Ferndown Upper School has taken the topic of lost learning seriously and has devoted the funding it was provided in the following ways:
- Identification of a cohort who had not engaged during lock down for extra, after school sessions, where support was provided and teachers highlighted how / what work the students needed to complete. This cohort was identified from the school’s logging of engagement during lockdown after consultations with the relevant HOY. This catch up took the form of a staffed hour after school every Tuesday to Thursday. Initially the number of students in this group was high but as the gaps were filled the cohort size reduced.
- After the second lockdown the school converted this practice into extra maths, science and English lessons, taught by a subject specialist.
- The school did not believe that the majority of its students required catch-up as their engagement during lockdown had been superb. It also did not entertain any requests to drop a subject until after the students had completed their November mocks, as these demonstrated to the students just how well they had engaged during lockdown. However, a small number of students, were allowed to withdraw from one GCSE option after the mock exam series and this was then staffed by a teacher and extra English, maths and science was delivered, this amounted to 20 lessons per fortnight.
- The school also allocated funding so that staff could create dedicated English and maths remote learning resources. This was achieved by the creation of maths and English booklets that was paired with subscriptions to GCSE Pod and Hegarty Maths to enable remote catch up for all students.
- Academic mentoring was utilised to support skills development, knowledge and understanding.
- Pastoral support and ELSA provision was used to ensure the wellbeing of students who had struggled with mental health during lockdown.