Catch Up Funding

This is the first year that the Academy has been established and as such there are no predecessor reports re the use of this funding. Co-op Academy Failsworth predecessor school Failsworth School has used the funding to support one to one tuition in Literacy in particular, together with supporting enhanced pupil/ teacher ratios in the lower sets in Mathematics and English. There has been intervention in the provision of sup ported homework groups after school for students at risk of failing to “catch up” with their peers.

 Whereas this has been a feature of the work of Failsworth School the new academy intends to work in a much more bespoke way realising that the barriers to both Literacy/ English acquisition and that of Mathematics and Numeracy are not the same for all students within the cohort.
The cohort in Year7 for 2017/18 is 69 students. It is our intention to deploy the funding in specific ways detailed below

Deployment of Funding

Specifically this will be involving targeting individual literacy and numeracy needs through specialist led interventions provided in either 1:1 or small groups to support the development of a range of skills including: fine and gross motor skills development; letter recognition, writing sentences; organising ideas in writing; and, early literacy. This work will be led by a newly appointed Literacy Co – ordinator who will be in post with effect from November 2017 . He or she will be able to call on the services of the Co – operative Academies Trust and the Academies that share that network.
A key numeracy focus has been on increasing access to a more insp irational new syllabus in Year 7 to online resources via Doddle both in the A cademy and for students at home which is designed to further develop and build upo n their existing skills, knowledge and understanding through a personalised route. Making Sense of Mathematics is already proving popular and more motivational in Year 8 and the roll out into Year 7 should build on that work. The Academy is in discussion w ith North West One Hub and will work with 4 other schools in the North West and one Teaching School on improving Mathematics outcomes in Year 7 (as well as different work with Year 11) . This work will be co – ordinated by the Senior Lead Practitioner for Math ematics in the academy (Mr A Dickens) . It will be supported by several Universities including Nottingham and King’s College Cambridge . This work will be in part action research so that we can learn how best our students respond to the new directions in our teach ing. This will entail investment in the learning hub and staff time attending INSET both at C o – op Academy Failsworth and other schools in this group and also LIME (Leaders i n Mathematical Education ) .
We also intend to re – open the academy library and re – establish it as a place where students who may struggle to engage with reading are welcomed. This has meant the relocation of various specialist SEN D teams to other parts of the academy but signals to the whole community the Imp o rtance of books in the acquisition of Literacy.
A newly established attendance team will prioritise first absence telephone calls for Pupil Premium s tudents and those in receipt of “Catch Up” funding. This team is le d by a member of the Senior L eadership Group.

Expected Impact of Funding

 Increased whole academy awareness of literacy and numeracy

 Increased confidence in reading and storytelling

 Increased engagement in reading across the whole academy

 Increase in reading level progress across KS3 as shown by reading data and reading progress awards

 Further increase in o nline access to Maths at home via Doddle and as a result an increase in the percentage of time spent completing maths Home Learning and a positive impact on students’ progress

 Development and ac tive use of the academy library

 The gap between progress in Engl ish and Maths will close rapidly on those nationally

 Greater ranges of reading books will be available for students which have had a positive impact and increased student reading ages

 Maths teachers will get the opportunity to work with p eers through the N orth W est 1 network and by so doing be encouraged to develop more compelling learning experiences in their lesson , especially in Years 7 and 11

 The new library provision near the Gold Area will be accessed by more students

 A focus on the development of literacy compreh ension and improved handwriting

 Extending the range of boo ks in our new library provision

 Increasing access to our Assert ive Mentor programme and/or key workers to help with attendance and associated home/school issues

 The upskilling of Mathematics staff by their exposure to the work of the North West 1 Hub and Higher and Further Education Instit utions eg. Nottingham University

 A series of “how to help your child with…….” evenings which will target families seemingly who feel powerless to support the academy . These will give practical hands on hints rather than dwell on pedagogical theory