportion of females and children living with disabilities exceeded. Strategies used to identify target numbers of children affected by disability (explained in detail under output 4) led to a higher number of CWD being reached by social workers this year.


Number of children transitioning to JSS from 40 project supported remote rural primary schools


0 0


This will take place in year 2 when the new academic year commences.



Number of MBSSE monitoring visits to target JSS conducted by District Teaching Monitors trained in inclusion and child protection


15 0

C



This activity did not take place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Government of Sierra Leone closed schools nationwide in March, which prevented any school-based activities from taking place for the duration of the third term.

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Number of girls and boys actively participating in life clubs


0 0


This activity is now scheduled to commence in year 2.


Assess your overall performance against output one

The project has performed well against output one during its first year. All 1500 beneficiaries targeted under this component have been successfully enrolled in Junior Secondary School through tailored social support provided by trained social work teams. The project targeted 60% girls through this individual support component, but slightly exceeded this proportion reaching a total of 970 girls, 65%. Progress under output 4, including collaboration with DPOs across the target districts enabled enrolment of 190 children living with disabilities, exceeding the milestone for year one by 90. 1,125 children for whom poverty was the primary barrier to access also received education support packages, including uniforms, a school bag, and basic learning materials, and 164 teenage mothers received additional support packages to enable childcare within the family. Ahead of enrolment, catch-up classes were held to enable children who had been out of school to prepare for the transition, reaching an additional 87 children. There was no milestone for output 1.4 during year one as the first cohort of children graduating from project supported remote rural primary schools will have the opportunity to transition to Junior Secondary School in October this year when the next academic year commences. A total of 582 children were enrolled in class 6 across the 40 target schools this year and were supported by the project in July to prepare for and access the final primary school exam (NPSE). This suggests that the project is currently on-track to meet the year 2 milestone for this indicator. The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent closure of schools and restrictions on gathering in March has meant that activities under output 1.5 and 1.6 were postponed this year and will now commence in year two. The training of District Teaching Monitors is intended to take place alongside the training of JSS teachers in inclusive education strategies (output 4.4) so that the monitoring visits can support the follow-up and measurement of whether teachers are putting the training into action in the classroom. It will be possible to catch up on these activities in year two now that the reopening of schools has been announced for the 5th October.

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Output two 3750 caregivers from extremely poor households have increased capacity to retain their children in school


A


Number of families implementing business or farming following training and grant distribution


1125 (795F, 230M, 100 PWD) 1130 (891F, 239M, 99 PWD) A


Families for whom poverty is the primary barrier to education are referred by the social work team to the business team following the child’s registration and enrolment in school. The business team develops a case file for each caregiver which includes the initial assessment form, business plan, and all subsequent follow-up records. The case files are used to update the central project database which is verified by the M&E Manager during quarterly monitoring. Prior to disbursement of grants, the following verification process is followed:

- Business Officers complete a vulnerability assessment for each family and make recommendations to the Project Coordinator (in each District)

- Project Coordinators check all casefiles for accuracy and use the recommendation list to visit families and verify selection

- Project Management Team conduct verification visits to a random sample of at least 10% of recommended families in each station

During grant distribution, disbursement records are signed by each caregiver upon receipt of grant and training attendance records are signed by the caregivers attending the basic business skills training workshop. Business Officers then follow-up with the family during regular monitoring visits to ensure the business has been established and provide subsequent mentoring and advice.


5 additional families were able to benefit from the family business scheme support during year one of the project.


Number of families successfully making savings at target levels, sufficient to retain their child in JSS


1000 953

A

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Each caregiver supported via the Family Business Scheme has an individual case file. Following grant disbursement and training, Business Officers conduct follow-up visits to caregivers on a weekly basis to conduct mentoring as required and collect savings data which is monitored weekly by the Project Coordinator and verified by the Head of Sustainability who consolidates savings records in the central tracker and circulates. Savings made are entered in the savings track sheet with the caregiver appending his/her signature as confirmation. A caregiver is considered to be on-track if making a regular minimum saving of SLL 5,000 per week.


At the point of reporting, 953 families (84%) have been making savings at target levels. This falls slightly short of the target of 1000 families, however represents a significant achievement in light of the current context. All of the businesses were established during the COVID-19 pandemic and faced restrictions on movement and closure of market places. Business Officers have worked closely with families to adapt plans and work within the current operational context. The families have not completed the 20 week savings scheme yet and will continue to be monitored closely and supported where required to remain on-track, with additional support for those families currently struggling.


Number of siblings of principal beneficiaries supported in education as a result of business support


1500 (750F, 750M) 2,698 (1,388F 1,310M 13 CWD) A++


Siblings are registered in the project database during the registration of the primary beneficiary (see output 1.1). Details of children within each household that are of school going age are entered in the same form as the primary beneficiary, including their education status – grade reached and whether currently enrolled. This information is verified alongside the selection of caregivers for business support (output 2.1). Caregivers receive a supplementary top-up to their business grant for every out of school child, or child at-risk of drop-out within the household. It has not been possible to measure enrolment yet due to school closures. The enrolment and continued attendance of children in school will be monitored by Social Workers during regular follow up and verified by school enrolment and attendance records following the start of the new academic year.

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There has been a significant overachievement against this indicator, with more than 1,000 additional children supported via top-up business support. The milestones set for this indicator are an estimate based on an average of one additional child per household. As the project seeks to reach the most vulnerable, and the economic situation in Sierra Leone has been worsening with the cost of living for families increasing, target households have been found to have larger numbers of out-of-school children. Exchange rate gains throughout the year meant that it was possible to reach this higher number.

Assess your overall performance against output two

Despite the challenges of COVID-19 restrictions, in April, the first cycle of 565 caregivers took part in training workshops and received their business grants, and in July the second cycle of a further 565 caregivers was supported, slightly exceeding the year one milestone for output 2.1 by 5 families. The target for the proportion of caregivers who were female was exceeded, with 79% female caregivers reached, and a total of 99 caregivers with disabilities were supported to establish businesses. Despite an incredibly challenging context, 953 families (out of 1130) are currently on-track to meet savings targets. This represents a success rate of 84% which is commendable given the restrictions caregivers have faced in establishing their businesses during COVID-19. The business teams in each district have continued to visit, mentor and support families throughout the pandemic, providing crucial advice on adapting and responding to the current climate. Across the 1130 households which have benefitted from business support this year, 2698 additional at-risk children were identified, with families receiving a top-up grant to ensure all children in the household are able to return to education when schools re-open. This support has become even more critical for the poorest families who have been hit hardest by COVID-19 restrictions and the increasing cost of living. Although it has not yet been possible to measure enrolment of siblings in school, the positive progress recorded in the savings scheme for 84% of families provides a proxy indication that families will be financially able to enrol their children at the start of the academic year.

