What is catch-up funding?
Following the national lockdown in the Spring of 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the government announced £1 billion of funding to support children and young people to catch up lost time after school closure during the 2019-20 academic year. This is especially important for children from the most vulnerable and disadvantaged backgrounds.
For maintained primary, middle, secondary and all through schools, the government has allocated £80 for each pupil aged 4 and over recorded in Reception to Year 11 in the October 2019 school census. For Watchfield, this is equates to £27,440.
Schools should use their catch-up funding for specific activities to support their pupils to catch up for lost teaching over the previous months, in line with the curriculum expectations for the next academic year. While schools can use their funding in a way that suits their cohort and circumstances, they are expected to use this funding for specific activities which will help pupils catch up on missed education.
Please see below for a summary of how the catch-up funding is being used at Watchfield.