Aiming High Project inspiring schools in the North East

10th October 2022

Anthony Daulphin, CEO of The Standing Ovation Project has worked alongside the Extol Trust to visit schools in Hartlepool, Middlesbrough and Sunderland.


Young Gentleman in the North East

Extol Trust say their key tenets are inspiration, excellence and partnership. They felt that partnering with the Standing Ovation Project supported their strategy as their mission is to empower the youth of today.

The programme started in Birmingham and now has extended to other regions of the country. Last year, Extol began their partnership with Standing Ovation, to identify projects that bring both of their visions to life.

They previously took part in Standing Ovation’s Young Gentleman project. The aim was to help the boys of the new generation to be the best version of themselves, discussing strengths and weaknesses and positive traits with interactive workshops on social responsibility.

CEO of Extol, Julie Deville praised Young Gentleman as having a clear positive impact, stating:

“It has been lovely to see that one of the participants highlighted that working with Anthony had made him “have a word with himself to turn around his behaviour and attitude” He has just been elected as Head Boy.”

Aiming High


This year, all of the schools in the Extol Trust are engaging with a ten week project from Standing Ovation called Aiming High. The focus is on aspirations, through which pupils are encouraged to think outside of the box, and are given the opportunity to explore challenges they face in a different way, thus changing outcomes for their future.

Julie commented:

“Extol are passionate about giving our pupils the opportunity to excel and realise their aspirations. We are determined that as a family of schools we will open doors and challenge our pupils and our North East communities to be the very best they can be.

Individuals are identifying their personal short and long term goals. We are already seeing a growth of self- belief, and a change of mindset needed to achieve their goals. It is fabulous to see that other schools across the North East are looking to engage with the programmes. Together as educators we can start to address the levelling up agenda and the inequalities we see in our region.

To find out more about the Standing Ovation Project visit: https://www.standingovationproject.com/

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