Following the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent closure of schools, the government issued an amount of catch-up funding to all schools to support closing gaps in learning. The amount of funding allocated is based on pupil numbers.

The school’s Covid-19 Catch-up strategy is targeted at the most disadvantaged children within the school, either those in receipt of the Pupil Premium fund, those that have / had a social worker attached to their family or those who we know have struggled disproportionately to their peers. When deciding how to spend our funding we have considered our pupils and the strategies that have worked in the past. We have also used the government recommended ‘COVID-19 Support Guide for Schools’ published by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) to identify the best strategies, based on long term research, that will enable us to achieve the most positive outcomes.

Total Covid Catch-up Grant Received

£ 17,690

Total Covid  Catch-up Grant expected

£ 30,005

Estimated cost of Catch-up Strategy

£ 30,005

Teaching and whole-school strategies (EEF recommended)

Supporting great teaching

Expert teachers develop a broad array of teaching strategies that, combined with subject knowledge and knowledge of their pupils, positively impact upon learning.

Ensuring every teacher is supported and prepared for the new year is essential to achieving the best outcomes for pupils.

Providing opportunities for professional development—for example, to support curriculum planning or focused training on the effective use of technology—is likely to be valuable.

Almost all schools will also have made significant adjustments to organisational and logistical aspects of school life. Ensuring teachers have training and support to adjust to these changes is likely to improve the quality of teaching as all pupils return to school.

Early career teachers, who may have had opportunities to develop their practice curtailed by school closures, are particularly likely to benefit from additional mentoring and support.

Pupil assessment and feedback

Assessment can help teachers determine how to most effectively support their pupils. Every pupil will have been affected differently by Covid-19.

Setting aside time to enable teachers to assess pupils’ wellbeing and learning needs is likely to make it easier for teachers and other school staff to provide effective support and inform future planning

Providing pupils with high-quality feedback through live marking, building on accurate assessment.

Supporting Remote Learning

Planning for a well implemented remote learning strategy, ensuring access to technology is key particularly for disadvantaged pupils.

Peer interactions can provide motivation and improve learning outcomes, different approaches to remote learning suit different tasks and types of content.

Ensuring prompt and relevant remote learning is accessible.

Teaching quality is more important than how the lessons are delivered. Different approaches to remote learning suit different tasks and types of content.

Supporting pupils to work independently can improve learning outcomes.

Targeted Support

One to one and small group tuition

There is extensive evidence supporting the impact of high quality one to one and small group tuition as a catch-up strategy.

High quality teaching is supported by targeted academic support. Assessment will identify that some pupils have lost learning, misunderstood content, or made gains in their knowledge, during the extended period of Covid-19 school closures. This may require targeted one to one or small group tuition to address gaps.

Providing additional out of class support can help to close gaps and or deepen understanding.

Intervention programmes

In order to support pupils who have fallen behind furthest, structured interventions, which may also be delivered one to one or in small groups, are likely to be necessary.

Programmes are likely to have the greatest impact where they meet a specific need, such as oral language skills or aspects of reading, include regular sessions maintained over a sustained period and are carefully timetabled to enable consistent delivery.

Interventions might focus on other aspects of learning, such as behaviour or pupils’ social and emotional needs, or focus on particular groups of pupils with identified special educational needs or disabilities.

Effective intervention follows assessment, which can be used to ensure that support is well-targeted and to monitor pupil progress.

Planning for pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)

Creating a positive and supportive environment that promotes high standards and positive relationships can help ensure pupils can access the best possible teaching.

Regular SEND reviews ensure teachers are fully aware of individual needs.

A personalised approach to interventions and support will be given to pupils with additional needs.

Wider strategies

Supporting Pupils social, emotional and behavioural needs

A large and often unrecognised part of teachers’ work has always involved providing support for pupils’ social, emotional and behavioural needs. The impact of school closure and Covid-19 will mean that schools will need to have a sustained focus on supporting and monitoring these needs.

Teachers’ will be involved in planning for well-being approaches within their classrooms which will be supported by CPD and support from the SLT to ensure staff have the support to embed changes in their practice.

Supporting parents and carers

Parents have played a key role in supporting children to learn at home and it will be essential that schools and families continue to work together as pupils return to school.

Schools have provided extensive pastoral support to pupils and families throughout the pandemic. Additional support

in the new school year could focus on providing regular and supportive communications with parents, especially to increase attendance and engagement with learning. There is a risk that high levels of absence after the summer pose a particular risk for disadvantaged pupils.

Providing additional books and educational resources to families over the summer holidays, with support and guidance, may also be helpful—for example, offering advice about effective strategies for reading with children.

Access to technology

Pupils’ access to technology has been an important factor affecting the extent to which they can learn effectively at home.

In particular, lack of access to technology has been a barrier for many disadvantaged children.

