The Department for Education has announced a new £10 million scheme aimed at offering students in participating schools with more support in English and maths.
The funding will go towards specialist support sessions aimed at helping students catch-up on their numeracy and literacy skills, with schools with high proportions of students from disadvantaged background set to prioritised for the scheme.
The scheme will be introduced amid an unprecedented interruption to the education of pupils across the country as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Set to be rolled out this autumn, it forms part of the government's long-term plan to help students catch up, which will receive £3 billion in funding.
The Maths programmes will be based on the “Teaching for Mastery” programme and curriculum guidance, while the English support is set to be focused on systematic synthetic phonics.
"Maths and English are the foundations for every child’s education," school standards minister Nick Gibb said.
"Being sure we are using the most effective teaching methods - phonics for reading and the maths mastery approach for teaching maths - is key to ensuring every child has the best start to their time at primary school and the best introduction to the challenges of secondary education.
"This programme is designed to support schools in using evidenced-based methods proven to give children the best start to their education."
Pott Shrigley Church School in Cheshire has received £80 per child to support its catch-up efforts, with the school investing in 400 new books suitable for students at a variety of age and ability levels.
"The initial response to the books has been really positive and we’re already seeing evidence of children who were struggling to read post-lockdown moving up a reading scale ahead of our initial predictions," the school reported on its website.
"Monitoring will be continual as is our way in the small-school environment from which we benefit."
Writing in the school's recent contribution to The Parliamentary Review, headteacher Joanne Bromley discussed how the school adapted to the unique circumstances of the past 18 months.
"Facing challenges and being able to explain their methods was something which the children struggled with at first," she said.
"A combination of rewarding perseverance and engagement, giving children the right vocabulary and clever use of technology has enabled our children to become more proficient at problem solving and reasoning."
Schools can find out more about how to participate in the Maths programmes by contacting their local Maths Hub or visiting the NCETM website for maths.
Schools that would like to find out more about the funding for English should contact one of the following English Hubs:
- North: Jerry Clay English Hub
- Midlands: Learners First English Hub
- South: New Wave English Hub
