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Running asummer schoolA GUIDE FOR TEACHERS

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Authors

PHIL FOWKES - ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL, REACH ACADEMY FELTHAM Reach Academy Feltham is an all-through Free School which opened in Feltham in the borough of Hounslow in 2012. The school also opened a sixth form in 2017.

ROSANNA HUME - ST. WILFRID’S RC COLLEGE AND CO-FOUNDER OF HEAD START NORTH EASTSt. Wilfrid’s RC College is an 11-18 secondary school in South Shields and is part of the Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust. St. Wilfrid’s is a Teach First partner school and have been an invaluable support to Head Start since their founding in 2018.

ANDREW LAWRENCE - CO-FOUNDER OF HEAD START NORTH EASTHead Start North East works to tackle holiday hunger and raise attainment through an innovative summer schools programme. Since launching in 2018, they have worked with Teach First Ambassadors to support over 100 students.

HANNAH THORNTON - HARRIS ACADEMY GREENWICHHarris Academy Greenwich is a happy and highly successful inner-city London 11-18 school with a thriving 6th Form, and a brand new state-of-the-art building. It is a school which is passionate about developing its staff and its students.

JAMES TOWNSEND - TEACH FIRST Teach First exists to build a fair education for all. Partnering with schools to help them find and develop great teachers and leaders and ensure they have the external networks of support needed to thrive.

The authors are grateful to the following people for reading and commenting on draft: • David Benson - Kensington Aldridge Academy• Jonathan Day - Education Endowment Foundation • Alex Fairlamb - Associate Assistant Headteacher, St. Wilfrid’s RC College• Jenny Griffiths - Teach First • David Jones - The Brilliant Club

This guide has been created by a group of Teach First Ambassadors. The core group were:

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ForewordAs I write, lockdown is gradually easing and schools are carefully welcoming larger numbers of children back to school. Children’s experience of lockdown will have varied greatly. For some disadvantaged pupils, back to school may not be back to normal. A child from a low-income background is already on average 18 months behind their peers by the age of 16 under normal circumstances. School has now been closed for most pupils for three months and some disadvantaged children are likely to have fallen further behind during this home schooling period. The need for additional support for these children is greater than ever – both in terms of wellbeing and learning.

Many schools and teachers have been supporting each other and their students in outstanding ways. At Teach First, our community of ambassadors (alumni of our teacher training and school leadership programmes) have done the same throughout the Covid crisis. They crowdsourced online resources within days of schools closing; led webinars and Twitter discussions and – like all teachers and school leaders – adapted at breakneck speed to a new mode of teaching and support for children and families. We are proud that many of the leaders and teachers involved in setting up Oak National Academy are Teach First ambassadors.

This support guide to running a summer school has been created and shared by Teach First ambassadors with experience in running summer schools. We wanted to help them share their expertise and worked with them to create this guide. We know that summer schools will not be appropriate for all schools (teachers and headteachers must judge what their children need right now). We know that hard working schools staff will need a break over the summer. And we know that summer schools alone will not come close to mitigating the effect of Covid-19. But we also know that summer schools can play a role in supporting children’s learning, in (re)-building relationships and in supporting children’s wellbeing. I hope that those of you considering a summer school find this guide useful – either this year or in the future.

RUSSELL HOBBYCEO, Teach First

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Summer school guide

Design your curriculum to deliver your purpose and with your target students in mind

Have a clear purpose

Make sure you have a clear overarching aim for setting up your summer school

Having the correct number of staff with the right skills and relationships to deliver your curriculum is vital Consider the travel and food

needs of every child and let them know how you can help

Use data and your professional experience to select the students who will benefit most

Ensure budget is in place to deliver your purpose. Think creatively where you can

Talk about the benefits to the students and keep communicating with parents

Target the right students

Simple and focused curriculum

The right staff

Remove all barriers

Sell it to students and parents

Budget

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Contents

INTRODUCTION

SAFETY FIRST

SUMMER SCHOOL BENEFITS: THE EVIDENCE

HAVING A CLEAR PURPOSE

DECIDING WHO YOUR SUMMER SCHOOL IS FOR

CURRICULUM

STAFFING

CHOOSING THE BEST TIME

CHOOSING THE BEST PLACE

FUNDING

ATTRACTING CHILDREN

ATTENDANCE

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IntroductionThe closure of schools due to Covid-19 will have a significant impact on all young people’s learning and development. It will be most detrimental to those children who have been unable to access quality learning opportunities at home or who rely on school to provide safety, structure and a quiet place to study. There is existing evidence that ‘summer learning loss’ affects all children but that it affects the poorest children the most. As the Education Endowment Foundation says: ”School closures are likely to reverse progress made to close the gap in the last decade since 2011.” Time away from school due to Covid-19 is likely to have a significant impact on children’s wellbeing and learning.

One means of starting to mitigate the effects of an extended period away from school (in terms of transition to a new school or phase, supporting wellbeing or countering learning loss) is to run a summer school for particular groups of children.

This guide has been put together by a group of teachers and school leaders with previous experience of designing and running summer schools. It should be seen as a tool for those interested in running or already planning to run summer

schools, not as an argument that all schools should run one. We hope it will be useful and relevant to people considering a summer school a year from now as well as this year.

By sharing some of our (often painful!) collective learning, we hope that others can avoid similar mistakes and provide the best possible support for children. This guide provides a structured means to think through all elements of running a summer school - from determining purpose to curriculum to transport. It provides checklists to think through and case studies from our own experience in running summer schools. It is intended as an aid to planning rather than a blueprint that will tell you exactly what to do.

Each school must make their own decisions about the best means of reducing the impact of Covid-19 for their children. For those planning to run a summer school, we very much hope this guide is of value and wish you the very best of luck.

