Background
Chapter One has been developing innovative solutions to advance early literacy since 1993. Founded in the USA, Chapter One expanded to the UK in 2018 with its online reading volunteer programme. This impactful reading support model provides busy corporate employees with an easy way to support struggling readers with weekly online 1:1 reading sessions, focussed on increasing their confidence and love of reading. Since launching in the UK 6 years ago, we have grown substantially and now support 3,000 children in Birmingham, Bradford, Doncaster, East Sussex, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London, Leeds, Peterborough, Manchester, Middlesbrough and West Cumbria.

In the United States and Canada, Chapter One has also established a High-Impact Tutoring programme, also known as Early Literacy Intervention (ELI), in which a dedicated specialist supports children in the school setting with 1:1 phonics instruction with the aid of a technology tool. It has been positively evaluated via a Randomised Control Trial in the US, a summary of which can be accessed here.

The ELI programme is currently in a pilot phase at 4 schools in the UK in East Sussex, London and the West Midlands. To accommodate the differences in the teaching of phonics in North America and the UK, the UK version of the technology tool has been adapted from the US-based analytic phonics model to use a synthetic phonics approach that aligns with any Dept for Education validated Synthetic Systematic Phonics scheme. So far, it has been positioned to participating schools as ‘keep-up’ support for whichever school phonics scheme they have adopted.

Purpose
Chapter One UK is looking to expand its Early Literacy Intervention Programme as part of a multi-year growth plan. The programme has proven very successful in the US and Canadian context, and our UK organisation is thus looking to mirror that growth here. We are seeking a qualified consultant to help our team scope two key projects/objectives:

1. Determining how to position our solution and/or modify it marginally so it is appealing for multi-academy trusts or individual schools to pay for our programme.

2. Creating a strategy that outlines target buyers, influencers and communities where our solution might best resonate. This should include a competitor analysis and advice on how to position our USP.

Delivering on these two objectives will require the consultant to understand the detail of how the technology tool operates and the implementation model we currently use in the UK pilot schools. This will include virtual demonstrations and school visits.

We expect the consultant(s) to deliver a written report/proposal with clear, practical recommendations for next steps at the end of the engagement.

Timeline
We expect to hire one to two consultants for this work by mid October, but will be looking at applicants as they apply, so encourage early expressions of interest. We expect to onboard the consultant(s) by late October. Once they are fully onboarded, we anticipate giving the consultant(s) three months to complete their report(s).

Fee
Consultants will be paid at a rate of £5,000 per project/objective.

Candidate profile

A successful candidate will have a background in education, a deep understanding of the current phonics and early reading landscape in the UK and strong expertise in business development. While we may hire two consultants for each primary focus of this project, we believe a strong candidate should have a mix of the following core attributes:

• Experience selling into schools and school systems

• Strong understanding of the policy landscape in the UK

• Strong understanding of phonics and early reading landscape

• Strong understanding of the commercial marketplace for early literacy interventions

• Background working at a multi-academy trust or primary school, or as a Local Authority advisor / Inspector or Local Authority / MAT Literacy Consultant or advisor

• Robust network of connections in the education sector, specifically with primary schools and education-related organisations focused on young learners

• Awareness of other UK education charities and the models they used to scale

• Independently motivated worker who will structure their own time and meet deadlines

• Polished communicator who can deliver best-in-class deliverables that will be

• immediately actionable to the Chapter One team

• Driven learner who is comfortable making calls, hosting meetings, and gathering information from as many sources as possible to influence their deliverable(s)

How to apply

Please note the timeline described above. Candidates should send their CVs and a proposal to Emma Bell, Chapter One UK’s CEO at emma@chapterone.org. The proposal should outline:

• their relevant qualifications and experience

• which objective/project(s) they are interested in working on

• the approach they plan to take

• a timeline for their proposed approach

• an outline of end of engagement deliverables