Guidance

Summer schools guidance

Updated 30 June 2021

Applies to England

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/summer-schools-programme/summer-schools-guidance

The case for summer schools

Department for Education (DfE) research estimates that in the first half-term of autumn 2020, pupils in:

  • year 3 to 9 were on average around 1.6 to 2 months behind on their reading
  • year 3 to 7 were around 3.2 months behind on their maths
  • schools with high numbers of pupils eligible for free school meals were on average further behind those in schools with low free school meals eligibility

Anecdotal evidence also points to children and young people’s mental health having suffered from lockdown and from periods of individual or class isolation even after schools reopened fully in the autumn term.

Summer school provision with an academic focus has the potential to support attending pupils to make up for some of their missed education. The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) finds that, on average, pupils attending a summer school can make:

  • 2 months’ additional progress (compared with pupils who do not attend)
  • up to 4 months’ additional progress if the summer school offers small group tuition led by highly-trained and experienced teaching staff

Evidence suggests a broader benefit for families and communities, support for vulnerable children and young people, pupil mental health and wellbeing, improved education engagement and transitions, and reduced youth violence.

Aim of the programme

The aim of the programme is to deliver a short summer school with a blend of academic education and enrichment activities.

Who the programme is for

The programme is for secondary schools.

It is for schools to determine which pupils, from any year group, would most benefit from a summer school. We expect, however, that most will want to focus this provision primarily on pupils making the transition into year 7. This transition is known to be a challenging one for some pupils, and the impacts of the pandemic have increased this challenge.

Pupils leaving primary school this year may have missed a significant proportion of key stage 2 face-to-face teaching and therefore missed valuable preparation for secondary education. They are likely to need additional support with English and maths, for example, to make it easier for them to access the secondary curriculum. A summer school gives an opportunity to offer that face-to-face support before they start a new school.

Summer school also offers an important opportunity to support pupils’ wellbeing. Schools must include enrichment activities, such as team games, music, drama or sports activities. The cultural capital pupils have lost out on is important too. Pupils may not have heard as many words as they do on a normal day or read the books or been to the different places they might have otherwise. Some pupils won’t have had access to a garden or other safe outdoor space during lockdown, so schools might want to offer those opportunities as part of the summer school.

Benefits of the programme

Where a school runs a summer school for its incoming year 7, those pupils will have an opportunity to:

  • build a community with their fellow pupils
  • forge relationships with new teachers
  • familiarise themselves with their new school environment

Teachers with experience of running a transition summer school for incoming year 7 pupils report that take-up can be high. Pupils say that they felt more a part of the school and parents were keen to engage and gave positive feedback

Schools are free to run a 1 or 2-week summer school and may choose to involve different pupils over that time, according to their needs. This could mean that more pupils benefit from a shorter summer school.

Although schools are able – and encouraged – to carry out transition activities before the end of the summer term, schools can and should use existing funding and their usual term-time staffing and other arrangements for those activities. These term-time transition activities may be useful to schools in identifying pupils who would benefit from more intensive support in the summer.

Eligibility

Funding will be made available to:

  • state-funded secondary and special schools
  • non-maintained special schools
  • pupil referral units

It will also be made available to alternative provision for pupils whose education is funded by the local authority outside of state place funded schools, including independent schools and other providers.

Confirming your offer

We suggest all schools inform parents of their offer before half term. By the end of June, schools will need to confirm:

  • the number of places they intend to offer, and for which parental agreement is in place, over how many days
  • that the school will offer a mix of academic and enrichment activities according to the needs of their pupils

Schools should confirm their arrangements and secure their funding for their summer school by completing the confirmation form by 30 June.

Funding

This funding must be used for provision delivered during the school summer holidays.

How funding has been calculated

For mainstream schools, funding has been calculated on the basis of a school’s existing year 7 cohort. As special schools and alternative provision generally tend to have very few, if any, year 7 pupils, their funding is calculated on the basis of their year 11 cohort. These settings will receive a maximum allocation based on 50% of whichever is the larger of their year 7 or year 11 cohort.