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Safety firstFOLLOW GOVERNMENT HEALTH ADVICE

As we write, in early June, a significant degree of uncertainty remains about how and when schools will open to all students following the Covid-19 lockdown. Schools must, of course, consider the health and safety of students and staff as their number one priority when thinking about any possible summer school.

Please consult the latest government advice about the safety of school opening as the starting point for any planning for a summer school.

Coronavirus (COVID-19): implementing protective measures in education and childcare settings

Actions for schools during the coronavirus outbreak

SOCIAL DISTANCING: LEARNING FROM EXPERIENCE

Many schools have remained open during the lockdown to serve vulnerable students and the children of key workers. In this period, we have gained some valuable experience in teaching and supporting children whilst maintaining social distance. We hope this may be useful if a similar need for social distancing remains in place during the summer holidays.

Case study

Many schools have remained open during the lockdown period for a small number of students. Some of the lessons learned during this time will remain relevant for summer schools. Two schools share their experience.

School one is a secondary school in Gateshead:

• Designating desk space to individual students at the beginning of the day, with two metres between each desk and no changing of spaces through the day.

• No sharing of equipment or food. If computers are used, students should use the same one each day.

• Structured activities to support with social distancing at break times, such as playing with hula hoops. Disinfect all equipment after break time.

• For students who prefer to stand and chat at break, cones can be used to clearly mark two metre distance apart.

• Staggered break, lunch times, entry and exit from school.

• Structured hand washing routines, including school entry and exit, after breaks and before eating.

• Discouraging students from touching their face with their hands.

• An assembly at the beginning of each day reminding students and staff of expectations.

• Though some of these routines will take time to normalise, like all school routines we found that students were able to learn them quickly with clear and consistent guidance from teachers.

School two, an all through school in Feltham, implemented a number of approaches during lockdown:

• A one way system through school• A limited number of teachers interacting with each

class where possible• Non uniform (allowing clothes to be washed

each day)• Lunch in classrooms to restrict movement/spaces

used• Temperature checks on arrival• Families informed not to wait outside school

entrances for drop off and collection• Pencil cases, books etc to be provided for each

pupil and remain in school (no outside equipment to be taken into school)

LOCKDOWN LESSONS

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SAFEGUARDING

As well as the need to plan for Covid-19 related safety concerns, there is of course a need to plan to ensure the general safety and wellbeing of all children, staff and volunteers involved in your summer school.

Please check and ensure you can adhere to your school safeguarding policy as well as the DfE guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education. Of particular relevance is the passage below:

“During term time the designated safeguarding lead (or a deputy) should always be available (during school or college hours) for staff in the school or college to discuss any safeguarding concerns. Whilst generally speaking the designated safeguarding lead (or deputy) would be expected to be available in person, it is a matter for individual schools and colleges, working with the designated safeguarding lead, to define what “available” means and whether in exceptional circumstances availability via phone and or Skype or other such media is acceptable.

It is a matter for individual schools and colleges and the designated safeguarding lead to arrange adequate and appropriate cover arrangements for any out of hours/out of term activities.” (DfE, September 2019, p. 95)

Safeguarding checklist

Based on our experience of running summer schools, it is especially important to remember that the procedures for staff are likely to be different to those in term time. With that in mind:

Make sure everyone is aware who the designated safeguarding person is during the summer school (especially if this is different from term time)

Ensure you have a clear procedure for reporting any safeguarding concerns

Make sure all volunteers are aware of the safeguarding procedures they should follow

Be especially aware of the fact there may be more one to one support for pupils with fewer children involved. Make sure you have a clear plan to manage this safely

Make sure there is a briefing on children’s specific needs

HEALTH AND SAFETY

In organising your holiday provision, ensure you follow your school’s health and safety policy so that all children, staff and volunteers are safe.

Health and Safety: Responsibilities and Duties for Schools lays out schools’ responsibilities. These apply during the school holidays as well as during term time so it is important to be aware of them if you are leading a summer school.

Health and safety checklist

Based on our experience of running summer schools, it is especially useful to:

Be clear on which parts of the school grounds are in and out of bounds (especially if there is building work going on)

Make sure all children and staff are aware of who is the designated first aider

Ensure all children, staff and parents/carers are aware of the procedure for signing in and out at the start and end of each day

Talk children through the rules for the summer school. Children may assume that the normal school rules do not apply during the summer. Whether you follow the usual rules or create specific ones for the summer, ensure children are aware of them.

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Summer school benefits: the evidenceHere we have collated some evidence related to three reasons for running a summer school. This is not intended to be (in any way) a comprehensive literature review or a comprehensive list of reasons for running summer schools. Rather, we wanted to provide some reading for people looking for a starting point or to help determine the focus for their summer school.

Based on our discussions with fellow teachers, there seems to be most interest in summer schools to:

• Counter summer learning loss• Support transition (especially for the most vulnerable

children)• Avoid holiday hunger

We have only included links to research reports that are publicly available without cost.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Research from the Education Endowment Foundation has found that, on average, students who attend summer schools make two months additional progress compared to those that do not, and can make up to an additional four months progress at a well-resourced summer school if small group tuition is led by well-trained and experienced teachers with a clear academic component. Some studies find disadvantaged students make greater gains than their peers at summer schools. The EEF also publishes a Technical Appendix for those interested in further detail of the summer schools studies.

Analysis from McCombs et al. (2011) concludes that summer schools can have a positive impact on student outcomes both through mitigating summer learning loss and allowing for new learning gains to be made.

TRANSITION TO SECONDARY SCHOOL

The Nuffield Foundation highlights the potential of extended induction arrangements, such as summer schools, in ensuring that primary school students make a successful transition to secondary schools with a significant positive effect on academic progress.

Previous programmes funded by the Department for Education found that summer schools focusing on transition to secondary school had a major benefit for disadvantaged students, by helping them form relationships with staff and students and increasing academic confidence.

