Use of COVID-19 Catch Up Funding 2020-21

“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.

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

At Riviera Education Trust, we welcome the additional funding to support pupils in catching up their missed education in the 2019-20 academic year. Each of our schools has taken a bespoke approach to the use of this funding, based upon educational research and best practice recommended by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF).  For Oldway Primary School the specific approach is detailed below.