Recommendations & Conclusions
8 items
5
Recommendation
Fourth Report - Is the Catch-up Program…
Accepted
Teachers and school staff know their pupils and know what interventions are likely to bring the most benefit. The Catch-up Programme to date has been fragmented, and a complex bureaucratic system for applications may have hampered some schools’ ability to access some elements of the Government’s support as effectively as …
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Teachers and school staff know their pupils and know what interventions are likely to bring the most benefit. The Catch-up Programme to date has been fragmented, and a complex bureaucratic system for applications may have hampered some schools’ ability to access some elements of the Government’s support as effectively as possible. The funding schemes should be simplified and merged into one pot for schools to access and spend where the recovery need is greatest. and any future catch-up initiatives should direct funding to schools using existing mechanisms for identifying disadvantage such as pupil premium eligibility and the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI), to ensure schools in the most disadvantaged regions receive more. Schools should also be held accountable for how they spend their catch-up funding. When carrying out inspections, Ofsted should be looking for evidence that catch-up activity has been effective. When inspecting school leadership and management, Ofsted should check that effective governance and scrutiny of resource allocation extends to catch-up funding. (Paragraph 28) Disadvantaged pupils and regional variations in learning loss
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Government response AI summary
The government will simplify the National Tutoring Programme by allocating all tutoring funding directly to schools and has allocated recovery premium based on disadvantage, and Ofsted considers the use of catch-up funding within inspections.
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Department for Education
9
Recommendation
Fourth Report - Is the Catch-up Program…
Accepted
It is not clear that the National Tutoring Programme will deliver for the pupils that need it most. We expect full transparency about the operation of the National Is the Catch-up Programme fit for purposee 31 Tutoring Programme, including information on how many pupils are benefitting from the programme, and …
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It is not clear that the National Tutoring Programme will deliver for the pupils that need it most. We expect full transparency about the operation of the National Is the Catch-up Programme fit for purposee 31 Tutoring Programme, including information on how many pupils are benefitting from the programme, and what the characteristics of those pupils are (for example, whether they are disadvantaged or have a special educational need or disability). It is crucially important that the Government ensures tutoring is working effectively in terms of catch-up, and that it measures and publishes statistics on the improvements in children’s attainment achieved by the tutoring programme. We expect these to be published and will continue to hold Randstad and the Department to account for this. This data is essential if we are to ensure that tutoring support is heavily targeted toward disadvantaged pupils and areas.
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Government response AI summary
The Department began publishing half-termly data from March 2022, including data on participation by local authority, region and school, and will publish data on pupil characteristics such as disadvantage and SEN annually; they will reprocure for delivery partners as they will not be extending Randstad’s …
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Department for Education
10
Recommendation
Fourth Report - Is the Catch-up Program…
Accepted
The Department must commit to publishing statistics on a half-termly basis on the number of starts under the National Tutoring Programme with a greater degree of granularity. This must include information on the proportion of children accessing the programme on a regional basis, and the data should be published in …
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The Department must commit to publishing statistics on a half-termly basis on the number of starts under the National Tutoring Programme with a greater degree of granularity. This must include information on the proportion of children accessing the programme on a regional basis, and the data should be published in a way that has regard to disadvantage and special educational needs. This information should also be broken down for each tutoring provider. If the National Tutoring Programme fails to meet its targets for the number of pupils receiving tuition, and the proportion of these who are disadvantaged, by Spring, the Department should terminate its contract with Randstad and re-run the tendering process.
