Year 7 Catch Up

Catch Up Fund Statement 2017 to 2018

Background

In 2013, the Government introduced the Year 7 Catch-Up Fund. In 2016 to 2017 the government have allocated funding to schools on the basis that they receive the same overall amount of year 7 catch-up premium funding they received in 2015 to 2016, adjusted to reflect the percentage change in the size of the year 7 cohort between the October 2015 and the October 2016 school censuses as follows:

(the number of year 7 pupils recorded on the October 2015 school census) divided by (the number of year 7 pupils recorded on the October 2016 school census) multiplied by the 2015 to 2016 allocation. As such in 2016 to 2017 the Academy received £17,185 and the money was used for the following interventions.

In 2017 to 18 the same formula will be used to allocate money. Outwood Academy City is expected to receive £21,135.

In 2017 to 18 Outwood Academy City will strive to attain the highest standards and ensure inclusion and equal access for all learners. A wide range of provision and intervention strategies will be offered to enable all learners to engage in learning and do their best. In deciding how we spend the Year 7 Catch-Up Fund, we focus on students that are identified as requiring support by using the Lucid Exact programme. The Academy assesses every student with Lucid Exact, when they start at Outwood Academy City to identify any emerging needs. This programme tells us if students need support with Phonics, Reading, Spelling or Handwriting. This information is used to support the setting of students and using the literacy and numeracy option to support students. We also use the Academy reporting system Praising Stars© in early October to identify students who are not making the required progress in both English and mathematics. As such the Academy reserves the right to allocate the Year 7 Catch-Up Fund to support any students or groups of students the Academy has identified as needing additional support in English or mathematics to achieve improved outcomes in learning.

In allocating this fund consideration will be given to those students who:

• Have not made the required progress in reading and/or mathematics at Key Stage 2
• Praising Stars© shows that they are currently not making the required progress
• Have been identified as requiring extra support using the Lucid Exact programme.
• Further psychometric assessments are carried out if further information is needed to identify if a child has SEN. This is part of the new SEND code of practice where early identification is of paramount importance.

Year 7 Catch-Up Fund Related Activities for 2017-18

The funding will be used to provide a range of small group work and 1 to 1 interventions consisting of:

• Small group work sessions using the programmes IDL Phonics and Multi-Sensory Learning
• Accelerated Reader
• Small group work sessions for low levels of literacy
• IDL programme for phonetic learning
• Handwriting programme – focusing on spelling, punctuation and grammar
• LEGO Literacy
• VMG Peer Mentor Reading
• VMG and class withdrawal Lexia
• Toe by Toe dyslexia support
• Lucid testing
• Dyslexia testing
• Visual Stress testing
• After school literacy
• Small group work using Numacon numeracy
• 1:1 literacy work
• Enrichment Maths using the Hegarty maths programme
• Mathswatch
• Numeracy Ninja

There will also be a further opportunity for parents/carers to attend a Numeracy & Literacy Evening to discuss how parents can support their child at home:

• Mathematics: parents invited to see how mathematics is taught in year 7 and 8. They will also watch a demonstration of Numacon and Hegarty maths to help them support their child at home.
• English: The Accelerated Reader and Lexia programmes will be explained and they will be given passwords to access at home to ensure they can support their child.
• Information about other interventions the Academy is running.
• Opportunity to speak to the lead in maths and English along with the SENDCo and Inclusion Coordinator, who will provide information about small withdrawal groups for both numeracy and literacy sessions
• Information will also be provided regarding access to literacy & numeracy sessions in subsequent years. For example, Maths Mastery.

Each term there will be a Numeracy & Literacy awards ceremony for both Year 7 and Year 8, where student progress will be celebrated and students will be provided with information about how much progress they have made which they can share with their parents/carers.

Year 7 Catch-Up Fund Related Activities 2016-17

It was anticipated that the school would receive Year 7 Catch-Up funding of £17,185 approx. for the last academic year based on the formula previously provided. The funding was used in the following ways:

• Weekly withdrawal literacy and numeracy sessions from non-core subjects for year 7.
• Accelerated Reader
• Lexia support
• Lucid testing
• IDL Phonics
• Dyslexia support
• Behaviour support

Evaluating the Effectiveness

• The internal reporting Praising Stars© system is always used to assess students’ progress throughout the year.

Year 7 Numeracy Catch Up Students Progress

In 2016-17 the number of students predicted to achieve a grade 4+ in English and mathematics increased by +6.4%. Progress 8 increased by +0.29%, Attainment 8 increased by +0.2, however the number of students predicted to achieve the EBACC decreased by -4.3 this may be due to changes in the curriculum and hence it is too early to make an informed decision. To further accelerate progress some new additions are being made this academic year to both Numeracy and Literacy intervention.