Catch Up Funding Information from the Government:
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.
We know that we have the professional knowledge and expertise in the education system to ensure that children and young people recover and get back on track. Returning to normal educational routines as quickly as possible will be critical to our national recovery, and the government intends for schools and colleges to fully open in September.
The government has announced £1 billion of funding to support children and young people to catch up. This includes a one-off universal £650 million 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 lost teaching time.
Although all children have had their education disrupted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, it is likely that disadvantaged and vulnerable groups will have been hardest hit. That is why, alongside the universal catch-up premium, we are launching a £350 million National Tutoring Programme to provide additional, targeted support for those children and young people who need the most help.
Eligibility
The £650 million of universal catch-up premium funding will be available for all state-funded mainstream and special schools, and alternative provision. It will cover:
- primary, middle, secondary and all through local authority-maintained schools, academies and free schools
- local authority-maintained special schools
- special academies and free schools
- non maintained special schools
- pupil referral units
- alternative provision (AP) academies and free schools
- local authority-maintained and academy hospital schools
- local authorities for SEND pupils they place in independent special settings
We will provide funding to local authorities for pupils with education, health and care (EHC) plans who are educated in independent special schools based on the number of such pupils in their area.
Funding allocation
Schools’ allocations will be calculated on a per pupil basis, providing each mainstream school with a total of £80 for each pupil in years reception through to 11.
How much will St James receive and what is St James doing with their catch up funding?
We will receive £80 per pupil paid in 3 instalments over the academic year from Sept 2020 to July 2021. We will receive £3380 in Autumn term, £5300 in Spring term with a final payment of £6200 in Summer.
The funds will be carefully considered and resources, tutoring, additional staff time, ICT support, training, etc will be allocated to meet the needs of our children, close the gap in learning caused by Covid and where the funding will have the most impact.
School is currently seriously considering where the spending can benefit our children. We will have plans in place shortly for this purpose and will publish these on this page.