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Output three Increased access to quality primary education for 8000 children in remote rural communities, with a particular focus on upper primary classes


A


Number of upper primary teachers demonstrating improvements in teaching practice as a result of the project


100 (70M, 30F) 119 (109M, 10F) A


A teacher assessment tool is used during fortnightly visits to each school to monitor the performance of teachers in the classroom. Teaching Specialists (each assigned to a cluster of 5 schools) observe teachers conducting lessons and complete the form, which is used to track improvements and highlight areas of focus during ongoing in-classroom mentoring. The performance data is submitted to the Head of Rural Education for analysis and follow-up during quarterly monitoring. The first teacher training workshop took place in February, following the baseline learning assessment in January, and therefore improvements in performance have been captured over a limited period of time prior to the closure of schools in March.


Although 119 teachers have been trained in, and observed delivering, the TaRL-based pedagogy, less female teachers than male have been reached than targeted. Where possible, the project has sought to target female teachers for coaching and mentoring, however in the majority of target communities there is a shortage of female teaching candidates due to low school completion rates amongst girls and women. When the cascade training model (output 3.2) is rolled out in year two, emphasis will be placed on identifying, where possible, female teaching candidates from within target communities.


Number of lower primary teachers receiving cascade training & support from trained upper primary teachers


0 0


Due to the closure of schools in March, this activity was postponed until year two.

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Number of upper primary classrooms construction/renovated and resourced


45 48 A

Explain how you verified the result. Describe what data you use and how it was collected

A needs assessment was conducted at each of the 40 target rural schools ahead of any project intervention. This includes photographs of all schools both before and after construction or renovation work has been carried out. The results are verified during monthly monitoring of the construction site by the project rural lead with progress summarised in monthly project reporting.


In total, 48 classrooms were either renovated or constructed which is slightly above the agreed milestone for year one. The milestone is based on the assumption that each school will have three classrooms constructed/renovated, however in three of the schools targeted for construction this year, four classrooms were renovated.


Number of school income generating initiatives successfully established


20 20

A


Income generating grant disbursements and training sessions are logged in the IGI database, which records the type of initiative and quantity of seed received, along with estimated yield and date of harvest. Community management committees sign upon receipt of the grant and progress is recorded in monthly reporting by the Deputy Head of Rural Education. A list of all community members who have accessed loans from the school seed bank was submitted by each management committee.


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Number of SMC community school action plans created and implemented as a result of training


40 20

C


Community school action plans are recorded by the rural education team, with progress captured in monthly internal reports, and verified by SCoSL SMT ahead of IGI grant distribution.


The 20 schools selected for disbursement of grants for income generating initiatives during year one were prioritised for training and action plan development. The was completed ahead of the April grant disbursement, by which point restrictions on movement and gathering were in place. The remaining 20 communities will catch up in year two once schools re-open, with training taking place alongside scheduled MBSSE joint monitoring visits.


Number of children in classes 4, 5 & 6 accessing improved learning environments


1800 (900F, 900M) 2,584 (1218F, 1366M)

A++


The data is verified using the school enrolment and attendance records captured in registers provided by the project for each supported class. During regular classroom monitoring, project Teaching Specialists capture attendance data in their own register and follow-up with the head teacher on any discrepancies identified.


A total of 2,584 children in classes 4, 5 and 6 were enrolled in, and attended, the 40 target rural schools this year and benefitted from improvements in learning environment created through

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teacher mentoring/coaching, implementation of TaRL, classroom resourcing, access to learning materials, and community planning for sustainability and structural improvements.


Number of children enrolled in lower primary classes benefitting from wider school improvements


3000 (1500F, 1500M) 4685 (2297F, 2388M)

A++


The data is verified using the school enrolment and attendance records captured in registers provided by the project for each supported class. During regular classroom monitoring, project Teaching Specialists capture attendance data in their own register and follow-up with the head teacher on any discrepancies identified.


A total of 4,685 children in classes 1,2 and 3 were enrolled in, and attended, the 40 project supported rural schools this year and benefitted from school improvements including classroom resourcing, access to learning materials, monitoring by the Teaching Specialist team, and community planning for sustainability and structural improvements.

Assess your overall performance against output three

The impact of COVID-19 has been greatest on output three, with classroom-based activities on hold since March following the initial teacher training in February. This has meant that to-date the project has had very limited time to impact on the quality of teaching and learning. Since the closure of schools, however, the rural team has focused on those elements which could continue, including the successful development of school income generating initiatives to ensure the sustainability of project interventions and the construction and renovation of classrooms which has been completed across 15 schools ahead of the new academic year – ensuring that children in these communities have a safe and conducive learning environment to return to. By targeting support where the need is greatest, and ensuring the community is fully engaged in the project and bought into the success of the schools, a much higher number of children than predicted have benefitted from school improvements to-date. The project has also been able to adapt effectively during the pandemic to provide the support most needed to ensure that children in these target remote rural communities are able to successfully complete primary education and transition to JSS. This has included the development of resources for remote learning, and the provision of

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catch-up classes for children who returned to school in July ahead of the final primary school examination on the 3rd August.

Output four 1000 children affected by disability receive specialist case management to enable their access to school in a more enabling environment


A


Number of PWD benefitting from specialist support package including assistive devices and referral to other services


300 (200 CWD, 100 PWD) 261 (162 CWD, 99 PWD) B


Individual beneficiary case files are updated by Social Workers to record all specialist support and referrals made. These files are monitored by the Project Coordinator at District Level and verified during quarterly monitoring visits by the Project Manager, M&E Manager and Disability Specialist. A list of children referred for medical assessments or treatment is maintained by the Project Manager and signed by the relevant referral agency. In some cases support was allocated collectively to make access improvements to school structures (including construction of ramps and placement of blackboards). This has been captured in monthly reporting by the Project Manager and verified by photographs of completed work.

Explain any differences between annual milestones and what has been accomplished. If you have scored B or C, explain what you will do to get back on track.

Assistive devices, medical support and referral to specialist services has not been required, or possible, for all PWD beneficiaries. The requirement for additional specialist support is dependent on the type of disability (the project followed the Washington Group short set of questions). From within the year one cohort of beneficiaries, 7 were not able to attend their medical assessment and this will be rescheduled to take place during year two. The targets for CWD and children of PWD caregivers supported to enrol in school and benefitting from specialist case work have been reached and it is therefore proposed that the target for output indicator 4.1 is revised to account for an estimated 80% of PWD beneficiaries who may require the additional support package (see section 5.5 below).