Funding for secondary schools with an older pupil intake (for example, upper schools in a 3-tier system) is calculated on the basis of 50% of their intake year.

For new secondary schools due to open in September, funding is calculated on the basis of 50% of expected year 7 pupils or intake year if there is no expected year 7 cohort.

Schools with a very small number of year 7 pupils will receive no less than £1000 should they choose to participate. If it is impractical for those schools to run a summer school for their small cohort, this funding allows them to work collaboratively with other local schools.

Summer schools form one part of the educational recovery programme of funding available to schools. We are able to provide funding to each eligible school based on up to 50% of their year 7 (or other relevant) cohort being offered a place on a 2-week programme, or 100% of the cohort being offered a week-long programme. This funding equates to £597 per 2-week place (£1791 per place for pupils in special schools, special units within mainstream schools and alternative provision). Each school’s own allocation is available.

Subject to overall take-up, schools may be able to claim funding to cover additional pupils. Schools can request additional places in the confirmation form. Take-up will then be reviewed and schools notified accordingly. Prior to confirmation of any additional funds, schools should plan to deliver within their published maximum allocation.

Secondary schools offering a summer school to their incoming year 7 pupils should work closely with their feeder primary schools to identify the pupils most in need. Schools must also consider delivering strong enrichment activities alongside academic content.

Further sources of funding

Schools are free to top up and use additional sources of funding to support their summer school programmes if they so wish. For example, this might include using:

Where schools are using alternative sources of funding, they must also ensure they follow any conditions and reporting arrangements associated with them.

Making a funding claim

In September, schools will be required to complete a claim form. This is to:

  • confirm that the summer school took place
  • set out the total number of ‘pupil days’ offered
  • confirm the total number of ‘pupil days’ attended

Academies will receive their funding directly in the October or November funding round. Maintained schools will receive their funding via the local authority.

The daily rate for a pupil place is £59.70. Schools will receive the full per-pupil daily rate for any pupil for whom a place was delivered in line with this guidance. In all cases, schools will be able to use their funding to meet any reasonable accrued and unrecoverable costs.

Cancelling or reducing the numbers in the summer school

If a school cancels the summer school for any reason other than coronavirus (COVID-19) or fails to complete the final claim form, we will not release funding.

If summer schools have to be reduced in scale because of a direct local or national order from the government, schools would be eligible to claim a portion of the funding available to them in line with:

  • the scale of the summer school
  • the number of pupils for whom confirmed places were made available

If summer schools have to be cancelled because of a direct local or national order from the government, schools would be eligible to claim any reasonable accrued and unrecoverable costs.

Where schools choose to reduce the scale of their summer school provision (in whole or in part), they would be eligible to claim only a portion of the funding available to them in line with:

  • the scale of the summer school
  • the number of pupils for whom confirmed places were made available

Pupils not attending

Schools must try to maximise attendance at summer school for those pupils who are due to attend, in order to achieve the best value for money. Where a school has information that enables it to know that pupils who were due to attend will not do so, the school must take all reasonable steps to reduce the costs of their summer school provision accordingly.

If a pupil does not attend the summer school at very short notice, the full day rate will not be automatically payable for that pupil but schools should claim their unrecoverable, receipted costs up to a maximum of the day rate.

If schools come to a local arrangement that means that places are delivered more cheaply than the unit rate, then they must only reclaim actual costs up to the maximum of their allocation.

Accountability

Required record-keeping

Schools must keep a daily attendance record of pupils attending the summer school. Spot checks on compliance with requirements, including the number of places catered for, will be carried out.

Schools must keep receipted records of summer school costs. These must be kept available for inspection either as part of a spot check on summer school expenditure or as part of an audit.

Schools and local authorities must provide information as may be required by the Secretary of State to determine whether they have complied with these conditions.