HOLIDAY HUNGER

Surveys from the NEU revealed that 59% of teachers knew that students in their school were going hungry, and that existing holiday meals provision in their area was inadequate to meet this need.

The APPG on Hunger reported that children who have experienced holiday hunger start the new term several weeks, if not months, behind their peers who have enjoyed a more wholesome diet and lots of activity during school holidays.

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Having a clear purposeThere are many valid reasons for running a summer school. Our experience, however, is that in order to be as impactful as possible, it is useful to identify one main purpose.

When you have to make difficult decisions about which children to include in your summer school, what to include as part of the curriculum, or the best week(s) to run the programme, you will need one overarching purpose to inform your decisions. This is not to say that you cannot achieve multiple goals to a degree, but having one dominant purpose that grounds all decisions is very helpful in planning.

HOW CAN YOU DECIDE YOUR PURPOSE?

It may be that you have a very clear purpose in mind for your summer school already. If so, great! But even if that is the case, we would recommend creating an eight word mission statement for your summer school. This will push you to clarify exactly what the summer school is set up to achieve and give you the best chance of being able to evaluate whether or not it was effective.

As this article suggests, your eight word mission statement should include a verb, a target population, and an outcome that implies something to measure.

Here are some examples: • Stop Gateshead children going hungry in the holidays• Improve reading for year 5 children in Manchester • Support effective transition to secondary for

Birmingham children

In deciding your purpose, you may want to consider:

• What provision already exists in your area? If, for example, there is already an effective transition programme in place, you may decide to focus your summer school on supporting learning catch-up, or providing extra transition support for those who need more. Or, if there is a well-attended summer camp that includes meals for younger children, you may decide to focus on stretching your older year groups and including food.

• What are the priorities for your school overall? Can you align the purpose of your summer school to support the longer term aims of the school? By doing this, you ensure coherent support for your students.

• Who else may wish to have a say in defining the purpose? By including the headteacher, governors, or potential funders in the process of defining your purpose, you may increase support and resources for the project.

Especially in the wake of Covid-19, you may also wish to consider which subjects have been most difficult for children to learn at home.

Head Start was founded by a network of Teach First ambassadors teaching in secondary schools in the North East of England. We knew that many of our students were returning from the holidays hungry, malnourished and not in good shape to start the new school term. Learning loss also proved a big issue, we found we spent much of September re-teaching content that had been forgotten from the previous year.

We examined existing academic research on both holiday hunger and summer learning loss, all of which confirmed our own experiences and suggested that summer schools could be an effective means of addressing these issues. After looking at existing summer schools in the area we found that while there were many projects for primary school age children, there was no provision for secondary school age children.

In conversation with local schools and other teachers, we decided that we would have the most impact if we worked with students transitioning from year 10 to 11, giving them a head start to their crucial GCSE year.

We recently clarified our purpose into an eight word mission statement: Get NE GCSE students learning ready for September.

Case studyHEAD START: DECIDING OUR PURPOSE

We decided we would have most impact with children transitioning from year 10 to 11.Head Start

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Deciding who your summer school is forOnce you have decided the purpose of your summer school, the next challenge is to identify which specific children to invite to participate. This may well be a difficult decision as (unless you decide to include a whole year group) you will implicitly be deciding who not to include. Beyond having a clear purpose, we have found that two things are really useful in making these decisions are:

• using data to support your decisions; and• trusting your professional judgement.

USING DATA TO SUPPORT YOUR DECISIONS

Schools have a range of data available to support decision making. We have found it is useful to gather the data below when deciding who to include in holiday schools. It will often help give you a clear rationale for why one child should be included over another, or to identify a need that you had not previously known about.

• Data that may indicate children need additional support e.g. Pupil Premium / Free School Meals/ Special Educational Needs and Disability/ English as an Additional Language

• Data from previous schools e.g. transition from KS2 to KS3 or KS4 to KS5

• Progress data (including data from the period of remote learning)

• Attendance data (including data on work completed during remote learning)

• Engagement with and completion of learning

If you are considering including children from more than one school, you may also wish to refer to these additional sources of data:

Fischer Family Trust

POLAR data

Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI)

USING PROFESSIONAL JUDGEMENT AND KNOWLEDGE OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES

Looking at data that indicates children’s learning progress or particular development needs is hugely important. But we know it does not give us a complete picture of children’s needs. As teachers and school leaders, you will know students who are vulnerable or need extra support but who do not fall into categories such as being eligible for the Pupil Premium or Free School Meals.

We have found it really beneficial to take time to gather intelligence from families and colleagues to supplement and support our use of data. At this time especially, certain families may well have found lockdown particularly hard. Using relationships and local knowledge to learn about this will be immensely valuable.

You may wish to ask the following people for their support in creating a list of children to work with:

• Your school’s SENCO• Parents - perhaps through phone calls or a survey• Heads of Year• Form Tutors• Year 6 teachers (if focusing on transition)• Community partner organisations

At Reach Academy Feltham all pupils transitioning from year 6 in to year 7 were invited to the summer school which takes place in the first 2 weeks of the summer holidays (60 pupils). The primary focus of the summer school was to aid transition into a secondary environment in terms of meeting other classmates, teachers and learning the systems of the school before September. This also allowed staff to better judge the abilities of the new cohort alongside any academic or pastoral challenges in order to plan intervention in September and allows children to form friendships before September and create a team culture.

We know that in larger schools it may not be possible to provide places for all pupils transitioning. We have found that the summer school is of particular benefit for:

• Pupils with a lower attainment in primary schools or those who have faced difficulties in their learning.

• Pupils who may struggle with the extended time at home.

• Pupils who may find the transition difficult for a variety of reasons. This could also include attendance concerns from previous schools.