Number of PWD benefitting from specialist case work, including family counselling and community rehabilitation

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300 (200 CWD, 100 PWD)

301 (190 CWD, 111 PWD) A


As with output 1, each beneficiary registered onto the project has an individual case file which captures initial details and all follow-up support provided. For children affected by disability, case files are maintained by the allocated District Disability Lead. Disability status is confirmed by administering the Washington short group of questions for CWD and PWD caregivers during the beneficiary selection process. Each individual instance of social support/counselling/mediation is recorded in the case file and reviewed by the Project Coordinator in each District. These files are used to update the project database and are checked and verified by the Project Manager and M&E Manager during quarterly monitoring visits.


Although the milestone has been met overall, there was a slightly lower proportion of children with disabilities and slightly higher proportion of children who have caregivers with disabilities identified and supported. The disaggregated targets set were an estimate and the vulnerability assessments are used to ensure the most vulnerable beneficiaries are selected. Social teams will continue to liaise closely with DPO partners in year two to prioritise the inclusion of children affected by disability.


Number of project supported CWDs and children with PWD caregivers enrolled in school


300 (200 CWD, 100 PWD) 301 (190 CWD, 111 PWD) A


As with output 1.3, the results for school enrolment are verified using the school registers. Project Social Workers facilitate the initial enrolment of the children into schools and conduct fortnightly follow-up visits to verify continued enrolment and identify any attendance issues. A record of these visits is kept updated in the individual beneficiary case file and logged in the project database. Spot checks are conducted to verify enrolment records at a sample of schools as part of regular quarterly monitoring by the senior project team.


Although the milestone has been met overall, there was a slightly lower proportion of children with disabilities and slightly higher proportion of children who have caregivers with disabilities. There are 13 children with disabilities who have been supported by the project this year as siblings of primary

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beneficiaries (under output 2.3) but have not been able to enrol in school yet due to COVID-19. It is expected that these children will enrol in the new academic year in October.


Number of teachers with improved knowledge of inclusive education strategies


150 0

C

Explain how you verified the result. Describe what data you use and how it is collected


This activity did not take place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Government of Sierra Leone closed schools nationwide in March, which prevented any school-based activities from taking place for the duration of the third term. It will be possible to catch-up on this indicator by conducting two cycles of training within year two now that schools are scheduled to open on the 5th October.

Assess your overall performance against output four

The project has performed well against output four this year, meeting its key target for the number of project supported CWDs and children with PWD caregivers enrolled in school. A total of 301 children and families affected by disability have benefitted to-date from counselling and targeted social support to overcome barriers to enrolment and attendance in JSS. The capacity of project Social Workers to identify and respond to the needs of children with disabilities has been increased significantly through training and coaching, placing the project well to continue to achieve against targets in future years. Less PWD than targeted benefitted from assistive technology/other specialist support during year one. This is primarily because the target was set at 100% of PWD beneficiaries, whereas not all children and caregivers with disabilities required this additional support. A medical assessment was arranged for all CWD children in order to determine the most appropriate support, ranging from glasses, crutches and referral for medical treatment, to construction of ramps and provision of blackboards for schools. 7 children were unable to attend the assessment and this will be rescheduled for them during year two. Due to the closure of schools in March, it was not possible to roll out the training of JSS teachers as scheduled, however plans are in place to catch-up on targets in year two

Add additional outputs as required

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5.0 Approach

Plan

5.1 Complete and annex your achieved work plan from the past year.

Estimate a completion percentage and assess where you are (on track, off track, getting there)

Completion (%) 90%

On track X Getting

there

Off track

Adaptive Management

5.2 What changes did you make to your plan during the year and why?

The greatest impact on the project plan this year came from the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent

restrictions put in place to control the spread in Sierra Leone, crucially including the nationwide closure

of schools on the 31st March for the remainder of the school year.

The project was able to adapt rapidly, with project staff contributing towards a nationwide rapid needs

assessment of over 1000 households in April – reaching 369 households across the 5 districts targeted by

this project, which informed the response activities. Social work and rural education teams, unable to

continue school-based activities, focussed on prevention activities, raising awareness of COVID-19, its

signs and symptoms, and promoting and facilitating prevention practices such as handwashing and social-

distancing. Following training facilitated by the Ministry of Health, project Teaching Specialists and Social

Workers conducted house to house sensitisation, stemming the spread of misinformation and providing

families with the information needed to protect themselves. This critical support has reached over 66,000

individuals across more than 9,000 households in Northern Sierra Leone. Throughout target project

communities, a total of 210 handwashing stations were also established to ensure that the most

vulnerable families have the means to follow recommended hygiene guidance.

Following the Government announcement at the end of June that schools would reopen for exam year

students on the 1st July, plans were rapidly drawn up to deliver catch-up classes for children in class 6

across all 40 target rural primary schools and for project supported beneficiaries in JSS 3. These classes

focussed on preparing children for the upcoming exams, particularly critical for children in class 6 who

had just one month back in school ahead of the exams on the 3rd August. The project also provided

logistical support to enable children to travel long distances to exam centres in urban locations.

With continued uncertainty over when schools would reopen, the rural education team worked on

contextualising Street Child’s Last Mile Learning approach to roll out remote learning support to children

in remote rural communities who are not reached by radio education programming. Remote learning

packages of printed materials and pre-recorded lessons have been developed, however with the recent

announcement that schools will re-commence at the beginning of October, this approach will be adjusted

to focus on ‘back to school’ preparations – re-engaging teachers and children and re-introducing the

TaRL-based pedagogy in small group settings.

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School closures have halted progress on interventions aimed at improving the quality of teaching and

learning in rural primary schools, and the establishment of in-school life clubs and inclusive education

training for JSS teachers. The revised year two work plan takes account of these delays to enable the

project to catch-up with missed activities during term three. Teacher training workshops have been

scheduled to take place in September ahead of the new school year.

Theory of Change

5.3 Is your theory of change still sound? Are assumptions holding? Submit the theory of change

The theory of change is still sound. The work plan and project outputs are largely on-track, with progress

made towards all target outcomes. COVID-19 has delayed some activities and it is expected that these

will get back on track in year two once schools have re-opened.

The year one outcome milestone for the number of children with increased access to education was

significantly exceeded, with 4198 children benefitting from individual/household level support to

overcome barriers to education and 7269 children attending rural primary schools benefitting from

improvements in the quality of education. This overachievement against outcome indicator 1.1 was due

to high enrolment in the 40 rural primary schools and a greater number of at-risk children reached per

household by the family business for education model, representing a focus on reaching the most

vulnerable households. 84% of caregivers registered onto the family business scheme during year one

are currently making savings at target levels, which places the project well to meet targets for transition

and completion of Junior Secondary School next year.

In the rural schools component, the focus and key measure of success is improvements in literacy and

numeracy as a result of improvements in the quality of teaching. During year one teachers across all 40

rural primary schools have been trained in the Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) pedagogical approach,

designed to rapidly increase foundational skills. Although it was not possible to measure results due to

the closure of schools, Street Child has seen significant improvements in literacy and numeracy using this

model in other live projects, which we hope to replicate in year two.