School compliance

Schools are accountable for their use of the summer school funding allocated to them. They are expected to spend the grant for the purpose it was provided – to run a summer school, during the school summer holidays, with a mix of academic and enrichment activity.

Full conditions of funding for schools are set out at annex B.

Online reporting

Schools must publish brief details of their summer school on their website by the end of October 2021. This should include the amount of funding received and a breakdown of how it was spent.

Review of online reports

Online reporting will be monitored through a sample of schools. We will review the published information on selected schools’ websites to ensure it meets the conditions and requirements of summer school funding.

Evaluation of the 2021 summer schools programme

We will conduct research into how schools are approaching recovery of lost time in education and will aim to assess the effectiveness of the different approaches. Schools may be contacted by representatives of DfE to review their experience of delivering a summer school.

Setting up a summer school

Premises

The summer school offer focuses largely on pupils making the transition into year 7 and therefore largely into a school that is new to them.

Holding a summer school in the secondary school pupils are moving to will help them to feel comfortable in their new surroundings and with their new teachers. We anticipate that most schools will want to run the summer school at their own premises to support familiarisation.

We are aware, though, that some schools may not be able to use their own premises for summer schools because of building works or other issues. In those cases, schools are encouraged to work with other providers to deliver a summer school for their pupils. Solutions might include:

  • working with a neighbouring secondary school, primary school or further education college to pool resources or funding to run a summer school
  • hiring outside premises for the purposes of the summer school
  • working with the local authority to access facilities

Transport

Where pupils require transport to and from summer schools, schools may use a proportion of the funding to provide this.

If schools are arranging transport for summer schools, they may find it useful to refer to the system of controls within the guidance on transport to schools and colleges. The guidance is kept under review and updated as necessary.

Food

Meals must be provided for pupils attending summer schools. Meals must be free of charge for any pupil who is eligible for free school meals and schools can use a proportion of the funding to ensure that is the case.

Parents of all other pupils may be asked to cover the cost of food, although schools may exercise discretion on using funding to offer a meal to any pupil whose family circumstances mean that they would not otherwise be able to attend summer school.

Schools could speak to their school catering team or provider about the best arrangements for providing school meals for those pupils in school.

Alternatively, schools may wish to use a proportion of the funding to source ingredients locally and make packed lunches on site.

Meals provided should comply with the school food standards.

Water

Drinking water must be provided free of charge at all times to pupils on the school premises.

Schools should consider the most appropriate way to do this if, for public health reasons, pupils do not have access to water fountains.

Schools should take steps to limit the use of single-use plastic water bottles.

COVID-secure summer school

Schools should follow the protective measures for holiday and after-school clubs, and other out-of-school settings during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Special schools and other specialist settings should refer to the additional operational guidance.

What works well

Case study example: measuring progress in literacy

The school adopted a structured literacy programme and was very optimistic that the pupils would demonstrate sustainable progress during the autumn term.

Staff tested individual pupils and set a baseline for sentence structure, punctuation, vocabulary, purpose, audience and form, with progress measured on a daily basis during the summer school. There were measurable gains even in 2 weeks.

Teachers were satisfied that the pupils were aware of their assessment criteria and had refreshed their literacy skills.

We know that many schools already have successful transitional support in place but, for those that would like more information, this section sets out what has been found to work well on:

  • educational recovery
  • enrichment
  • familiarisation with a new school in out-of-term activities

Engagement with school, physical and mental health and wellbeing all affect effective academic progress. A broad summer school of academic and enrichment activities would be attractive to and beneficial for pupils.

Evidence from the UK and abroad suggests that effective summer schools have (some of) the following features.

