Houghton on the Hill C of E Primary School

Catch Up Strategy

Last year, the government provided schools with £650 million of universal catch-up premium funding for the 2020/2021 academic year. The aim of the funding was to help pupils catch up on education they  missed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Schools were required to use this funding for specific activities to support their pupils to make up for lost teaching over the previous months. The Education Endowment Foundation released its School Planning Guide which schools used to develop their plans for the premium.

At Houghton School, we used our 2020-2021 catch up funding allocation to provide the following:

• Additional release time for teachers during afternoons, delivered by a qualified HLTA or Cover Supervisor, to allow for one to one or small group targeted teaching groups by qualified teachers.
• Out of hours catch up 'clubs' in all classes for targeted pupils, run by experienced LSAs and HLTAs, in Reading, Writing and Maths.
• Enhanced LSA support in KS1 to address gaps in Phonics and Reading.
• Purchase of additional devices to support our most vulnerable pupils with home learning in the event of self-isolation.

In 2021-2022, a further fund was be provided to schools to continue to address gaps for disadvantaged pupils. This is equivalent to £220 per eligible Pupil Premium child on roll and Houghton expects to receive approximately £2500. This funding is incorporated into our Pupil Premium Strategy, which is published HERE. Funding has been used to purchase the services of a qualified teacher to provide small group and individual tutoring for KS2 pupils in receipt of pupil premium funding, and others who are at risk of falling behind.