5.4 Describe and explain any proposed adjustments to the theory of change?

No adjustments are proposed to the theory of change.

Logical Framework

5.5 Summarise and explain any changes you would like to make to your logframe for the next year

based on your results

Add rows if necessary

Indicator/milestone/data From To Explanation

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Ouput 4.1 Number of

PWD benefiting from

specialist support package

including assistive devices

and referral to other

services.

700 (July 2021)

1000 (July 2022)

560 (July 2021)

800 (July 2022)

Appropriate local

services or assistive

technology may not be

available or necessary

for all CWD/PWD. A

revised target of 80% of

total CWD/PWD reach

is proposed.

Social Inclusion

5.6 Summarise, with practical examples, what you have done to identify and include people with

disabilities in your project? What changes will you make next year to strengthen your approach?

This project represents the first time Street Child has included a specific disability component in its

individual support model. Through partnership with specialist DPO WESOFOD and a focus on Social

Worker training, including in use of the Washing Group Short Set of Questions, the project has been able

to reach 190 CWD and 111 children of PWD, achieving its target for year one. As preparation for this

work, WESOFOD led a disability mapping exercise across the target districts. In each operational location

the project, and project team, were introduced to a total of 19 local disability organisations and partners.

These organisations played a key role in referral of project beneficiaries affected by disability.

One Social Worker in each project location has been appointed as the disability focal point and has

received additional training and mentoring from WESOFOD throughout the year to ensure the additional

needs of CWD and PWD (caregivers) within the project are met. In 2 districts Social Workers with

disabilities have been recruited to perform this role. The disability focal point manages the case load of

all disability affected beneficiaries within each district and advocates on their behalf at the household,

community and school level.

Additional support packages were made available where required for children and caregivers, where

additional needs posed a continued barrier to effective access. This has included the provision of

wheelchairs and crutches, access to medical assessments, treatment and referral for children with visual

and hearing impairments, and structural support for schools where CWD have been enrolled, including

construction of ramps and placement of additional or improved blackboards. Caregivers with disabilities

have benefitted from social support provided by the trained disability focal point in each district and have

been prioritised for the family business scheme, with additional support where required.

During year one training in inclusive education strategies for JSS teachers in schools where beneficiaries

have been enrolled was put on hold as a result of COVID-19. This training, alongside complementary

training and resourcing for MBSSE officials to conduct effective monitoring of inclusive practices within

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schools, is crucial for opening up learning at JSS level for children affected by disability across target

districts. Learning from the project’s COVID-19 awareness raising will also be used to plan and deliver

larger-scale advocacy at the community level to tackle the stigma faced by CWD children and PWD

caregivers.

5.7 Summarise, with practical examples, what you have done to address gender inequality and how

well this has worked? What changes will you make next year to strengthen your approach?

Gender equality is a major goal of this project, with 60% girls targeted for individual social support to

enrol in JSS and female caregivers prioritised for livelihoods support via the family business model. 970

(or 65%) of the 1500 children individually supported to enrol in JSS during year one were girls, and 51%

of the children reached overall were girls. Additionally, 164 teenage mothers were provided with specific

targeted support to return to education and received supplementary support packages to incentivise

childcare within the family. All project Social Workers are trained in gender-responsive strategies and

district teams play a key role in advocating for the rights of all children, particularly the most vulnerable

groups of girls, to access education. 30% of project Social Workers are female, and 2 of the 4 Project

Coordinators. 79% of caregivers supported to establish businesses via the family business model were

female, exceeding the 75% target set, with a total of 891 women reached and socially and economically

empowered to provide for their families.

In the 40 project supported rural schools, girls currently make up 48% of the children enrolled. Teaching

Specialists advocate with parents, teachers and community members for the importance of educating

girls as a key aspect of their role. Despite efforts to prioritise the training of female teachers, only 10 of

the 119 teachers trained to-date have been female. In rural regions of Sierra Leone there is a shortage of

teaching candidates, and particularly female teaching candidates, due to low school completion rates,

and experience in previous projects has shown the challenges involved in brining teachers from further

afield. When the cascade training model is rolled out for lower primary teachers in year two, emphasis

will be placed on identifying female teaching candidates from within target communities where possible.

The project intends to actively contribute towards the prevention of teenage pregnancy by establishing

life clubs in schools for both girls and boys. Concerns have been raised during the COVID-19 pandemic

that teenage pregnancy rates are increasing whilst girls are out-of-school and the most vulnerable

families facing acute additional challenges to meet the cost of living. The life clubs will be established in

15 JSSs in the Northern Province and will deliver SRHE, including referral to family planning services, as

well providing life skills and a safe space for peer-to-peer learning. This activity has been delayed due to

school closures and will now commence in year two.

5.8 Summarise what you have done to identify and target the most marginalised and vulnerable

beneficiaries and reflect on how well this has worked. What changes will you make next year to

strengthen your approach?

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The project has targeted the most marginalised and vulnerable beneficiaries through a process of street

outreach, directly identifying children who are on the streets and not in school in urban communities,

and referral from child protection actors including the MSWGCA, local family support units, DPOs and

other NGP actors, child welfare committees and schools. Children are assessed against rigorous

vulnerability criteria set to ensure that those most in need of project support, who would not be able to

access education otherwise, benefit. Social Workers work closely with identified children over time to

build a relationship of trust and an understanding of the situation faced by vulnerable children and

families. A total of 1500 children have been identified and supported in this way during the first year of

the project.

Once registered onto the project, children receive intensive social support to identify and overcome their

individual barriers and to strengthen their family’s commitment to their care and education. Social

Workers advocate on behalf of children facing stigma and/or complex social challenges in returning to

education, including teenage mothers, children with disabilities, street connected children, etc. For the

poorest families for whom the primary barrier to education is the cost involved, Street Child’s family

business for education model has been used to support 1130 caregivers to establish a sustainable source

of income.

Under the rural primary component, 40 communities were selected in close liaison with the MBSSE, local

authorities and communities following needs assessments across the 4 target districts. The assessments

looked at a range of factors including enrolment levels, school infrastructure and resources available,

current teaching capacity, and exam performance and targeted communities where despite school

enrolment, extensive barriers to learning and progression remained. Advocacy has been carried out at

the community and household level on the value of educating all children, and encouraging regular

attendance. Families in remote rural communities rely predominantly on subsistence farming, therefore

to ensure children who complete primary level education during the project are able to progress, families

from the 40 target rural communities will be prioritised for family business support in years 2 and 3.

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6.0 Learning

Learning from implementation

6.1 Explain what has worked well and what has not worked well in the past year and why.

How did you or will you use this learning to adapt your project?