General

General activities proven to be effective include:

  • having clear aims and objectives, so that there is a shared understanding about what the school wants to achieve
  • having a dual focus on supporting pupils’ academic progress and their social and emotional needs which enables pupils to enjoy new experiences, build confidence, reinforce learning and develop positive patterns of behaviour
  • ending the scheme on a high note, such as a celebration event involving parents and carers
  • using interactive forms of instruction, such as immersion and experiential learning, to help keep pupils engaged
  • involving pupils and their parents or carers in the design of the activities and in the recruitment and awareness-raising process, so that they can take ownership of the programme

Partner organisations can play a key role, ranging from providing arts, media and sports expertise to managing summer schools. This can be invaluable in securing an attractive ‘enrichment’ element to the programme and providing activities that might normally be beyond the pupils’ experiences. A close working relationship between schools and partners is essential to provide a cohesive programme.

Logistics

Logistical approaches proven to be effective include:

  • for those pupils transitioning to year 7, building good relationships and having early contact with feeder primaries ensures timely access to complete data about pupils eligible for the programme - this can also help to identify disadvantaged pupils and ensure the programme meets their needs
  • engaging pupils and their families is important in securing take up and maintaining attendance - a written invitation, follow up phone calls or face-to-face meetings with parents or carers to build a relationship and shared commitment to providing a beneficial experience for their child could be helpful
  • giving a deadline for parents or carers to confirm their child’s attendance and investigating the reasons why disadvantaged pupils do not take up the offer
  • using more targeted measures, such as using multi-lingual teachers or volunteers to engage parents or carers for whom English is an additional language can be effective
  • using a celebration event as a positive means of recognising pupils’ success and engaging parents or carers - other ways of engaging with parents or carers include family activities, such as cookery workshops
  • considering what barriers pupils may face in relation to food or travel which prevent them from attending summer school and clearly communicating what assistance is available
  • carefully considering the summer school’s location - hosting the summer school in the school itself can decrease costs, provide easy access and, for those pupils transitioning to year 7, can support familiarisation with the building
  • having a clear structure for each day of the programme with built in breaks of organised activities (rather than ‘dead time’), perhaps using the school’s sports or arts facilities
  • starting each day with some kind of assembly to bring everyone together and build a shared purpose and identity (as well as making sure everyone knows what is happening that day)

There are differing arguments on the best timing for a summer school. Running a summer school at the beginning of the summer holidays can maximise pupil and teacher availability. Alternatively, running it at the end of the holidays can be beneficial for those starting year 7, as they familiarise themselves with the school and its routines immediately before term starts. See annex A for schools’ previous experience of pros and cons for the timing of summer school.

Staffing

Approaches to staffing proven to be effective include:

  • aligning staff skills to the summer school’s particular aims, for example, curriculum sessions are effective where subject specialists lead on the planning and delivery of the content supported by non-specialists or non-teaching staff
  • having staff from the pastoral and special educational needs and disability teams to support vulnerable pupils pastorally
  • recruiting staff from a combination of participating and non-participating schools as well as non-school staff, such as higher education lecturers, youth workers and staff from local businesses, to form an effective team with a broad range of skills and expertise
  • for those pupils transitioning to year 7, including members of staff from the year 7 team helps to provide continuity for pupils ahead of the start of term
  • clearly designating roles and responsibilities such as:
    • overall lead
    • curriculum design
    • safeguarding
    • teaching
    • family liaison
    • first aid
    • catering
    • logistics
    • cleaning
  • involving peer mentors to serve as good role models for pupils and provide excellent support for the work of main staff
  • running a small programme with a high adult:pupil ratio
  • using experienced teachers to deliver the academic element

Education recovery and other lessons or activities

Effective approaches to educational and other activities include:

  • educational activities that complement the curriculum pupils are (or will be) following during the school year - academic content is aligned with the relevant curricular standards
  • having plans in place to assess the impact on learning, comparing pupils’ starting point with post-summer school
  • complementing group teaching with individual support such as target-setting, mentoring, tutoring and homework assistance
  • supplementing academic instruction with enrichment activities that are engaging to pupils
  • time for sports and recreational activities to offer pupils a chance to participate in activities they enjoy
  • for pupils transitioning to year 7, providing the opportunity to get to know the school building, routines and systems, pastoral and teaching staff, and some of their classmates prior to the start of term
  • linking lessons and concepts to a ‘real-world’ context, for example, pupils may learn how to write fiction by participating in storytelling events in the community
  • integrating hands-on activities into lessons - interactive forms of instruction help to keep students engaged in the material

Engaging students in games, group projects, field trips to historic sites, nature expeditions and science experiments are all ways to make learning more interesting and applied.

