KS3 catch-up provision at Campion School
The school is fully aware that many children will need support to be back in school and to get back on track after over a year of being in and out of school, a mixture of live teaching and online learning. For some students as well as the need for acceleration of their attainment progress, there is also the need for emotional and social support.
At Campion School, we are growing a team of staff to be able to do this to the best of our abilities, putting each child at the centre of the plans and provision we put into place for them.
We currently have a KS3 catch-up lead, who co-ordinates the programmes, supports staff in the delivery of the work, identifies the students needing support, tracks pupils progress and also delivers and teaches the planned interventions.
The team also has 4 additional members of staff, who are experienced to identify the gaps the students have, and are excellent teachers who can use their knowledge of the KS2 curriculum to break down barriers in the learning process. The team are supported by other colleagues in Maths, English and Science as well as some LSA support.
The current provisions have been in place since September 2020 and are working well.
We have a smaller set of students in Maths and English in both Years 7, 8 and 9. These smaller sets still cover the content for the year group, but the pace may be a little slower, with additional support activities added to address any barriers, and secure previous learning. These groups are already proving very successful, with students gaining confidence and being able to access the work for their Year group with support.
We run a separate programme, our REACH provision. This stands for Reading, Enrichment and Accelerated Catch-up Hub. This programme supports students with key skills in reading, writing, spelling, phonics and maths, and also concentrates on some social and emotional support, so students are again in a small group, where they feel comfortable to talk and share ideas. The students find that the REACH provision helps them with their confidence as the groups again are small. The REACH lessons have been designed to complement the topics being taught in the maths and English course at the same time and take place during the timetabled periods for Modern Foreign Languages. Students in REACH classes also have access to a modern foreign language at a simple level during their lessons.
The students in REACH and the smaller Maths and English classes are continually monitored and if able, can rejoin the MFL carousel or main maths and English classes as and when appropriate.
Reading is a whole school area for development, in terms of ensuring children can read and understand a range of texts across the curriculum, as well as develop a love of reading.
We have recently purchased a reading programme, Accelerated Reader, which encourages students to read for pleasure and also to develop their comprehension skills. This has programme has started in some groups of students across KS3 and we aim to involve all KS3 students across the autumn term of 2021.
At Campion, we are proud of the facilities and resources we have to offer a high quality catch-up provision. Do come and see us and what we can offer.
Melanie Whitlock
KS3 Catch Up Lead