The inclusion of a specific disability component within the project, with targets set for the inclusion of

children affected by disability, has been a specific success during year one. Whilst previous projects have

strived to be inclusive for CWD, having clear targets, activities, and strategies around this has led to

greater achievements both in terms of numbers reached and impact for those children and families.

Working with inclusion specialist WESOFOD to ensure that project Social Workers are appropriately

trained and that local teams are connected to disability-focussed organisations in each region has been

critical to this success. Additional support has been provided, where required, to overcome barriers to

access, including the construction of ramps and blackboards in schools, provision of assistive devices, and

referral for medical treatment, however to-date this support has been limited to the individual JSS-

enrolment component. The project team are developing plans to extend this support to the rural

community component via additional sessions during scheduled Teaching Specialist and teacher training

in year two. This will improve the capacity to identify and better support CWD within target primary

schools.

Learning from the first year of Street Child’s other live UK Aid Match project in the Eastern Province led

to a review of the tools used to measure the impact of inclusive education training for JSS teachers. Data

from pre- and post-training tests (in the Right to Learn project) was not sufficient to demonstrate learning

and changed practice in the classroom. The revised approach developed plans to link this activity more

closely to the training and resourcing of MBSSE District Teaching Monitors so that Government school

monitoring staff play a greater role in following up on teacher performance in this area, increasing the

sustainability of this project activity. Unfortunately the first training was scheduled to take place during

the third term and was postponed due to COVID-19 school closures, but the new approach will be rolled

out in training as part of school opening preparations for the new academic year.

Feedback from teachers who piloted use of the TaRL approach in the Right to Learn project suggested

the need to increase the length of the initial training workshop before commencing delivery of practice

classes. This was taken on-board in this project, with the initial teacher training workshop extended from

3 to 5 days. The additional 2 days provided an opportunity to incorporate more practical and interactive

sessions, where teachers modelled what they have learned and received feedback from trainers and

peers.

Learning from beneficiaries

6.3 Explain how you captured and used beneficiary feedback in the past year. How did you or will

you use this learning to adapt your project?

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Social workers gather feedback during regular follow-up visits to beneficiaries both in the home and in

school. During quarterly project monitoring, the senior project team carry out spot checks to a sample of

households and conduct informal interviews with beneficiaries and families. Feedback is also requested

from teachers and caregivers following participation in training sessions. All of this feedback is captured

in monthly and quarterly project reports and discussed by the senior project team during follow-up calls.

In August, an annual internal evaluation exercise was carried out across 4 target districts by senior SCoSL

staff external to the project team. The evaluation sought to capture feedback from children, caregivers,

teachers and community stakeholders across both the individual and rural community components using

a combination of focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews. A number of recommendations

were made which will feed into the implementation plan for year two, including suggestions for

improvements to beneficiary feedback and safeguarding incident reporting mechanisms (detailed in

section 10 below). Other suggestions which are being explored include, child protection training for

caregivers (which was raised as a suggestion following concerns that despite business support some

caregivers continue to depend on their children to support the household income) and a greater focus

on advocacy within the school and wider community setting to ensure the retention of CWD.

Learning from research and evaluations

6.4 Provide links to or annex any research or evaluations done in the past year. Explain what you did or will do with the findings to improve the project

In January, a baseline literacy and numeracy assessment was carried out across the 40 target rural

primary schools using ‘Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL)’ tools in order to better understand the

academic levels of students. A brief analysis report which presents the findings has been attached.

In April, project staff took part in a nationwide rapid needs assessment reaching 1011 households,

including 369 across the 5 districts targeted by this project, to gather accurate, relevant information on

the challenges, issues and shocks arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The assessment found

that although most individuals (92%) had received information about COVID-19, there remained a key

gap between awareness and behaviour. Respondents rated hunger (65%), teenage pregnancy (28%) and

lack of opportunities for learning (25%) as the primary risks to vulnerable groups, over and above the risk

of infection from COVID-19 (21%). The needs assessment was used as a basis for planning COVID-19

response activities within this project, including developing Street Child’s remote learning approach in

response to concerns raised by caregivers around access to alternative learning, particularly in more rural

contexts which are not reached by radio programming. The report has been attached.

An annual internal project evaluation took place in August, focussed on gathering feedback from

beneficiaries, project staff, and other key stakeholders across 4 target districts. The final version of this

report will be shared once complete.

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7.0 Challenges & Risks

Challenges

7.1 Explain the main challenges you faced in the past year.

Were you successful in addressing them and how?

The greatest challenge to project delivery faced during year one was the COVID-19 pandemic and the

global and national restrictions put in place to limit the spread. Schools closed on the 31st March and

remained closed for the duration of the third term, opening for exam year students only in July. This

closure halted progress on interventions aimed at improving the quality of teaching and learning in rural

primary schools, inclusive education training for JSS teachers, and the establishment of in-school life

clubs. During this period project teams have prioritised those activities which were able to progress,

including classroom construction, establishing school income generating initiatives, and the much-

needed business support for vulnerable families who are coming under additional pressure and facing

an increasing cost of living. Project staff have also played a significant role in the national COVID-19

response by delivering critical awareness raising and hygiene interventions (as detailed in section 5.2

above).

The COVID-19 pandemic also created a challenging context for the family business model, with families

attempting to establish businesses during restrictions on inter-district travel, closed markets and

national curfews. The family business teams worked with families in reduced group sizes and on a one-

to-one basis to develop plans which take account of the current context. Caregivers were encouraged

to invest in fast-moving essential items, for example cooking condiments, and to find alternative selling

strategies whilst markets remained closed. The ongoing mentoring from the business officers has been

effective in supporting caregivers to adapt and respond to the changing context, with 84% of families

keeping up with savings targets to-date.

Restrictions in movement both within Sierra Leone and internationally have posed additional challenges

for project monitoring, with all SC UK support being provided remotely. The constantly changing

situation also required the project to adapt rapidly. Frequent communication was critical to enabling

an agile and adaptive response, thematic WhatsApp groups were established for field teams to share

up-to-date information, feedback and photos from project locations, and regular zoom calls set-up to

reflect on progress. This has helped to facilitate shared learning across district teams and to ensure that

activities remained on-track and relevant. As we enter the second year of the project, the situation has

improved with international borders now open and free movement possible within all project locations.

Data management is an identified area for capacity strengthening within SCoSL and accessing complete

project data in a timely manner has been a challenge in the second half of the year as the number of

beneficiaries and level of data required has grown. Logistical challenges in collecting and verifying

paper-based data can create delays, particularly in the rural schools component due to the remote

locations. Street Child has continued to provide capacity support and capacity strengthening in this area

throughout the year by directly supporting data collection processes, investing in the training of key

project staff (see section 11), and regularly monitoring and verifying project data. Following external

33

training, the M&E Manager has been able to pilot and roll out the use of the KoBo Collect toolbox to

support digital data collection removing some of the timing challenges, including for a rapid needs

assessment across more than 1000 households at the on-set of the COVID-19 pandemic in Sierra Leone.