Other enrichment activities which have proved popular in summer schools include:

  • scavenger hunts
  • map reading
  • team building

Case study example from an opportunity area: Saturday school

This school delivered a creative, enriching literacy and numeracy focussed Saturday school for year 6 to 8 students, improving their attendance, attitudes and abilities. The objective was to:

  • raise achievement in the core academic subjects through accessing high quality, creative and practical additional learning hours
  • provide assistance for pupils leaving primary and transitioning to secondary school
  • improve the emotional well-being of young people through community engagement, and personal, social and health education
  • raise aspirations
  • increase culture capital by the creation of meaningful enrichment opportunities and innovative curriculum design

Supporting confidence and wellbeing

Approaches to supporting confidence and wellbeing proven to be effective include:

  • prioritising specific activities and support to help pupils overcome any fear of bullying, including details of strategies the school has in place to counteract bullying and what pupils should do if it happens to them
  • learning the routine of the school and how to behave in the classroom also provides confidence ahead of the start of term
  • activities focused on team-building help to build stronger relationships - this could include morning assemblies or activities based on the values or ethos of the school
  • allocating 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 or competition
  • making use of drama as a vehicle can encourage pupils to overcome any shyness
  • putting strategies in place to support individual disadvantaged pupils once they start in year 7, informed by the needs identified during the summer school, will support a smooth transition

Maximising attendance

Secondary schools should work closely with their feeder primary schools to identify the pupils most in need, including vulnerable and disadvantaged pupils, including those who are just above the threshold for free school meals as well as those who are eligible for pupil premium. Pastoral teams and special educational needs coordinators will be able to give valuable qualitative insight into which pupils might benefit.

Offering strong enrichment activities alongside academic content would create a more attractive event for pupils. Promoting the summer school positively, with fun activities and down time, will help to encourage a range of pupils to attend and reduce any perceived stigma.

Some schools have found it effective to offer incentives to pupils to attend summer school. These can range from very low-cost activity, such as holding a celebration event on the last day of summer school for pupils and parents, to ‘rewards’ for attendance and engagement, such as the opportunity to attend a sporting event or a trip to the cinema. Schools are free to use a reasonable amount of the funding to incentivise pupils to attend.

To reduce the longer-term impact of the pandemic, it is important to re-engage children with school who have disengaged, were (or were at risk of becoming) persistently absent before the pandemic, or who have missed large amounts of school. It is especially important to re-engage the most vulnerable pupils who can be severely affected by time out of school.

Many vulnerable children find transitions to the next phase of education difficult and will require additional support to make this transition. Summer schools can play a role in supporting this transition and promoting stable relationships, for example, by helping pupils to get to know their new school and teachers. Schools should consider this as part of their summer school planning involving key partners, as appropriate.

Some of the vulnerable children that schools should consider encouraging to attend include those with a social worker, those with an education and health care plan, or those schools have identified as ‘otherwise vulnerable’.

Schools could consider the following actions to support attendance by vulnerable children and those at risk of disengagement:

