In York, 5 schools will be opening their doors this summer to help some of the most disadvantaged pupils in our area with the big step up from primary to secondary school.
Many pupils find the move to a bigger school and a more challenging curriculum daunting and this can lead to falling results and they often never catch up again. To help pupils who are especially vulnerable to falling behind, those on free school meals (FSM) or looked-after children, Liberal Democrat Leader and Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg launched the first Summer Schools programme this week.
Liberal Democrat Councillors outside Joseph Rowntree school
1. The schools offering a Summer School in York are:
• Archbishop Holgates School
• Canon Lee
• Huntington School
• All Saints RC School
• The Joseph Rowntree School
2. Children who are eligible for FSMs regularly under-perform compared to more well-off classmates. At the end of primary education, just under 58 per cent of disadvantaged pupils achieve the expected level of attainment, compared with almost 78 per cent of other pupils. These attainment gaps often widen as pupils progress through secondary school.
3. The Summer Schools will help around 65,000 pupils in England from falling behind as they change schools. Schools have designed the two-week curriculum to help pupils in ways that work best for the children in their area but usually include:
• Extra brain training: additional intensive support in English and mathematics, both as catch up and preparation for the secondary curriculum.
• Get to know you: meeting teachers, having a tour of the school or learning more about their new curriculum to help pupils familiarise themselves with their new environment.
• Motivation: wider enrichment activities such as arts, music and sports activities, visits to local higher education institutions and employers.
4. Summer schools will run between July and August.
5. The Government has allocated £1.25bn additional funding in 2012/13 for disadvantaged children through the pupil premium, and has pledged to increase this to £2.5bn by 2014-15.
6. £50m has been made available to schools through the pupil premium to run summer schools in summer 2012.
7. Summer school funding allocations are based on disadvantaged pupils – specifically those who are registered as eligible for free school meals and those who have been looked after in public care continuously for at least six months.
Councillor Keith Aspden, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Education, Children & Young People on City of York Council, commented:
“These Summer Schools can be the key to a child’s success in later life. The step from primary to secondary school can be a really daunting one for many children. If your confidence is knocked back at this stage, it is difficult to recover as a child progresses through the school.
“Liberal Democrats in the Coalition Government have done the right thing by using these summer schools to prevent people from falling behind rather than trying to help pupils catch-up after the damage has been done.
“By helping children and familiarising them with how a secondary schools looks and works, many of the problems can be tackled and I will be working with schools to make sure pupils get the most out of the Summer School programme.”
Commenting further, Nick Clegg said:
“This is £50m worth of extra brain training giving tens of thousands of disadvantaged pupils a flying start at secondary school.
“It’s two weeks in the summer holidays where pupils can catch up on learning and get to grips with life in secondary school – in short, get in the starting blocks ready for the off in September.
“Those who struggle to make the transition are often among the poorest in society, but two weeks of activities can really help to bridge the gap.
“It’s good news for mums and dads too – no parent wants their child to be left out and fall behind. But not everyone has the luxury of taking long periods off work during the summer break.
“Summer schools will ensure pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds can start secondary school on an equal footing with their peers, setting them up to succeed.“