Risks

7.3 Submit an updated risk register and delivery chain risk map with this annual review.

Make sure that the challenges you have described in 7.1 are included.

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8.0 Sustainability

8.1

What evidence is there that your sustainability strategies have started to work?

What do you need to strengthen and why? Consider economic, environmental and social

sustainability factors

Economic Sustainability

The project is supporting economic sustainability primarily via the family business model which aims

to address poverty as a root cause of school drop-out. By empowering families to retain their children

in education through removing financial barriers, the family business model ensures that the benefits

are sustained beyond the life of the project. During year one, the project was able to support 1130

caregivers via a process of training, grants and mentoring, to establish a business to provide a

sustainable source of income from which the ongoing costs of educating their children can be met.

Families in Sierra Leone have faced increasing challenges in recent months with the restrictions

imposed as a result of COVID-19 and the cost of living continuing to grow. Despite these challenges,

953 caregivers have been able to make savings at target levels to-date – a success rate of 84%.

Business Officers have worked tirelessly with caregivers on an individual basis to provide business

planning support and advice tailored to the current context and will continue to do so over a 20-week

period. For those families who are currently struggling to meet savings targets, a targeted action plan

will be developed to address issues and try to get the business and savings record back on-track.

Under the rural primary school component, following management and agriculture training in

collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, the first 20 communities successfully established

income generating initiatives which will provide a critical source of income from which the key costs

of running the school, including teacher salaries, can be met moving forwards. All 20 communities

have opted to implement a seed bank model whereby rice and groundnut seed will be loaned to

families with children attending the school at a favourable interest rate. Seed will be paid back

following the harvest with interest allocated by the management committee to cover school costs as

required. The rural education team have provided support and guidance to the committees in record

keeping and management of the loan process and seed grants were disbursed in April. A total of 1332

families have already taken loans from the 20 seed banks during this first planting season, with first

harvest expected in October.

The seed banks will provide an interim solution whilst schools which do not currently benefit from any

central government funding apply for approval. The long-term goal for these schools is to be adopted

into the formal government system, with teachers paid and resources provided by the MBSSE.

Although the project team have engaged with the MBSSE throughout the school selection proves and

implementation to-date, it has not been possible to complete the scheduled joint monitoring visits

this year due to schools being closed throughout the third term. These visits will be re-scheduled to

take place early in the new academic year to support a strengthened relationship between the target

schools and the regional MBSSE offices and to maximise the likelihood of future government

investment and monitoring.

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The increased capacity of families to retain their children in school, and rural communities to invest in

education, has the potential to transform the economic opportunities available to them in the future.

The benefits of education are permanent and sustainable, with every additional year of schooling

associated with increased future earning potential.

Social sustainability

The project directly targets the most vulnerable categories of children who, without intervention,

would have been highly unlikely to ever complete basic education. Overcoming financial barriers is

part of the solution, but working with the children, their families, and communities is key to

overcoming social barriers. Counselling and family mediation are crucial to ensuring a secure and

sustainable return to school, with the support and encouragement of family. Advocating on behalf of

the child within households, communities and schools to tackle stigma and discrimination is one of

the crucial roles played by the Social Worker, particularly on behalf of groups of children who are

typically excluded from education, including children with disabilities, teenage mothers and street-

connected children. A total of 1500 children have benefitted from this intensive individual social

support during the first year of the project, including 190 children with disabilities and 161 teenage

mothers, and were enrolled in and attending schools until the end of the second term. Additional

catch-up classes facilitated for children in JSS 3 who returned to school to prepare for exams in July

saw attendance rates above 80% suggesting strong prospects for retention.

Working via local partners and investing in their capacity for social change, whilst collaborating with

the MBSSE and MSWGCA at district and national levels contributes towards strengthening national

systems and building long-term national development capacity. National partner SCoSL has led on all

aspects of implementation, whilst specialist DPO WESOFOD have provided expertise and delivery

support across the disability component, strengthening the internal capacity of SCoSL to respond to

the needs of children affected by disability and developing a strong link with regional DPOs. Rights-

based advocacy at household and community level target permanent attitude change. A key aspect of

this approach is the capacity building of JSS teachers and MBSSE officials in inclusive education

strategies which was not implemented this year due to school closures, this will be prioritised ahead

of schools reopening to ensure the project catches up to intended targets.

In addition to the economic benefits of the family business model, the scheme has been found to lead

to improvements in quality of life by empowering caregivers to respond to the needs of their children.

Alongside family counselling and advocacy on the importance of education, the family business model

aims to create a shift in prioritisation of spending, encouraging families to place greater importance

on investing in education and using the incentivised savings scheme to entrench a pattern of saving

to meet these costs. It will be possible to measure the initial success of the integrated social and family

business approach in securing retention in school following the commencement of the next academic

year in October. Project Social Workers will follow-up with each beneficiary in school to confirm re-

enrolment.

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In rural communities, the rural education team works alongside community chiefs, elders, teachers,

parents and children to advocate for education at both the community and household levels.

Communities have been engaged at every stage of the project, have taken the lead on planning for

school construction and income generation initiatives, and are encouraged to take ownership of the

development of their school. Advocacy messages around the enrolment and regular attendance of all

children, including girls and CWD, are critical to addressing access and retention barriers. The

significantly higher than predicted enrolment rates across the 40 schools, with 7269 children enrolled

(2469 above the milestone of 4800) and 48% female enrolment, can be partially attributed to this

successful community engagement.

Environmental sustainability

Construction and renovation work has been carried out across 15 schools this year and has primarily

used locally sourced materials, including mud-blocks, stone and sand, therefore minimising the need

for imported or manufactured materials and reducing transportation. School income-generating

initiatives established across 20 communities are agriculture based following a seed bank model. Prior

to distributing the grants, communities participated in agriculture training led by the Ministry of

Agriculture which included guidance in all elements of the groundnut production cycle, including

environmental factors. During this first year it will be important to monitor the harvest against

expected yield. Changing weather conditions are a critical concern, as Sierra Leone has been

experiencing particularly harsh rainy seasons in recent years. Top-up funds for income generating

initiatives are held for year two to provide additional support where required in the event of a shortfall

from the first cycle, and the remaining 20 communities will learn from the first cycle of

implementation when planning their own initiatives next year.

