Catch Up Funding

Overview:

Children and young people across the country have experienced unprecedented disruption to their education as a result of coronavirus (COVID-19). Those from the most vulnerable and disadvantaged backgrounds will be among those hardest hit. The aggregate impact of lost time in education will be substantial, and the scale of our response must match the scale of the challenge. Schools need to identify what was not taught whilst schools were not open along with identifying other learning which may have been forgotten.

The government has announced £1 billion of funding to support children and young people to catch up. This includes a one-off universal £650 million catch-up premium for the 2020 to 2021 academic year to ensure that schools have the support they need to help all pupils make up for lost teaching time.

Aim:
The aim of this funding is for schools to get back on track and teaching a normal curriculum as soon as possible

• Funding allocation - Schools’ allocations will be calculated on a per pupil basis, providing each mainstream school with a total of £80 for each pupil from EYFS  through to Year 6
• Use of funds - Schools should use this funding for specific activities to support their pupils to catch up for lost teaching over the previous months, in line with the guidance on curriculum expectations for the next academic year..  Schools have the flexibility to spend their funding in the best way for their cohort and circumstances.

Accountability and monitoring:

As with all government funding, school leaders must be able to account for how this money is being used to achieve our central goal of schools getting back on track and teaching a normal curriculum as quickly as possible.
Given their role in ensuring schools spend funding appropriately and in holding schools to account for educational performance, governors and trustees should scrutinise schools’ approaches to catch-up from September, including their plans for and use of catch-up funding. This should include consideration of whether schools are spending this funding in line with their catch-up priorities, and ensuring appropriate transparency for parents.

A copy of our school's 2020-2021 Catch Up Funding Impact Report can be read by clicking here.

If you have any questions regarding the funding, then please contact Miss Burrell, Head of School, who will be happy to discuss the strategies that have been employed.

To see the Government's webpage regarding the catch up funding, please click on this link - Catch-up premium - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)