As all pupils return to schools, technology could also be valuable; for example, by facilitating access to online tuition or

support. In addition, providing support and guidance on how to use technology effectively is essential, particularly if new forms of technology are being introduced.

Caldecott Primary School’s Summary of Teaching and whole-school strategies

Supporting great teaching

• Priority for all staff to be engaged with CPD following a year with reduced capacity due to Covid.
• CPD to focus on the core curriculum, assessment and feedback strategies, phonics and PSHE/well-being.
• Appraisal system and monitoring will ensure any previous CPD/areas for development are supported.
• All subjects will be planned carefully with consideration for how prerequisite knowledge will be taught alongside new learning, so that knowledge gaps can be reduced. Some areas will be re-sequenced.
• Strong remote learning offer is in place including use of ClassDojo and Zoom for 2 live sessions (one for registration and introduction of lessons for the day and one later to review and consolidate learning and provide opportunity for social interaction between pupils and teachers). Teachers ensure that there is a balance in lessons between catch up and teaching current year group objectives following whole school plan.

Pupil assessment and feedback

• Teaching assistants and pastoral support staff use regular check ins and pastoral support.
•  Pupil surveys to assess pupils’ wellbeing were carried out during the lockdown and were evaluated to inform further practice.
• Wellbeing survey will be used in term 5 to identify children’s wellbeing and mental health needs following their return to school.
• Teacher assessments term 2 (autumn assessments), early term 5 (spring assessments), term 6 (summer assessments) using White Rose and PIRA to support teacher assessment in KS1 and 2. New PIRA purchased.
• Teaching staff will plan to support identified gaps in learning.
• All highlighted pupils become the main focus of interventions either in class, e.g. pre-teaching, focused teacher time, additional reading support or in specific interventions outside of class.

Transition support

• Pastoral team and classteachers maintained regular contact with vulnerable pupils throughout Covid-19 lock down with additional door steps visits for families who required this.
• All vulnerable children and children with a social worker were encouraged to attend throughout lock down.
• Support in place for pupils to transition back in to school where specific needs are identified (Pastoral team). This includes Zoom calls, personalised and individual meet and greets, timetable variations where needed to allow for time to feel calm and safe before joining lessons.
• Transition programme planned for all pupils moving school, starting school and transitioning between year groups. Specific additional strategies planned for those with identified needs. Strategies used have been adjusted to take into account time out of school during closures and how this has impacted on overall development. Continuing referrals to external services where required and joint problem solving meetings between pastoral team, teachers and parents.
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Estimated Cost

£12,121

Targeted Support

One to one and small group tuition

• One to one tuition and small group support in place
• Additional TA hours to support small group interventions, e.g. Talk Boost and Spirals
• Quest for Learning programmes implemented. Year 2 and Year 4 Reading quest and book quest- intensive 12 week programme designed for enhancing basic reading skills, decoding and comprehension  

Intervention programmes

• Decodable reading scheme books (OUP) purchased to enhance existing reading scheme for reading development in Year 3 and 4.
• Decodable reading scheme books (OUP) purchased to enhance existing reading scheme for reading development in Year KS1 and Reception.
• Oxford Owl eBook library for Letters and Sounds and Oxford Owl eBook library purchased to support reading development throughout the school.
• Nessy reading and Spelling programme purchased for identified children across the school.
• Number Shark licences purchased for identified children across the school
• Each class will be provided with an extra laptop and Chrome books to support implementing these programmes.
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Well being

• PSHE curriculum reviewed and purchase of SCARF resources-strong focus on well-being.
• Additional support for all identified pupils from led by pastoral team, e.g. Emotional Literacy Support Assistant.
• Anti-bullying ambassadors continue to support children on the playground who may be struggling with friendships adapted during restrictions for this to take place within own year groups.
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Estimated Cost

£17,884

Wider strategies

Supporting parents and carers

Pastoral team carry out joint problem solving meetings with both parents and external professionals for families who:

Have found it emotionally difficult to return to normal school life and routine

Have low or non-attendance and school refusal

Have demonstrated difficulties in health, mental wellbeing and/or learning during lockdown which may or not have continued on return to school

Pastoral team coordinates support for families for different professionals

Survey of home learning completed with parents during lockdown and areas identified for support. General parent survey in term 5.

Direct communication for parents and carers with teachers via the ClassDojo continues.

Pastoral team and headteacher/SLT present on playground each day, enabling strong communication with parents and carers.

Family Liaison and Outreach Worker attended working 1:1 with parents family links course

Online workshops provided for parents through family links to give skills for parents to support emotional wellbeing at home, behavioural challenges and setting clear boundaries and routines for family life.

Access to technology

• Chrome books/tablets are available to loan to pupils who are sharing devices at home or whom have access only to technology that is not compatible with ClassDojo.
• Online platforms widened to ensure resources used at home mirror core areas within the school.

Summer support

• To be considered within the summer term.

Estimated Cost

none