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9.0 Value for Money (VFM)

9.1 With reference to the four E’s explain how the project has provided good value for money in

the past year? Include relevant examples

This project has delivered excellent value for money during its first year, making significant progress

towards outcomes and prioritising sustainable approaches to access, completion and learning in

education – demonstrating progress towards the achievement of SDG 4 in Northern Sierra Leone. A

total of 11,467 children have been reached by the project to-date, already benefitting from increased

access to education. The benefits of education are lifelong, and investments in sustainability, including

the family business and school income generation models, will support retention in school beyond the

project intervention. Investments in developing the capacity of rural teachers will benefit the children

and communities they serve far beyond the life of the project.

Economy

By working through local partners and building on the existing expertise of local teams, both the

economy and the effectiveness of the project approach are enhanced. International Street Child staff

costs and travel have been minimised and are restricted to programme management and technical

support and oversight, enhancing the capacity of national partners to deliver the project effectively.

Overhead cost recovery for Street Child within the budget is minimal, at 2% of the total project budget.

Street Child’s family business for education model has been iteratively adapted over time and is

routinely reviewed to assess the minimum input that is required to achieve the desired business

growth, and rate of savings required, to retain a child in school. The costs of education kits, classroom

construction and other key activity costs are also reviewed annually in line with changing material

costs in-country. Robust procurement processes are in place to ensure value for money, including

securing a minimum of 3 quotations for comparison.

The project benefits from economies of scale through considered procurement, including purchasing

construction materials, school uniforms and classroom resources in bulk, realising cost savings as a

result. Investment in construction has been minimised by investing in existing local structures through

the renovation of existing classrooms and working in partnership with the community to develop

community structures, drawing as much as possible on locally available materials and labour.

Efficiency

Against project expenditure of less than £500k over the first 12 months of the project, 11,467 children

have been reached with increased opportunity to access education. This reflects an average per child

cost of £43, representing significant value for money. By operating tried and tested models at scale,

Street Child is able to reduce the per child cost whilst also ensuring long-term impact.

The project targets children from the poorest households for whom poverty is the primary barrier to

accessing education. To ensure the efficiency and sustainability of project interventions, material

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support has been provided to children on a one-off basis (via education kits and supplementary

support packages for teenage mothers), with the family business model stepping in and empowering

families to develop their own source of income sufficient to cover the costs of education in future

years. This enables a greater number of children to benefit over the course of the project from the

resources available.

Additionally, by providing a supplementary top-up grant for families where more than one child is out

of school, the project is able to maximise reach whilst maintaining a low per-child cost. In year one,

2698 additional children within supported households were reached by supplementary grants to

enable access to education. Business support is targeted specifically at families for whom poverty is

the critical barrier to education, utilising strict vulnerability criteria, with intensive social support

provided to address other barriers. A total of 1130 of the 1500 families supported during year one

were provided with a business grant.

In the rural primary component, investment in the rural teaching workforce represents a cost-effective

approach to improving learning in remote communities with long-term impact. Target numbers of

children reached have been exceeded due to high enrolment and attendance across selected schools,

bringing down the per child cost. The TaRL pedagogical approach which has been rolled out across the

40 target schools is globally recognised as an effective, low cost, approach to rapidly improving

foundational literacy and numeracy in low resource environments.

Match funding from non-UKAID sources accounts for 20% of the total project expenditure to-date and

is budgeted at 12% over the lifetime of the project. Match funding during year one has covered high-

cost activities, including the construction and renovation of classrooms and school income generating

grants, for which funds were specifically sourced.

Effectiveness

The year one outcome milestone for the number of children with increased access to education was

significantly exceeded, with 11,467 children in total (5873 female, 5594 male) benefitting from project

support to increase opportunities to access education. The project has performed well against output

indicators with significant progress made towards the outcome of increased access, completion and

learning at primary and JSS level for the most vulnerable children in Northern Sierra Leone. Indicators

which cannot be measured at this stage of the project will measure improved literacy and numeracy,

retention/transition, and completion of basic education. These indicators remain relevant and the

project is currently on-track to meet milestones for year 2.

Local partnership, and use of local expertise, has increased the effectiveness of interventions under

both the individual and rural community components, with Social Workers playing a critical role in

supporting 1500 vulnerable children to overcome their individual barriers to education and Teaching

Specialists trained in and rolling out strategies to improve the quality of teaching and learning across

40 rural primary schools. Both of these components contribute towards the ultimate goal of seeing

more children progressing towards completion of basic education.

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There is a key opportunity to increase the effectiveness, value for money, and overall impact of this

project through cross-project learning, as Street Child currently has two further live UKAID projects in

Sierra Leone which follow the same core models. Learning from this project has fed into the planning

and set-up of Children on the Margins which commenced on the 1st September targeting Southern

Sierra Leone and learning from the disability component in particular has also been of relevance to

the ongoing UKAID project Right to Learn in the Eastern Province.

Equity

This project specifically aims to target the most vulnerable and marginalised categories of children,

building pathways to access and completion of quality, inclusive basic education. During year one the

project has exceeded its target for direct beneficiaries reached, reaching a total of 12,716 unique

individuals. Of this total, 11,467 (90%) are vulnerable children facing acute access and quality barriers

to learning, 1130 are caregivers from households living in extreme poverty, and 119 are teachers

targeted for capacity development to deliver quality education. Indirect beneficiary reach for year one

is 15,793 which includes the additional children living within households supported with family

business grants and rural caregivers taking loans from school seed banks.

Gender equality and inclusion of children affected by disability are major goals of this project. During

year one, 970 (or 65%) of the 1500 vulnerable children individually supported to enrol in JSS were

girls. Specific additional targeted support was provided to 164 teenage mothers, 190 children with

disabilities and 111 children with caregivers with disabilities to overcome access barriers. Of the 1130

caregivers from the poorest households, 891 (or 79%) were female.

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10.0 Safeguarding

10.1 Explain what you have done to strengthen your own and your partners’ approaches to

enhanced safeguarding in the past year?

Major developments within Street Child’s global safeguarding policies have included setting new

guidelines for safeguarding investigations; undertaking an all staff refresher training in

August/September 2020; introduction of new anonymous reporting mechanisms including an email

address and website form; appointment of a deputy global safeguarding focal point; tendering for an

external safeguarding consultant to provide advice on retainer; and the development of a child

friendly safeguarding policy.

Within SCoSL, safeguarding induction training has been carried out for all project staff, including an

introduction to SCoSL’s safeguarding policy and reporting procedures. A safeguarding awareness

workshop also took place for downstream partner WESOFOD which is providing consultancy support

on the disability component. Following feedback from the Mannion Daniels monitoring visit in

November, the project team have been focussed on improving the level of understanding at

community level of how to report safeguarding concerns. A safeguarding contact phone number has

been set up as part of this process, and updated child-friendly safeguarding posters have been

displayed in project offices with details of available mechanisms to report safeguarding concerns.