• Family focus - children from families who may find the transition difficult.

Case studyREACH ACADEMY FELTHAM: ALL STUDENTS STARTING YEAR 7

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HOW MANY CHILDREN TO INVITE

Once you have decided your purpose and which group(s) of children you would like to participate, you need to decide how many children to include in your summer school.

We have found that there are a few things that are important to keep in mind in making this decision:

• Ensuring there are enough children present to create positive energy and generate a routine within the group.

• If the focus of the summer school is to provide pastoral support and support wellbeing, will you have enough experienced and suitably qualified staff to provide the necessary support to children who may have complex needs?

• If the focus of the holiday provision is academic learning, research suggests you will need enough teachers to enable small group teaching by expert teachers in order to have a significant impact.

• What will your budget allow? In our experience, it is more valuable to provide a slightly smaller number of children with a really high-quality experience than to stretch the budget and reduce the impact. Do as much as you can with what you have got but not at the expense of impact.

KEEP COVID REQUIREMENTS IN MIND

If you are planning a summer school in 2020, it is worth keeping in mind that:

• Schools may still be required to look after certain groups of children (for instance those of key workers). If this is the case, you will need to factor these children into your planning.

• It is highly likely that some social distancing requirements will remain in place. Keep this in mind when thinking about how many children to include in your summer school.

• Children may have suffered bereavements or abuse whilst away from school that you were not aware of. Make sure you are able to give these children professional support.

At Harris Academy Greenwich, up to 25 specific pupils transitioning from year 6 to year 7 were invited to attend the summer school which took place in the final two weeks of the summer holidays. These pupils were identified by primary schools and through transition visits as more vulnerable and were highlighted as those in need of a smoother transition to secondary school. This vulnerability may have been pastoral, academic, SEN/D or related to the family finding transition more challenging.

The summer school focused on these specific pupils having an opportunity to get to know the school building, routines and systems, pastoral and teaching staff, and some of their classmates prior to September. It allowed staff to gain a deeper insight into these students and their needs, both pastorally and academically, enabling any planning to take place before September, and by inviting a smaller group of students to attend the summer school than the whole cohort of year 6 students, it meant greater support and attention could be placed on these more vulnerable students with a reduced staff body over summer.

Case studiesHARRIS ACADEMY GREENWICH: 25 CHILDREN IDENTIFIED AS VULNERABLE

Our summer school focused primarily on year 10 pupils, giving them a head start to their final year of their GCSE studies. This is where we felt we could make the biggest difference in closing the attainment gap for pupils by recapping prior knowledge from year 10 and being “school ready” to hit the ground running when starting classes again in September.

At Head Start we used a combination of school data by identifying pupils who encounter four or more hurdles of disadvantage as identified by the Fischer Family Trust as well as data from SISRA to identify underachievers.

Nevertheless, we felt it was imperative to base pupil selection on “softer” data too such as recommendations from form tutors, pastoral staff and class teachers as well and the support from our pastoral team in inviting pupils personally had a big impact on student interest in the summer school.

What was clear for us at Head Start though was that it was essential for schools to help us identify pupils who would engage in the summer school, turn up, try their best and get involved - that’s why the softer data alongside the statistics are so important in identifying the right pupils to attend.

HEAD START: CHILDREN TRANSITIONING FROM YEAR 10 TO YEAR 11

It was essential for schools to help us identify pupils who would engage in summer school.Head Start

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CurriculumDeciding on the curriculum for your summer school will require you to think back to the purpose and desired outcome as well as the targeted cohort of students and the staff that will deliver this curriculum. We have found that keeping the curriculum simple and clearly linked to the overall purpose sets you up well for success.

If the stated purpose of your summer school is to improve academic learning, you will need a curriculum designed for that purpose. As the EEF notes, “summer schools without a clear academic component are not usually associated with learning gains”.

If the primary purpose of your summer school is to support student wellbeing, transition, or relationships between students and staff, you will need to design your curriculum with this in mind and place greater focus on building relationships and routines rather than learning gains.

Either way, we need to plan intentionally for recovery.

ACADEMIC FOCUSED CURRICULUM

A summer school with an academic curriculum will most likely focus on reinforcing prior learning and skills through consolidation activities and retrieval practice. Giving pupils the opportunity to be successful and confident in this core knowledge will be both motivating and positive for pupils whilst also providing a solid foundation for students moving into the next academic year.

Some suggested guiding principles for summer school academic curriculum design:

• Limit new content: it is unlikely that all students from a particular year group or cohort will be in attendance and therefore new content from the core curriculum should be limited.

• Decide the core knowledge: knowing what will provide a foundation for students to more easily learn new content in September will be important.

• Prioritise particular subject areas: it could be that core subjects like English or maths, or creative subjects like art, drama or P.E. are prioritised within your curriculum. Either way, we have found that focusing deeply on a small number of subjects allows for more impact.

• Balance curriculum and staffing: the specialisms of the staff attending the summer school may influence the curriculum package that can be provided.

• Decide the pedagogical approach: for example, it could be that a summer school is the perfect opportunity to teach in a more creative way than usual, or to double down on standard techniques to build familiarity for students. Either way, be deliberate about the approach.

With Covid recovery in mind, you may wish to also consider including in your curriculum:

• Explicit teaching of content delivered remotely (and potentially accessed unevenly)

• Foundational skills catch up provision such as literacy or numeracy, particularly across Key Stage 3 or for transition groups.

• Practical subjects such as PE, art, or drama, which, during remote learning, have been more difficult to teach, particularly in exam years.

At Harris Academy Greenwich, the curriculum throughout the summer school focused on a broad range of school based subjects including English and maths as well as arts based subjects and PE.

