Springboard Trust: Improving Academic Achievement And Mental Health In Our Tamariki

The latest evaluation of Springboard Trust programmes has highlighted long-term impacts for both academic achievement and mental health in students who learn under a “Springboard Trust principal”.

The GoodMeasure report, conducted by ImpactLab and commissioned by Springboard Trust, analysed the overall impact of our programmes based on tumuaki/principals who learned with us in 2020. It assessed Springboard Trust in terms of benefits to participants of the programmes, as well as longer-term societal changes that are influenced by participants, right down to long-term student outcomes.

ImpactLab found that for every dollar of philanthropic funding Springboard Trust received, more than three times that was returned to Aotearoa schools and communities in the form of social value.

"This is a staggering result for us," notes Springboard Trust Chair Ian Narev.

“For 15 years Springboard Trust has benefitted from the extraordinary generosity of a number of families and organisations, and hundreds of volunteers. We take very seriously our duty to ensure that their investment in us has a high impact.

So we are delighted that Impact Lab has affirmed and quantified the high social return on investment from our programs. Impact Lab’s methodology is rigorous, and the report is the culmination of months of effort. Beyond the headline high return, the way in which we have worked together has enabled us already to identify ways to increase the value we create. We are grateful for the professionalism of the Impact Lab team, and also for the vision that Next Foundation showed in funding this work.”

Beyond this, the GoodMeasure report notes the following positive impacts for principals, schools and students as a result of learning with Springboard Trust.

• Increased academic achievement (NCEA Level 3)
• Improved mental health for students and tūao
• Increased social connectedness
• Increased student, whānau and community engagement
• Increased teacher satisfaction and motivation

Much of this aligns with our own evaluation, notably our recent 2021 Impact Report, which outlined the depth and breadth of increased engagement and satisfaction of school leaders, teachers and students throughout the motu.

This latest report is a landmark for Springboard Trust, pinpointing the impacts our programmes have on students in specific, meaningful ways. You can read the full GoodMeasure report here.

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