  • establishing good communication with families about the activities and benefits
  • creating a programme that includes fun activities and experiences that pupils’ parents might not be able to offer, such as a trip or group activity
  • offering options from a menu of different activities could increase interest by giving pupils ownership over what they do
  • offering projects that produce meaningful outputs (for example, creating a community garden) can help engage some pupils
  • using videos of the activities and the people who will be running the programme, which can work well as a communication tool, especially for pupils and parents with English as an additional language, or where written communications is likely to be lost
  • involving key partners in promoting the summer school to vulnerable children, including:
    • local authorities
    • social workers
    • virtual school heads for looked-after and previously looked-after children
    • teaching assistants
    • other specialist special educational needs and disability support, such as a speech and language therapists
  • discussing strategies for engaging and supporting vulnerable children with relevant school leads including the designated safeguarding lead, special educational needs coordinator and the designated teacher for looked-after and previously looked-after children
  • working with designated teachers, who in turn should work with virtual school heads, to understand how summer schooling can best support the needs of looked-after and previously looked-after children and support the objectives in individual personal education plans
  • building in flexibility to reflect individual needs
  • ensuring that pupils have access to the equipment that they need, such as pens, pencils and rulers. If there are day trips, ensuring that they are accessible for all – for example, making sure that spare waterproofs are available for pupils who might not have one
  • promoting stable relationships by involving key people in the summer school (for example, year 7 pastoral leads) so that children are better prepared for year 7
  • extending the summer school offer to siblings of vulnerable pupils, where appropriate

Staffing for summer schools

Case study example from an opportunity area: outdoor learning

The school targeted a group of 118 year 8 pupils based on pupil premium and special educational needs and disability pupils.

The aim was to provide an opportunity for those pupils who are, due to their socio-economic backgrounds, less likely to encounter opportunities to build their self-belief, resilience and character and that will impact positively on their physical and mental health and well-being.

The activities therefore focussed on the need to:

  • broaden horizons and self-awareness
  • increase determination and resilience
  • increase self-confidence
  • raise expectations and aspirations
  • improve teamwork and social skills

The trip was an amazing experience because I did things that I had never done. The thing I especially liked was the caves because we had skills to learn like we had to work as a team.

(Anonymous pupil)

The students really enjoyed the trip. It was lovely to see the students working as a team, supporting one another and cheering each other on. Every student climbed the climbing wall and descended with pride and a sense of accomplishment at what they had achieved.

(Year 8 form tutor)

Summer schools are optional for staff and school leaders are best placed to determine the staffing that best suits their needs.

As well as working with any of their own teachers who are available and willing to take part in the summer school, school leaders may wish to consider the following additional staffing options.

Support staff

Schools may wish to ask some of their support staff to lead groups or cover lessons in summer school. Schools should be satisfied that staff have the appropriate skills, expertise and experience to carry out the work.

Schools should ensure that they continue to have appropriate support in place for pupils with special educational needs and disability and consider this when planning staffing requirements.

Supply staff

When seeking additional external capacity, schools could consider sourcing staff through temporary direct hire, their local authority or trust, or recruitment and employment agencies.

Schools should exercise financial prudence when taking on additional staff.

To help identify the best value, we recommend that, where schools are using recruitment and employment agencies, they consider using the Crown Commercial Service agency supply deal when hiring agency workers. This offers a list of preferred suppliers that must be transparent about the rates they charge. The deal allows schools to look for the best rate in their area. To learn more about the deal, schools can contact Crown Commercial Services by emailing supplyteachers@crowncommercial.gov.uk.

Initial Teacher Training trainees

Schools may want to consider using Initial Teacher Training (ITT) trainees to support summer schools. In discussion with relevant ITT providers, schools could use ITT trainees flexibly and innovatively to help meet both school and trainee needs. Schools will need to take account of the skills and capacity of the trainees.

With the usual mentor oversight, trainees could, for example:

  • take responsibility for groups of pupils
  • develop education materials
  • deliver catch-up lessons
  • offer pastoral support

They could also be engaged in wider professional activity, for instance by supporting vulnerable children and young people.

Initial Teacher Training partnerships will need to ensure they have identified and comply with all legislation and guidance relevant to Initial Teacher Training.

Volunteers

Volunteers may be used to support schools’ delivery of summer schools. It is important that volunteers are properly supported and given appropriate roles, and schools continue to follow the checking and risk assessment process set out in part 3 of keeping children safe in education.

Under no circumstances should a volunteer who has not been checked be left unsupervised or allowed to work in regulated activity.

