Catch Up

The Catch Up Premium

In June 2020, the government announced £1 billion of funding to support children and young people to catch up on missed learning caused by coronavirus (COVID-19). This funding was especially important for the most vulnerable pupils and pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds who we know have been most affected. This funding included:

  • a one-off 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 missed learning;
  • a National Tutoring Programme to provide additional, targeted support for those children and young people who need the most help.

School allocations were calculated on a per pupil basis. Mainstream schools received £80 for each pupil eligible. The report on how Orsett Heath Academy spent this catch-up funding is below:

The National Tutoring Programme

The National Tutoring Programme offers highly tailored tuition support for pupils, to help those whose education has been most impacted by the pandemic. During the course of the academic year 2020/21, 20 pupils were involved in the programme and received over 200 hours of targeted support in either English or Maths.

This academic year, another cohort of pupils from both year 7 and 8 are engaging with weekly small-group tuition to ensure maximum support is given to the pupils most in need.

School-Led Tutoring

School-Led Tutoring is one of the three NTP tuition routes for 2021/22. Under this route, Orsett Heath Academy receives a grant from the Department for Education to spend on tutoring provision. This School-Led Tutoring is designed to help close the education gap between pupils and their peers. We know that some pupils were disproportionately affected during school disruptions because of COVID-19. The grant therefore focuses on providing support to these pupils, through the medium of high quality, targeted, weekly intervention in English, Maths or Science, led by subject specialists.

COVID Catch Up Strategy 2020/21