Britain fails children in residential care. They are 15 times less likely to leave school with good grades. They are six times more likely to need mental health support. This ‘care gap’ requires a shift in mindset across society. Children growing up in residential homes have untold resilience and strength. Instead, it is the system that needs to change. The care gap affects us all. Unlocking the potential of children in residential care could save the public purse over £250 million.

Children’s homes often compete with other low paid jobs and due to the intense nature of work, staff turnover is often high. Staff usually enter the sector with few relevant qualifications or experience, yet training and development are often of poor quality.

Only 4% of children who live in children’s homes gained five or more good GCSEs, compared to about 18% of all children in care and 60% of their non-looked-after peers. Pre-care experiences and systems which fail to prioritise education are contributing factors to low academic attainment, directly impacting the social outcomes for children.

Founder, Emmanuel Akpan-Inwang, was working as a teacher when he became increasingly concerned about how many children in care in the UK are at higher risk of poor educational outcomes, homelessness, unemployment, mental health difficulties and prison sentences. Emmanuel spent two years travelling to homes in Europe, meeting frontline staff and reading in depth about children’s homes. Emmanuel founded Lighthouse Pedagogy Trust in 2017 with a group of former teachers. They felt that more could be done to change poor outcomes by setting up excellent children’s homes and working with the rest of the sector so that children in care have the same opportunities as everyone else.

Lighthouse Pedagogy Trust believes that children in care have the right to the same opportunities as everyone else – at home, school and in their communities. 

They do this by creating children’s homes where children can thrive and where education is central to their holistic approach. They develop practitioners who are able to build lasting relationships in thoughtfully designed physical spaces. Their entire approach is informed by social pedagogy – a relationship-based way of working with children.

Big Change is proud to have backed Lighthouse to open their first children’s home - The Treehouse - which is now home to six young people in care. They plan to open two further children’s homes by 2026 and launch their Level 6 residential care qualification in 2025.

Their work has been recognised in the Guardian, on BBC Radio 4 and in conversations with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. 

After graduating, Emmanuel joined the Teach First programme and taught English at a secondary school in Birmingham. It was because of his experiences teaching looked-after children that Emmanuel decided to work with a group of other Teach First ambassadors to explore improving their educational outcomes.

Prior to founding Lighthouse Pedagogy Trust, Emmanuel worked in a charity providing training and work opportunities to disadvantaged young people and in the management consultancy and technology sectors helping organisations use technology to better support young people.