We felt it was important to find a balance between supporting students academically, preventing as much of a summer slide in retention of their knowledge as possible as well as providing an enjoyable and positive experience that would make transitioning in September feel easier. Students followed a structured timetable on each day that was designed in advance and was heavily linked with the staff who would be present to deliver the content to students.

The timings were slightly different to the term time timetable: each session was shorter, lunch was brought forward, and the day started slightly later and ended slightly earlier. This was designed as a bridge for students moving from primary to secondary and to acknowledge that the summer school was taking place during the holidays.

Case studyHARRIS ACADEMY GREENWICH: ENSURING CHILDREN HAVE A POSITIVE EXPERIENCE

We thought it was important to provide an enjoyable and positive experience.Harris Academy Greenwich

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PASTORAL FOCUSED CURRICULUM

A summer school with a pastoral focused curriculum will need to be equally carefully designed in terms of the curriculum if it is to be effective. You may, for instance, wish to focus on developing self-efficacy, resilience or on activities such as team building or problem solving in order to build stronger relationships. A carefully planned curriculum is required whatever your aims.

Some suggested guiding principles for summer school pastoral curriculum design:

• Limit new content: A summer school with this focus is not necessarily about making academic gains but making pupils feel confident about attending school. With this in mind any work set should be accessible to all so pupils feel successful. That said, work can still be differentiated to better understand the abilities in a transition setting for example.

• Know your pupils: A pastoral focus will vary based on the needs of the pupils attending and the focus of the summer school. Have an understanding of the pupils when planning your curriculum and be prepared to adapt existing plans. This could include allowing for one-to-one time with particularly vulnerable pupils, inviting concerned families into school or providing external support for any identified pupils.

• Factor in time for team/culture building: allocate time for pupils to get to know one another and their teachers, particularly if there is a transition focus. This could involve creating smaller groups to facilitate relationship building or the use of games/competition. Similarly factor in time to allow pupils to feel part of a team. This could include morning assemblies or activities based on the values/ethos of the school.

• External organisations: are there any external organisations or partnerships with skills relevant to the purpose of your summer school that can be used to support delivery? Similarly, what are the specialisms or interests of your staff and are any of these best placed to lead on aspects of the summer school?

• Develop cultural capital: expose pupils to experiences they may not have had previously to promote buy-in. This could include trips to areas like the theatre for example to allow pupils to understand how to act in different social situations but also see opportunities outside of the immediate community.

With Covid recovery in mind, you may wish to also consider including in your curriculum:

• Use of online meeting software, such as Zoom, to allow pupils or families to meet one another and some of their teachers remotely. This could also include virtual tours of the school building etc.

• Checking in with pupils who may struggle with the return to school when restrictions are eased, again via online meeting software.

• Reducing numbers of pupils attending the summer school and identifying those who would benefit most from a summer school if social distancing continues.

Finally, it could be that your summer school blends an academic and pastoral focus. For example this could be:

• A broadly academic curriculum in the morning with an extra curricular pastoral focus in the afternoon.

• A broadly academic curriculum with one-to-one withdrawal check ins or support throughout the summer school.

At Head Start, we chose to focus on an academic curriculum of English, maths, science and MFL (French and Spanish). We identified the core knowledge and skills we felt would be most beneficial for our year 10 pupils to have a solid grasp of ahead of starting year 11 content. We clearly communicated the goals and success criteria of the sessions with the pupils which allowed them to link what they were studying in the summer school into the wider context of the GCSE course. We aimed to engage pupils with low stakes retrieval practice and high levels of practice, gradually building from guided, supported practice at the start of the summer school to independent practice by the end of it. We checked for mastery of the topic in the final session to enable them to see that they had grasped the concept.

In MFL, for example, we looked at high frequency verbs in three tenses and by the end of the summer school, pupils had applied these verbs to both speaking and writing skill areas. We began by re-capping the use and formation, gave pupils ample practice using the verbs in different contexts and then used a writing task which was highly structured to begin with which then built to independent practice for our students at the end. We used a workbook format to allow pupils to continue the work at home and look back at it for revision. It also provided a support for our volunteer teachers and made it clear and easy to see the progression build over the week.

In order to complement our academic curriculum though, we felt it necessary to include some fun yet purposeful activities into our timetable too. As we were bringing together pupils from several local schools we included some get-to-know-you games and activities on the first day as well as an opening ceremony and closing ceremony to help celebrate our pupils commitment and successes that week.

Case studyHEAD START: CURRICULUM TO GET STUDENTS READY FOR YEAR 11

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STRUCTURING THE DAY

Once you have planned your curriculum, you will need to think about the appropriate structure for the day during the summer school. As with everything, this will depend on the purpose of the summer school but there are some questions we have found it helpful to think through:

• Do you want the day to feel very similar to the term time school day or deliberately different? If learning routines and familiarising children with your school day is important, then, of course, following your standard school day as closely as possible will be valuable.

• Can you start each day with some kind of assembly to bring everyone together and build shared purpose and identity (as well as making sure everyone knows what is happening that day)?

• How can you make sure children know what to expect? We have found that giving students a timetable so that they are aware of what they are doing day to day helps them feel more confident that there is a plan and reduces anxiety.

• Can you build in time for relationship building? The children attending may or may not know each other; they may come from different year groups or from different classes. How do you give enough time to help them get to know each other and the staff?

• What could you do to break up the day? We found that any unorganised ‘dead time’ does not work well! Can you give kids a break? Through bursts of different sports or games using the school facilities for example.

• How might the age of the students attending change your plan for the school day? For instance, you may wish to do an earlier lunch for younger students.

• To what extent do you want to keep in mind parents’ work schedules in planning the timetable for the summer school? It may be that parents will rely on the summer school for childcare once they know it is happening. Will you include parents in any of the activities?

