What is Catch Up Premium?
After school closures in the lockdown of spring/summer 2020, students returned to school in September having missed a substantial chunk of the previous academic year. This resulted in what some sources say could amount to a loss of 10 years of progress in closing the attainment gap between well performing and poor performing students, so the government agreed to invest £1 billion in a ‘catch-up premium’.
All state funded schools are eligible for the catch-up premium. This includes primary, middle and secondary schools, academies, free schools and special schools that are maintained by the local authority. 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 year 11.
Schools have the flexibility to spend their funding in the best way for their cohort and circumstances. St Giles Academy has also been allocated spaces on the government funded Nuffield Early Language Intervention programme for EYFS.