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Government response AI summary
The Department began publishing half-termly data from March 2022, including data on participation by local authority, region and school, and will publish data on pupil characteristics such as disadvantage and SEN annually; they will reprocure for delivery partners as they will not be extending Randstad’s …
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Department for Education
11
Recommendation
Fourth Report - Is the Catch-up Program…
Accepted
Currently it appears that the school-led tutoring pillar is more attractive than tuition partners or academic mentors (with 230,000 starts as of 1 December, compared to 52,000 and 20,000 respectively), although we have heard concerns about the quality assurance underpinning that part of the programme. The Department should ensure that …
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Currently it appears that the school-led tutoring pillar is more attractive than tuition partners or academic mentors (with 230,000 starts as of 1 December, compared to 52,000 and 20,000 respectively), although we have heard concerns about the quality assurance underpinning that part of the programme. The Department should ensure that all resources are focused on the school-led pillar to ensure more schools are able to access the National Tutoring Programme. The Department should also assess the accessibility of tutoring across the regions and create a quality assurance framework to enable schools to make informed decisions about the tutoring organisations or individuals they employ.
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Government response AI summary
The government will allocate all tutoring funding directly to schools, ensure high standards of tutoring through training, procure delivery partners for quality assurance, and ensure school funding allocations for NTP take account of the numbers of disadvantaged pupils.
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Department for Education
13
Recommendation
Fourth Report - Is the Catch-up Program…
Accepted
The Department should commit to undertaking a review of the impact that Covid-19 has had on children with special educational needs and disabilities. (Paragraph 60) Mental health resilience and an extended school day
Government response AI summary
The government will continue to monitor the impact of Covid-19 on pupils with SEND through research into academic progress and gathering evidence from schools, and the SEND and AP Green Paper addresses many of the key themes raised.
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Department for Education
14
Conclusion
Fourth Report - Is the Catch-up Program…
Accepted
We are conscious that any extension to the school day would need to be carefully balanced so that staff workload and pupils’ energy are not negatively impacted. However, we are also persuaded that there is merit in extending opportunities for additional time spent on extra-curricular activities, including exercise and creative …
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We are conscious that any extension to the school day would need to be carefully balanced so that staff workload and pupils’ energy are not negatively impacted. However, we are also persuaded that there is merit in extending opportunities for additional time spent on extra-curricular activities, including exercise and creative pursuits, to those children who may otherwise not enjoy those opportunities. (Paragraph 67) 32 Is the Catch-up Programme fit for purposee
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Government response AI summary
The government has committed to a minimum expectation of a 32.5 hour school week in state-funded mainstream schools by September 2023, alongside extra-curricular activities, sport, and the National Youth Guarantee.
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Department for Education
15
Recommendation
Fourth Report - Is the Catch-up Program…
Accepted
The Department must introduce a pilot of optional extra-curricular activities for children to help improve academic attainment and wellbeing. The pilot should be trialled in areas of disadvantage across the country. If this pilot proves effective, the Department should include the necessary funding to support a wider provision in the …
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The Department must introduce a pilot of optional extra-curricular activities for children to help improve academic attainment and wellbeing. The pilot should be trialled in areas of disadvantage across the country. If this pilot proves effective, the Department should include the necessary funding to support a wider provision in the next spending review bid.
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Government response AI summary
The government highlights its existing commitments to extra-curricular activities, including introducing a minimum expectation of a 32.5 hour school week, working with DCMS and the Department of Health and Social Care on the cross-government School Sport and Activity Action Plan, and investing nearly £30m per …
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Department for Education
16
Recommendation
Fourth Report - Is the Catch-up Program…
Accepted
There are some examples of positive collaboration between local private and state schools in terms of offering the use of sports centres or theatres to support enrichment activities which should be further encouraged. Primary and secondary state schools should also be encouraged to utilise local youth centres, local community groups …
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There are some examples of positive collaboration between local private and state schools in terms of offering the use of sports centres or theatres to support enrichment activities which should be further encouraged. Primary and secondary state schools should also be encouraged to utilise local youth centres, local community groups and charities to help support schools in providing enrichment activities, so hardworking teachers and school staff are not impacted where possible.
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Government response AI summary
The government highlights its existing commitments to extra-curricular activities, including introducing a minimum expectation of a 32.5 hour school week, working with DCMS and the Department of Health and Social Care on the cross-government School Sport and Activity Action Plan, and investing nearly £30m per …
Read full response →
Department for Education