ONLINE SUMMER SCHOOL

It may be that an in person summer school will not be possible at your school. You may, however, wish to support your children’s learning over the summer.

If this is something you are considering, the Oak National Academy has a large range of lessons for all age groups and activity clubs - a great mix for a summer school.

In addition, Teach First Ambassadors crowdsourced a large range of online resources that may be of value in planning online summer provision.

At Reach Academy Feltham, the curriculum for summer school has been focused on the transition of pupils from a primary to secondary setting. The focus was very much on teaching pupils the systems, routines and values of the school, allowing pupils to meet one another and form relationships, creating a team culture and allowing teachers to have a better understanding of the new cohort in order to provide effective intervention in September.

Pupils followed a structured timetable each day starting with an assembly each morning to prepare them for the day ahead. Each day only one or two new aspects of school systems were introduced, with a focus on positivity and joy. Following assembly, pupils attended a lesson in the morning which introduced them to one of the five values of the school. It was within these lessons that pupils would also be taught the routines of a typical school day and how to act within a classroom. These lessons were delivered in a high-energy, inclusive manner with the narrative that everyone in the classroom was within a team.

Pupils would also have an extended activity time each day in which they were placed into smaller groups with a teacher. Initially this would include activities that were heavily structured. As time went on during the summer school, activities became less scaffolded and groups merged to allow pupils to form relationships with their peers in a smaller group first.

Subsequent lessons often focused on English and maths, did not introduce specific new content and were accessible for all. This was mainly to gauge the abilities of the pupils to allow for planning of intervention in September. The day would end with another assembly as a whole cohort to celebrate the successes of pupils that day and encourage the pupils to celebrate each others’ successes through shout-outs. At all points of the day pupils could be taken from activities for more one-to-one intervention or small group tasks based on primary school reports, observations in the summer school or data available.

The summer school would end with families of pupils being invited to the school for a picnic in which the successes of the pupils were shared with families and these families could meet one another as well as their child’s teachers. Identified families would also be welcomed into the school throughout the week for intervention if required.

Case studyREACH ACADEMY FELTHAM: AIDING PUPIL TRANSITION INTO SECONDARY SCHOOL

Pupils were taught the routines of a typical school day and how to act in the classroom.

Reach Academy Feltham

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StaffingOnce you have a clear purpose for your summer school, clarity about the children you would like to include and a clear curriculum, you need to check you have the right staff available to give those children a high quality experience. You should be willing to scale back the numbers of children if you are not certain you will have the numbers of staff required.

We do not think any teachers should be required to teach at the summer school. It is important to plan staffing based on the number of staff who wish to participate.

ENSURE A CRITICAL MASS OF STAFF FROM YOUR SCHOOL

We have found that there are significant benefits to summer school teachers being from the school attended by participating children. Relationships are strengthened, learning and developmental needs of children are more fully understood and a shared understanding of routines and expectations is developed.

Whilst research suggests that being from the same school is not as important to improving learning as ensuring specialist teachers or small group tuition, we have found that - when you keep in mind the broader benefits in terms of relationships and coherent support for children - a staff team largely made up of teachers from the school the children attend is ideal. This is not to say there is no place for volunteers or staff from partner organisations. Simply that a critical mass of teachers from the children’s school is beneficial.

At Reach Academy Feltham, a range of staff were present to help deliver the summer school. This included existing members, new members of staff to the school joining in September (both established and training staff) and a range of staff from the pastoral, SEN team and administrative staff.

Existing members of staff were offered a fixed payment for each day working within the summer school, entitled to take one day of annual leave within the academic year leading up to the summer school, or a combination of both up to a maximum of five days. New members of staff were offered a fixed payment per day working within the academic year and encouraged to attend as part of the induction process.

REACH ACADEMY FELTHAM - SOURCING STAFF AND INDUCTION OPPORTUNITIES

At Harris Academy Greenwich, a range of staff including members of the SEN/D department, pastoral staff, subject teachers, school leaders, and administrative staff were present during the summer school. Staff volunteered and were paid for their time on a daily rate.

It was important to ensure that the school had staff from this range of specialisms in order to meet our purpose. For example curriculum sessions were the most effective where subject specialists led on the planning and delivery of the content and were supported by non-specialists or non-teaching staff. In order to ensure that we could meet the purpose of supporting students pastorally and with vulnerabilities, having staff from the pastoral team and SEN/D department was imperative.

HARRIS ACADEMY GREENWICH: GETTING THE RIGHT SPECIALISTS IN PLACE

Case studies

It was important to ensure staff from a range of specialisms.Harris Academy Greenwich

Staff were offered a fixed payment for each day working at the summer school.Reach Academy Feltham

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ROLES

The exact make-up of the team required to run a successful summer school will, of course, depend on the purpose of the programme and numbers of children involved.

However, we have found that the roles below will be required in almost all cases. Sometimes, more than one of these roles will be played by the same person. Sometimes these people will be staff at your school, other times not. But, one way or another, we have found these roles are necessary (see table 1). As well as these core roles, you may also wish to consider the potential benefits of including:

Trainee teachers joining the school: Having the chance to build relationships with small groups of children and practice explaining content to them is very useful development for new teachers.

Teachers new to the school: Having the opportunity to get to know some children at the school and fellow teachers prior to the school year starting can help teachers hit the ground running when term starts.

For both the above groups, structure engagement carefully so that new staff can move from observing to supporting to leading sessions.

Teaching assistants: Engaging teaching assistants who will work closely with children attending the summer school can be an effective means of supporting them to build relationships and understand the needs of their children.

Role Responsibility

Director Overall leadership of the summer school

Safeguarding lead Responsible for ensuring all children and staff are safe during the summer school

Logistics lead Ensures transport, food, venue, materials are planned and in place.

