Thorney Close Primary SchoolCOVID-19 Catch Up Funding
“Children and young people across the country have experienced unprecedented disruption to their education as a result of coronavirus (COVID19). 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. We know that we have the professional knowledge and expertise in the education system to ensure that children and young people recover and get back on track. Returning to normal educational routines as quickly as possible will be critical to our national recovery, and the government intends for schools and colleges to fully open in September. 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.”
Department for Education website, 2020 Use of Funds
The government have produced guidance on the use of The Catch Up Premium. Schools have the flexibility to spend their funding in the best way for their cohort and circumstances and have been asked to 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. To support schools to make the best use of this funding, the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) has published Covid19 support guide for schools with evidence based approaches to catch up for all students.
At Thorney Close Primary School, we welcome the additional funding to support pupils in catching up their missed education in the 2019-20 academic year. Our approach to achieving this is bespoke and based upon educational research and best practice recommended by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF). The allocation is £80 for each pupil aged 4 and over recorded in Reception to Year Group 11 in the October 2019 school census.
Thorney Close Primary School received £18,480. This was based on an allocation of 230 children.