Catch-Up Funding
At Ridgeway, we have planned carefully to ensure the well-being and recovery of our school community following Covid-19.
We have adopted a tiered approach that focuses on high-quality teaching, targeted academic support and wider strategies that will enable us to best support teaching and learning, and have greatest impact on our pupils’ success, academically, socially and emotionally.
Our tiered approach:
1. Teaching
The best available evidence indicates that high-quality teaching and learning is the most important lever schools have to improve outcomes for pupils. In light of current challenges due to Covid-19, ensuring we continue to prioritise high-quality teaching and learning will be instrumental in ensuring that all children have the best opportunity to progress and succeed. This also includes high-quality assessment that supports teachers to monitor pupils’ progress and meet learners’ needs. Ensuring high-quality teaching includes a commitment to the continued professional development of all staff, including valuing and providing opportunity for ongoing reflective practices.
2. Targeted academic support
Targeted academic support relates to the provision for identified children who may need additional support to make progress across the curriculum. Targeting need takes many forms, depending on the individual needs of the children. One size does not fit all. Flexible learning models, targeted support and specific interventions are carefully planned, and monitored through provision mapping.
3. Wider strategies
Wider strategies relate to the most significant non-academic barriers to success in school, including attendance, behaviour and social and emotional support. Re-establishing routines and settling back into school following a period of disruption, as well as supporting pupils’ emotional well-being during a time of immense uncertainty, will be a continued focus.
You can read more about our approach here.
A Tiered Planning Approach 2020-21
Catch-up Premium
All schools in England have been given funding to minimise the effects of Covid-19 on pupils in school; this is called the Catch-up premium. The funding aims to support children to catch up on missed learning caused by coronavirus. This is especially important for the most vulnerable pupils and pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Catch-up funding will be utilised in line with our tiered approach outlined above, informed by Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) guidance. At Ridgeway, we understand that recovery from the impact of Covid-19 will be long-term, so our approaches seek to support children’s learning, development and well-being, both now and in the future. Spending of the catch-up premium is considered carefully with a clear rationale, steps to ensure the initiative is implemented well, and ongoing review to assess the impact of the strategy.