Catch-up Premium
The Catch-up Premium was introduced by the government in June 2020 to support schools to ensure that pupils make up for missed learning that may have occurred as a result of the global pandemic. The grant is only available for the 2020-21 academic year and must not be confused with the Pupil Premium Grant.
www.gov.uk/government/publications/catch-up-premium-coronavirus-covid-19/catch-up-premium
All schools in receipt of the Catch-up Premium Grant are required to report on how it is intended that the grant will be used and how the impact of this expenditure on attainment will be assessed. Schools are not required to report on the amount of funding received, however mainstreams schools receive £80 per pupils from reception to year 11 inclusive. The funding is received in 3 tranches, one per term. At St. Peter’s our allocation totals £7,120.
Schools are able to use their funding in a way that best suits their individual circumstances and for specific activities to support pupils’ education recovery in line with curriculum expectations. Schools are also expected to focus on those pupils considered disadvantaged or vulnerable as it is likely that they will have been most affected.
In the Autumn term, and subsequently at the end of the Spring term, class teachers utilised assessment strategies as part of our embedded approaches to teaching and learning to identify gaps in pupils' knowledge and skills alongside attempting to identify those who had not progressed as would be expected. Staff also focused on reconnecting the children with our expectations, school values and learning behaviours as well as mental and physical health and wellbeing, social and emotional development and maintaining our high academic expectations for all. Pupil progress meetings were also held between class teachers and senior leaders to discuss both attainment and progress of all groups of learners, including those considered potentially vulnerable.
How is the grant being used?
The following areas were identified to support pupils' education recovery:
- review and consolidation of basic skills utilising key performance indicators in all year groups including reading, handwriting, spelling, punctuation, number fluency and numerical computation at an age appropriate level (resource costs);
- engaging all pupils in a 'Memory Magic’ programme focused upon supporting and developing working memory and learning skills (resource/ staffing costs);
- curriculum enrichment launching Summer term with an 'escape room' type experience for all learners supporting whole school growth mindset approach (Happy Puzzle Company costs);
- social and emotional development intervention programmes for targeted pupils in EYFS/ Key Stage 1 led by school teaching staff (staffing costs); and
- one-to-one or small group tuition for targeted pupils in Key Stage 2 led by school teaching staff (staffing costs).
How will impact be assessed?
In the first instance, staff will continue to utilise Balance® to demonstrate evidence of impact. Balance is both a formative and summative assessment tool which helps to inform both staff and pupils about the next steps of learning. The use Balance and assessment of learning will continue to:
- provide summary judgements about what has been learned at a specific point in time;
- show what pupils can do without support;
- inform future planning;
- inform the target setting process; and
- identify specific cohort or group issues and where additional resources or support may be required.
At St. Peter’s we value all forms of assessment and appreciate that, although tests provide a simple measurement at a single point in time, professional knowledge and dialogue regarding each unique individual continues to be a key factor in assessing impact. Pupil progress meetings will continue to be held on a termly basis to build a complete picture of attainment and progress.