10.2 What will you do to strengthen the approach of your implementing partners in the next year?

What are the key challenges and how will you overcome them?

Although SCoSL has continued to refine and improve its internal safeguarding procedures this year, there is a recognised need to continue to strengthen mechanisms for reporting safeguarding concerns at community level. Despite staff training and display of policies and posters throughout project locations, the understanding and willingness within communities of when and how to report concerns continues to pose a barrier. One of the key challenges faced is the attitude of communities towards raising complaints – the culture of silence. To change this mindset requires continuous engagement and awareness raising, ensuring that communities understand the importance of raising safeguarding concerns and feel safe to do so. Going forward, SCoSL has appointed Regional Safeguarding Focal Points who will take the lead on ensuring that all project communities and staff are fully aware of their obligation to report safeguarding concerns and have confidence in the reporting process. The recent internal evaluation specifically sought feedback on this area – asking beneficiaries directly what would give them the confidence to report safeguarding issues. Suggestions included the appointment of local focal persons to make their complaints to, and availability of contact numbers for people outside the community. Reporting and process strengthening plans for year 2 include the following:

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- Posters with contact numbers visible to all beneficiaries in project offices, schools and at training sessions

- Suggestion and complaints boxes in place within schools/external to offices - Greater emphasis on awareness raising and engagement on safeguarding issues - Identify and train community focal points

10.3 Has the safeguarding policy been updated during the reporting period? If yes, please give a

brief summary of the changes and include the updated policy with this submission

A safeguarding policy update is underway with the support of an external safeguarding expert; it will

be complete by the 30th September 2020 and will be shared with the PRM. No major changes are

proposed at this stage; prospective changes include a restructure to more clearly distinguish policy

from procedure. However recent related changes include an update of Street Child's code of conduct

and disciplinary procedures to more closely align with the safeguarding policy and the investigation

guidelines.

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11. Staff development

11.1

Did you identify any gaps this year in your own or your implementing partners’ capacity

to deliver the project?

What did you do to address them? What development will you do with your own or

implementing partner staff next year and why?

MEL/data management

As highlighted in section 7 above, MEL, and particularly data management, is an identified area for

capacity strengthening within SCoSL. Street Child has provided ongoing capacity development in this

area throughout the year, and has arranged for external training/support for project staff as below:

• Recruitment of a MEL Consultant to conduct an organisational MEL assessment with SCoSL and

support the development of a MEL capacity strengthening plan

• Extension of the MEL Consultant’s contract to action the below recommendations:

- Build capacity at supervisor level on how to engage with data effectively and create learning

loops.

- Develop a detailed Planning Scheme that can guide and provide an oversight of all MEL

activities throughout a project.

- Review staffing structure, capacity, roles and responsibilities to create an effective M&E

structure.

• SCoSL’s M&E Manager attended a training course on mobile data collection using KoBoToolBox

in Nairobi to build his skills in developing and managing mobile data collection, which has

subsequently been rolled out.

Financial management

At the beginning of this project in August 2019, Street Child recruited an experienced Finance

Consultant to work specifically on partner capacity development in the area of financial management.

The consultant spent 6 months working alongside SCoSL’s finance team in Freetown supporting the

implementation of improvements in financial processes and procedures, ensuring greater efficiency

in reporting. This level of intensive support enabled rapid progress over a short period of time, with a

number of important improvements made. Following the initial 6-month period, less intensive remote

support has been provided, with follow-up visits to continue coaching and mentoring in-person

planned during year 2.

Disability component

The introduction of a specific disability component to Street Child’s established individual support

model was new to this project. Partnership with specialist DPO WESOFOD has been critical to the

success of this component, ensuring that project staff are appropriately trained in identifying and

supporting children with disabilities and advocating on their behalf. In addition to initial and refresher

training for Social Workers, WESOFOD have provided ongoing mentoring for disability focal points in

each district throughout the year. This training and support will be enhanced in year 2 to ensure that

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staff across the family business and rural schools components are also sufficiently equipped with the

skills to support caregivers and children enrolled within rural schools.

Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL)

Street Child were able to secure a funded training place for SCoSL’s Head of Education at TaRL Africa’s

recent TaRL Community Workshop in Botswana in September 2019, during which SCoSL’s Head of

Education was asked to give a presentation of the pilot conducted as part of Street Child’s UK Aid

funded project Right to Learn in the Eastern Province. This training, and opportunity to collaborate

with, and learn from, other organisations implementing TaRL in varied contexts, was hugely beneficial

to planning for the roll out of TaRL across the 40 rural primary schools targeted by this project. SCoSL’s

Head of Education continues to collaborate with TaRL Africa and Pratham regularly and feeds in

learning to the contextualised approach in Sierra Leone.

12.0 Case studies

12.1

Provide one quality case study that exemplifies what your project is trying to achieve.

Ensure that the case study is clearly structured, briefly outlining:

• What the problem was

• How it was addressed

• The results, including any problems encountered and how they were overcome

• What was learned from the experience

Sixteen-year-old Sorie recalls a time where he and his father had to beg on the streets to support

their family. Due to his father’s disability, which has left him unable to work and provide for Sorie

and his younger children, Sorie had no choice but to drop out of school in JSS 1 to join his father on

the streets.

Whilst begging on the streets, Sorie was seen by a Street Child social worker and was enrolled into

the ‘Count Me In’ programme supported through UK Aid. As part of the programme, Sorie was

supported back into school, where he enrolled in JSS 2, with thanks to catch up classes, and was

given a uniform and educational materials. Both Sorie and his father took part in counselling sessions,

and his father benefitted from livelihood support in the form of a business grant and training,

allowing him to set up a small business selling charcoal to generate a household income. Sorie’s

father is now able to support his children’s basic needs, whilst also saving money for their continued

education.

*Names have been changed to protect identities

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13.0 Other

13.1 Use this space to write anything else you would like us to know about the past year which

has not been covered in the other sections.

14.0 Feedback to the Fund Manager

14.1 Do you have any feedback, suggestions or requests?

15.0 Annexes

15.1 Indicate with a tick which documents you have annexed alongside this narrative report. Those denoted * are obligatory.

Completed Output Scoring Table X

Completed Beneficiary Data Summary X

Reporting logical framework* X

Updated work plan* X

Indicative next year work plan* X

Theory of Change X

Research and evaluations (if applicable) X

Updated Risk Register* X

Updated Delivery Chain Risk Map* X

Safeguarding policy (if updated during the reporting period)

Communications products

Annual audited accounts* Not yet available for 19/20

Updated asset register* X

Other (please specify)

- COVID-19 rapid needs assessment report

- TaRL baseline analysis report

X

UK Aid Match II Annual Review: Narrative Report - Aidstream

Documents

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