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Literacy & Numeracy

Year 7 Literacy & Numeracy Catch-Up

The Literacy and Numeracy Catch Up Premium gives schools additional funding to support Year 7 students who did not achieve at least level 4 in reading (English) and/or Mathematics at the end of Key Stage 2 (KS2).

Chancellor’s approach to Year 7 Literacy and Numeracy Catch Up Premium is to:

  • Ensure that the funding is spent on supporting students, i.e., catch up groups, after school and lunchtime groups and small group tuition to increase levels and enable the students to access the mainstream curriculum more effectively
  • Offer and implement a range of strategies and monitor and evaluate all/any interventions
  • Take account of guidance from the DfE:  Year - 7 Literacy and Numeracy Guidance reports, recommendations on effective approaches and programmes

For 2019-2020, the school was allocated a total of £5,967 for our students which was spent as follows:

Student Support - From reading age scores taken from all students in their English lessons a group of 13 students was identified as having very low scores. They were removed from Modern Language lessons and received targeted literacy support lessons led by the SENCO and SEN teacher. They were also given CAT tests to identify if the barrier to learning is specific or a broader issue. All students identified as SEN from primary school are subject to a student on a page report and information for teachers about suggested strategies is incorporated into the inclusion register.

Progress mentoring takes place on a regular basis with assigned Learning Support Assistants. Regular progress meetings also take place between the SENCo and Heads of Faculty for English and Mathematics to create foundations for specific interventions. Specific guidance is also sought for academic supports and from Pastoral Team feedback. Provision mapping checks and assesses the effectiveness of intervention to ensure a personalised plan for each identified learner.

Additional Literacy Intervention

  1. Regular assessment of students and their reading.

  2. Year 7 library lessons and form-time reading programmes

  3. Targeted TA support with Year 7 readers

  4. New Year 7 targeted reading resources

  5. ‘Now you’re talking!’ speech writing and oracy competition

Numeracy Intervention

Purpose: To support students enter Year 7 with lower than expected attainment in Mathematics

Strategies

  1. Mixed attainment teaching – students taught in form groups to avoid typical problems associated with setting.

  2. Cooperative planning of mixed attainment lessons to ensure high standards across resources.

  3. Additional afterschool maths support for pupils scoring 100 or less on their KS2 SATs.

How funds were used:

  1. For the first half term a Mathematics LSA was payed to run afterschool sessions to support pupils.

  2. Students who attended sessions were provided with practice resources for independent use.

  3. The remaining portion of the budget was absorbed into the staffing budget and a member of the Maths faculty who was under timetable ran the afterschool sessions.

Success Criteria

Threats and Challenges

1. SEN and LPA students made progress in line with the rest of the cohort

2. All pupils were able to access lessons and felt stretched and challenged

3. Learning walks show consistent, high quality resources used in every year 7 lesson

1. Staff willingness to plan in advance

2. Staff capability to support LPA  while stretching HPA

3. A staff member left in November, meaning a unqualified teacher was employed to teach two of the six classes

Implications for next year

Data Headlines
1. Maintain year 7 planning meetings and support new staff in teaching mixed attainment A sustained improvemnt in LPA. I believe this is due to the improvement in the quality of the resources shared and developed in faculty meetings. fewer pupils significantly underperformed and this is likely a result of the additional support funded by the catch up budget.

Support will remain in place for these students as they enter Year 8 to ensure they continue to make good progress in both literacy and numeracy.

For the academic year 2020-21 the school will receive the sum of £5,967 and will provide the same intervention programme for learners.

Catch-up Premium Information

If you would like further information on the Year 7 Literacy and Numeracy Catch Up Premium please contact Miss Siobhan Crowley, SENCO, or Miss Siobhan Reilly, Deputy Headteacher.