Family liaison lead Leads communication with families before, during and after the summer school

Design lead(s) Responsible for creating the curriculum for the summer school and ensuring all teachers involved are well prepared to lead the content

Teachers People responsible for teaching the children during the summer school. Make sure you have enough specialists to deliver the curriculum planned really well and the pastoral staff to ensure all children’s needs are met.

Cleaning staff/ caretaker

People responsible for cleaning the school and ensuring it is open and locked safely at the necessary times

First aid Someone who has been trained in first aid

Catering People responsible for providing staff and children with healthy food

Table 1. Roles and responsibility

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PAYING STAFF

We believe staff should be paid overtime for their work in the summer. There are various approaches to remunerating staff for their time during the summer. We have found the below options to be viable:

• Holiday ‘day rate’: This is akin to paying teachers ‘overtime’ for their work during the holidays.

• Time in lieu: You could give teachers the option of taking additional leave during term time or being paid for their work in the summer.

ADDITIONAL VOLUNTEERS

Working with volunteers can be a great way to provide extra support for children and teachers; keep costs down; and open up additional opportunities for children.

However, getting the most out of volunteers requires careful planning. Think about the following:

• Make sure all volunteers supporting you have been DBS checked and are aware of the safeguarding policy.

• Make sure volunteers are appropriately trained for the role you hope they will play.

• Make sure there is a clear agreement with volunteers about the role they will be playing and that there are clear shared expectations. This is especially important if volunteers will be part of the core staff team.

The research we looked at suggested that summer schools were most effective in addressing learning loss if utilising small group tuition led by teachers. We recruited teachers, most of whom had trained through the Teach First programme in the North East. These teachers were then formed into groups of two or three to lead sessions in their subject specialism for between ten and 15 students. Some teachers were trainee teachers, in which case they were paired with more experienced teachers and given a support role.

As we were not able to offer sessions in every subject, teachers whose specialisms were not included in the timetable were still able to volunteer for other roles. For example, signing students in and out, supervising break times and running study skills or careers focused sessions. We also ensured that a member of the Head Start committee was always free to deal with any issues that arose during the day, including parental communication and safeguarding concerns.

Case studyHEAD START: GROUPING TEACHERS

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Choosing the best timeThe best length and timing of your summer school will depend on a number of factors, including practical considerations such as available budget and enabling teachers and children to rest and be ready for the long autumn term.

We think two weeks is the maximum that is viable without needing a significantly different staffing model for summer schools. If you do decide to run a two week summer school, you may wish to consider whether you invite the same children for both weeks, or different children in each week - this should be guided by your purpose.

In our collective experience, either the start or the end of the summer seem to be the two best options for when to run the summer school.

START OF THE SUMMER

The benefits of holding a summer school at the start of summer are that:

• It allows time afterwards to plan for intervention or responses to anything that arose during the summer school (for instance the need to make timetable alterations if a pupil is identified as needing more intervention than initially thought).

• The summer term is shorter than the autumn term, so adding time in school at the start of the summer avoids children and teachers having an extremely long autumn term.

END OF THE SUMMER

The benefits of holding a summer school at the end of the summer are that:

• It allows pupils to get back into the school routine after the summer break - it acts as a bridge back into term time and supports children to be ready to start learning as soon as they get back to the classroom.

• It allows teachers to have a break prior to leading the summer school.

• For 2020, it may be that by the end of the summer holidays there may be fewer restrictions in place around social distancing.

Choosing the best placeMost schools will run their summer school in their own school buildings. This has the advantage of being lower cost than external venues and relatively easy to access for the majority of children. If you belong to a MAT or other grouping of schools, you may consider running a programme for children from across the MAT (this could allow specialist programmes in different schools).

There are a few practical things to think through to make sure your school is available and safe to use for a summer school:

• Are there any additional rental costs involved? In some PFI schools, there is a cost to schools in using the buildings outside of term time - check whether this applies to your school.

• Is there any building/ maintenance work going on over the summer that may interfere with the running of the summer school?

• Does the school’s insurance cover usage outside of the school term?

• Who will be responsible for the security of the site during the course of the summer school?

• Will children have transport to the summer school venue? How will the cost of this be covered?

• How can you make the best use of your school’s facilities during the summer school? For instance, if your school has a gym, IT suite or music studios, library could children use them (either as a full part of the holiday programme or in a less structured way for a couple of hours afterwards)?

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FundingEnsuring your summer school is well resourced will be a major concern for many people planning or considering a summer school. Every school’s budget is different and the funding available will depend on wider decisions made by the school and the availability of government funding. We hope the below, based on our experience, will provide food for thought around different ways of funding your summer school.

WHAT COSTS SHOULD YOU CONSIDER?

We have found that the below costs should be taken into account:

• Staffing• Transport for children • Food • Resources - learning materials/ printing• Prizes for competitions• Picnics for families • Costs to rent school buildings• Lighting and building maintenance• Cleaning staff • Catering staff

Based on our experience, a rough figure of £5,000 per week for a summer school for 25-30 students would be a useful figure to have in mind. The bulk of this would go on the cost of staffing (based on a summer school day rate of £150-£200). You may require additional staff for the same number of students this year due to social distancing guidelines.

The case study below gives an idea of the non-staff costs you could expect to plan for.

COVERING THE COST

You may be able to access funds from the Government catch-up fund. Many schools use pupil premium funding to run summer schools.

If your school budget will not cover the full costs of summer school, you may also consider ways to fund the work. Community Foundations are a good place to seek small grants. And for 2020, the Charities Aid Foundation has compiled a list of funders supporting responses to COVID-19.

