Plans and Use of Catch up Premium 2020-21

The government is providing funding to cover a one-off universal catch-up premium for the 2020 to 2021 academic year.

It aims to support pupils to catch up for lost learning, so schools can meet the curriculum expectations for the next academic year.

The School will receive £71,840 of funding in 2020-21.

Decisions made about the use of the Catch-up premium were informed by  government guidance  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/catch-up-premium-coronavirus-covid-19/catch-up-premium and the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) school planning guide: 2020 to 2021.

How will the grant be spent?

The School will use the funding in the following ways:

1. £40k in investment in digital resources to develop the School’s online teaching provision

2. £2k in enrichment activities for Schools clubs to help students to settle back into School and transition from Year 6 following disruption in the prior academic year
3. £30k extra staff support to help students who may need extra support following periods of disruption.

How will the effect of this expenditure on educational attainment be measured?

All teaching staff are able to access Microsoft Teams through a laptop computer that also allows feedback to be given using a stylus (where appropriate).

Students are able to access and submit work, communicate with staff and other students, and receive feedback, all through a single online system.

Checks are carried out that staff and students are all able to access relevant systems; staff and students surveys will offer insights into how successfully systems are able to be accessed, as well as to plan for future development.

Support staff have been used to supervise students in classrooms and facilitate lessons by providing IT assistance to teachers who are self-isolating and/or working remotely. This has allowed high quality teaching and learning to continue throughout the period of Covid-19.

Attendance levels of different activities are recorded and monitored. A new, electronic system is in place to replace paper registers used in the past. Student surveys will allow the students’ perceptions of new activities to be assessed. These programmes are based around general wellbeing, engagement and enjoyment of school, which are expected to have a positive impact on educational attainment, even though this is not easily measured.