Covid catch up funding 20-21

Purpose

The government announced £1 billion of funding to support children and young people to catch up lost time after school closure. This is especially important for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged backgrounds.

School allocations will be calculated on a per pupil basis. Doubletrees School will receive £240 for each place for the 2020 to 2021 academic year. Our allocation this year is £23,040.

Using catch-up funding

At Doubletrees we plan 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 curriculum expectations for the next academic year in actions for schools during the coronavirus outbreak.

We have considered the ways in which we can utilise the funding to have the best impact on our young people and why:

• We want to ensure we deliver effective remote learning – the EEF suggests that this'll reduce how much the gap widens (and will benefit all pupils)
• We want to provide sustained, targeted support especially in core areas – helping disadvantaged pupils catch up when they've returned to school.
• We want to improve the specialised knowledge and training of our staff to support young people with heightened anxieties, mental health difficulties and associated behaviours linked to the impact of Covid 19.

Key areas we are focusing on include:

• One to one and small group support academic interventions
• Intervention programmes and strategies that reduce anxieties and improve physical and mental health to support access to learning.
• Targeted highly individualised support
• Supporting parents and carers and staff access training and support
• Access to technology

Our funding is being used to resume teaching a normal curriculum as quickly as possible following partial or full school closures.

Monitoring by our Governors and by Ofsted

Our governors and trustees scrutinise our approach our plans for and use of catch-up funding. They consider whether we are spending this funding in line with their catch-up priorities, and ensuring appropriate transparency for parents.

Ofsted will visit some schools during the autumn 2020 term to discuss how they are bringing pupils back into full-time education. These discussions may include plans schools have to spend their catch-up funding.

When routine inspections restart, Ofsted will make judgements about the quality of education being provided and how school leaders are using their funding and catch-up funding to ensure the curriculum has a positive impact on all pupils.

Please read the attached document to find out how about how Covid catch up funding is being allocated and used this year.