COVID Catch-Up
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.
The government is providing schools with £650 million of universal catch-up premium funding for the 2020/2021 academic year. The aim of the funding is to help pupils catch up on education they have missed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Schools should use this funding for specific activities to support their pupils to make up for lost teaching over the previous months. While funding has been allocated on a per-pupil or per-place basis, schools should use the amount available to them as a single total from which to prioritise support for pupils according to their needs. Schools do not need to spend the funds in the financial year beginning 1 April 2020, and may carry some or all catch-up premium funds forward to future financial years if they wish. It will not be added to schools’ baselines in calculating future years’ funding allocations.
Schools’ allocations are calculated on a per pupil basis, providing each mainstream school with a total of £80 for each pupil in year’s reception through to 11.
Please see below for our school plan in response to this additional funding. Please note that this plan should be viiwed as a working document, subject to change, which will be reviewed regulalry in light of the ever-changing nature of the COVID situation. The current needs of the children and staff will be at the forefront of all our COVID catch-up planning.