Ridgewood Community High School
COVID Catch Up Funds
What catch-up funding is for?
The government announced additional funding to support children and young people to catch up any missed learning caused by COVID 19.
This funding included a 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 as a result of disruption to schools due to COVID lockdown measures. This is especially important for the most vulnerable pupils and those with disadvantaged backgrounds.
Schools were advised to use their funding, for specific activities, in a way that suits their cohort and circumstances.
Why is it important to use this Catch-up funding for our pupils at Ridgewood?
- Pupils may be experiencing feelings of worry, anxiety, fear and loss due to living through a pandemic.
- Due to lockdown measures, including social distancing, pupils will have less opportunities to be with their friends and extended family circles, and so may miss that social support that is essential for good mental health and well-being.
- Some children will miss time in school due to underlying medical conditions as they are required to stay at home to shield. Other pupils may be affected by disruption caused by classes requiring to isolate and therefore miss a significant number of days in school.
- Where there is a barrier to accessing lessons in school or resources sent home, there may be reduced engagement with academic lessons and pupils may have lost skills.
- Some pupils will require support for their behaviour for learning when returning to school after periods of accessing learning from home.
Ridgewood Community High School received £240 for each pupil in school for the 2020 to 2021 academic year. This was provided in 3 instalments.
Total £ 28,600 – academic year 20/21.
The table below sets out how Ridgewood used this funding.
|
Identifying Need: |
How was the funding spent? |
Cost of interventions |
Targeted Pupils |
Impact on Pupils |
|
Children are likely to be experiencing worry, anxiety and fear.
Potential for associated behavioural issues for some pupils |
Early interventions for students who were experiencing particular concerns and anxieties including
Trauma training courses for specialist Pupil Support staff
|
2 x courses £275 each Total £ 540
|
All students who experienced some social and emotional difficulties. |
Reduction in anxieties and the effects of trauma (often causing barriers to learning) and increased wellbeing and readiness to learn.
Improved pupil behaviour for learning.
|
| Children will have less opportunities to be with their friends and will miss out on the social support which is essential to good mental health and well-being. |
Mental health and wellbeing teacher training packages
Mental health and well-being home visits
Opening up non-classroom areas of school to enable more pupils to access the building whilst remaining socially distanced |
In school INSET costs covered
4 hr per week
£1,240
Covered under school FMS |
All pupils will had access to their class staff team and specialist Pupil Support staff team |
Enhanced social development and interaction and improved emotional well-being. Reduction in frequency, severity and generalisation of inappropriate behaviour.
More pupils able to be physically in school to receive their education.
Checks on well-being and engagement in learning through direct face to face contact with a member of school staff at least once per week for those accessing learning from home. |
| Children have lost skills and reduced engagement with academic lessons |
Academic subscriptions in case of remote learning e.g. Purple Mash
Pupil laptops purchased and delivered to pupils’ homes
Purchase of remote learning licences for staff who are required to work from home.
Upgrades to staff laptops to enable staff to access work remotely. |
£900 + higher level access
£17,000
£576
£1200 |
Accessed by all pupils |
Resources and information about how to access remote learning communicated to the pupils and their families.
Carefully planned and exciting learning materials which are easily accessible and encourage pupils to engage fully to support learning.
Pupils able to use school laptops at home to access their learning.
Staff laptops upgraded to support access to remote working. |
|
Lockdown measures are likely to decrease the number of opportunities to be active and be outdoors and in the fresh air. |
Development of Ridgewood’s Outdoor Learning facilities.
Purchase of equipment to set up Learning Outside the Classroom (LOtC) opportunities across the curriculum. e.g. waterproofs, wellingtons, Timetable changes allowed for 3 outdoor play times am, lunch & pm breaks |
£598 waterproofs
£400, materials from garden centre, materials from aquatics centre, camera |
Accessed by all pupils |
Increased Outdoor Ed opportunities support emotional, behavioural and intellectual development.
Students develop: a sense of self, independence, confidence, creativity, decision-making and problem-solving skills, empathy towards others, motor skills, self-discipline and initiative.
Pupils are outside in the fresh air more frequently. |
| Social distancing measures will reduce the number of pupils and staff that can access certain areas in school as whole classes. | Alterations to the building space enabled children and staff to work together whilst socially distancing |
FMS Additional 2 temp TAs £36,000 allowed staffing of additional classes |
All pupils affected by lack of space to ensure social distancing |
Increased number of children able to access their learning at school in a safe, socially distanced way. Significant reduction in behaviour incidents |
Total spent - £57,254