Member Article

Northampton school teams up with national training provider to hold catch-up summer school

A Northampton school has teamed up with a national training provider to hold a week of summer fun to support learners in their transition to the school following an unprecedented academic year.

The Duston School has joined together with training provider PET-Xi to deliver a summer school experience to pupils in a bid to support them in both transitioning to secondary school and catching-up following time out of the classroom due to Covid-19.

The move came after the academy was forced to cancel its transition events for Year 6 students moving into Year 7 this month.

PET-Xi delivered intensive and immersive lessons covering maths and English as well as a number of enrichment activities to the pupils to both boost their knowledge and increase their confidence.

It was also an opportunity for students to get to know the school and ensure they feel positive about moving into Year 7.

The summer school was funded by the government catch-up premium, launched to help pupils and disadvantaged young people catch up on missed education because of Covid-19 – something which has seen children face months of remote learning.

Sam Strickland, Principal of The Duston School, said: “The summer school was an excellent opportunity for some of our new Year 7 students to get a taster of what life is like at secondary school.

“We would normally hold transition events for students moving from Year 6, but we were unable to carry these out this year due Covid restrictions from the DfE (Department for Education).

“It was therefore important that once the restrictions were lifted we gave our new students the opportunity to familiarise themselves with their new school setting and meet some of their peers and the senior leadership team to help boost their confidence and alleviate any anxieties.

“We thoroughly enjoyed working with PET-Xi to deliver the summer school. The staff were extremely knowledgeable, and they delivered a fantastic programme which was both educational and enriching for the students.

“The continual assessments throughout the week also demonstrated the fantastic amount of progress they made – they did better and better as the week went on.

“We’ve had some great feedback and all of the students were really grateful of the extra support they received.”

Bob Pinner, National Education Strategy Manager at PET-Xi, said: “It has been an unprecedented 18 months for all children in education which has seen them spend months away from the classroom – something which has impacted both their education and confidence.

“We are extremely pleased to have worked with The Duston School to deliver a week of summer fun and education to students.

“PET-Xi’s innovative approach to teaching and learning ensures that they not only quickly learn new skills, but thoroughly enjoy their educational progression and achievement during the week.

“The programme also included daily confidence tests designed to both boost confidence and evidence progress, and this group did exceptionally well.

“It’s fantastic that schools like The Duston School have used the government catch-up funding they have been awarded so proactively to hold summer schools to support their pupils as they look to the next academic year, and we are very proud to have been chosen by schools right across England to deliver these.

“Our summer school is just one of the catch-up provisions we offer to provide additional support to young people.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Matt Joyce .