Community support

Finally, it may be that other community groups may be willing to support you:

• Community officers in supermarkets are often able to support in providing food. Here is some information: Lidl; Asda; Morrisons; Tesco; Waitrose

• Local taxi companies might be willing to support with transport if certain children need particular support to be able to attend

• Local shops and businesses may be willing to offer prizes or sponsorship

Case studyHEAD START: NON-STAFF COSTS FOR FOUR DAY SUMMER SCHOOL FOR 35 STUDENTS

First aid training (x2) £64

Breakfasts £43

Bus passes (17 students) £119

Gateshead taxis (10 students) £214

Learning materials £299

School catering (lunches) £500

Total £1,239

N.B. We were not charged for the use of the school venue.

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Attracting childrenAttracting children to your summer school and ensuring parental support for the full attendance can be challenging. It is worth really careful thought and planning - if children do not attend, they cannot benefit. In this section, we share some of our learning about building relationships and communicating with parents in order to support full attendance.

INVITATIONS AND INITIAL COMMUNICATION WITH PARENTSInitial communication with parents and children about the summer school is important. We have all found the following are useful:

• Creating the understanding with parents as early as possible that, for at least some children, the summer school is an important part of the school giving children the best possible education

• Formal initial invitation letters can be quite effective in helping parents and children feel like attendance is a special opportunity for them

• Being clear to children and parents about the reasons you believe that selected children will benefit is really beneficial

• Follow-up phone calls or visits to parents about the summer school to build a relationship with parents and shared commitment to giving their child a great experience

• Asking parents their preferred means of communication helps to make contacting them as easy as possible.

COMMUNICATING WITH PARENTS WHOSE CHILDREN WERE NOT INVITED TO ATTEND

Parents (naturally) want the best for their children. So you may well have parents of children who are not invited to participate in the summer school asking whether their children can attend (or even arriving unexpectedly at the summer school).

If you are unable to include those children, you need to be ready to provide a clear explanation for parents whose children were not invited to participate.

We have found the following to be useful:

• Being really clear on the purpose of the summer school and the selection criteria and sharing this with parents if appropriate (and without giving away private information about other families).

• Being ready to address parental/student concerns about falling behind or missing out if they do not attend the summer school. Talk them through how they will be supported during term time.

And, of course, if an urgent need arises that attending a summer school would help address, then do all you can to accommodate that child and family.

At Head Start we sent a letter to parents inviting the student to summer school and another informing them they had been successful before the end of the summer term. This was followed up by a call at the beginning and middle of the holidays to confirm their attendance. In hindsight, after the initial letter, we would have sent more text messages to parents, as this was less time consuming for us and more accessible for parents to interact with.

Our communications focused on the fact that children were selected as their teachers thought that they would particularly benefit from the programme. If parents whose children had not been selected for the programme asked why, we highlighted that places on the programme were limited and teachers were keen to prioritise those who they judged would benefit most. sessions. We also ensured that a member of the Head Start committee was always free to deal with any issues that arose during the day, including parental communication and safeguarding concerns.

Case studyHEAD START: LETTER AND LOTS OF TEXTS

In hindsight we would have sent more text messages to parents.

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Head Start

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AttendanceFor children to benefit fully from the summer school, they will need to attend for the duration. This may not be straight forward to guarantee, especially as it cannot be compulsory. We have found the following to be useful in supporting full attendance:

• If you can, speak to or message parents at the end of each day to let them know what their child learned that day, what they will be doing the next day and why it is valuable.

• Have a member of staff who is available each day to follow-up with children who have not arrived on any given day. It may be appropriate to collect certain children to ensure they are able to attend.

• Build in some kind of more social/ fun activities towards the end of the programme - for instance, a trip to a restaurant - to encourage children to attend throughout.

• Build in really clear daily milestones so the children can see and feel progress towards completion.

• Agree clear expectations with children and parents about attendance and the procedures if children do not arrive on any given day.

TRAVEL TO SUMMER SCHOOL

If the location of your school means that children require transport to the school, it will be useful to support them in covering the costs of transport. The best way to do this will differ from place to place. Some ideas we have found useful are:

• Weekly unlimited bus passes enable children to travel to the summer school but could also be an incentive for students to sign up to the summer school.

• Taxis for children who usually have a difficult journey can remove a barrier to attendance.

• ‘Walking buses’ or collecting children from home in cars enable additional time to build relationships with children and families.

For 2020, please ensure you also share with children and families the most up to date guidance about public transport usage following lockdown.

MEALS

Whether or not combating holiday hunger is an explicit aim of your summer school, you will need to feed your students. Here are a few ideas:

Use your school caterer. Check if the school catering team (or a skeleton version of it) are in school all year round and available to provide food for the children and staff. Ask children to bring packed lunches. If you do this, make sure you are able to provide packed lunches for children usually in receipt of school meals. Find a community partner. Local shops or restaurants may be willing to provide free or discounted lunches and refreshments for the children attending the summer school.Support children to cook themselves. If the numbers permit, could the food technology teachers be involved in supporting children to cook their own meals (with the school providing the ingredients)?

At Reach Academy Feltham, parents are aware of attendance to the summer school when accepting a place in the school. All pupils transitioning into year 7 will have a home visit with two members of staff (regardless of whether they can attend the summer school or not) and attendance to the summer school is again discussed with families during the visit.

Pupils identified as vulnerable are also invited into the school for a day before the summer school to meet staff who may be working with them in September and give them an opportunity to become familiar with the school environment.

Towards the end of the summer school, all families of the pupils who have attended are invited to the school to meet the members of staff and one another. Families listen to a presentation from a member of staff which discusses key things to be aware of in September, how to prepare for the new term and how to support the pupils’ learning over the next few years. Time is also taken to celebrate the successes of the pupils and the year group as a whole. Following the talk families and pupils at the summer school are joined by teachers for a picnic in the school to allow all parties to get to know one another.

Case studyREACH ACADEMY: HOME VISITS

Time is taken to celebrate the successes of the pupils and the year group.Reach Academy Feltham