Schools may also want to consider volunteers from amongst their older pupils. Pandemic restrictions will have meant limited opportunities for older pupils to undertake work experience or volunteering roles that would usually support their personal statements or job applications. Those pupils may be able to recoup some of that lost opportunity by leading or supporting some of the planned enrichment activities.

Similarly, schools may wish to consider volunteers who have recently left the school, or former pupils who have recently graduated, all of whom may be seeking employment and may benefit from work experience to boost CVs.

Feeder primary schools

School leaders may wish to discuss summer school staffing with their counterparts at feeder primary schools, with a view to seeking input from their year 6 teachers in particular. Year 6 teachers’ knowledge of the pupils would be valuable in both planning and delivering the summer school, should they wish to undertake the work.

Other organisations

Schools can work with other organisations and institutions to run their summer school, including those in the private and voluntary sectors. The school should ensure that:

  • its staff members are involved in the summer school design
  • clear mechanisms are in place to ensure that knowledge gained about the pupils who attend is relayed back to the school

Paying teachers who you already employ

Although it is good practice to pay staff relative to their career stage, schools are free to pay staff in a way that works best for them and their staff.

No teacher in a maintained school is required to work at weekends or out of normal school term dates unless their contract provides for this. Any teacher working in a summer school should therefore be doing so voluntarily.

The additional allowance paragraph 26.1 c in the school teachers’ pay and conditions document provides flexibility for teachers to be paid for out of school hours learning activity agreed with the headteacher and would be appropriate for remuneration for summer school work.

Payment for teachers who agree to participate in the summer school should be made at a daily or hourly rate calculated by reference to the teacher’s actual salary on their respective pay range. With the exception of headteachers, all teachers who volunteer to work in summer schools would be eligible for payment under the additional payments paragraphs.

Academies are not bound by the national terms and conditions and so have the freedom and flexibility to remunerate their teachers for any additional work that they do.

Paying other staff for summer school

With regard to support staff, and other non-teaching roles, responsibility for determining pay and conditions lies at a local level with headteachers and school employers. Terms for their participation in summer school should be agreed between employer and employee.

Safeguarding

Schools should follow their usual safeguarding practices for pupils attending a summer school.

Where services or activities are provided separately by another body, the governing board should seek assurance that the body concerned has:

  • appropriate policies and procedures in place in regard to safeguarding children and child protection
  • arrangements to liaise with the school on these matters where appropriate

Case study example: delivering a broad curriculum summer school This maintained school had previously offered sports activities to the local community during the summer holidays and delivered a programme of transition support to the new intake, but these activities had been planned and delivered separately.

The summer school initiative provided the impetus to:

  • integrate these activities into a single broad curriculum programme, linking the sports elements to the year 7 curriculum for mathematics, English and science
  • showcase the school to pupils - raising their self-esteem and removing fears and apprehension

The programme took place over 2 weeks and workshops were delivered in 2-hour blocks, planned collaboratively by the schools’ pastoral care team and subject leads.

Each workshop included a ‘fun’ element, with some kind of link to arts or sport, and making the best possible use of the sports centre facilities. The programme culminated in a 2-day residential trip, hosted at an outdoor education centre, with a focus on team-building and conquering fears about starting school.

The 7 pupils interviewed all rated the programme highly. One had been worried that the mathematics would be too difficult but was surprised to find that it involved origami and code-breaking. This was their ‘best thing’ about summer school.

The broad curriculum theme brought the subject teachers together with the sports centre staff and external specialists. For most this was their first experience of working together and proved to be an inspiring experience.

The main drawback was the reliance on so much different expertise, which made it logistically challenging to organise and run.

Where the governing board provides services or activities directly under the supervision or management of school staff, the school’s arrangements for child protection will apply and the school should continue to have regard to the statutory guidance on keeping children safe in education. The guidance provides safeguarding information for all staff and sets out actions that schools need to follow with volunteers, agency and third-party staff.

Planning a summer school

Schools must have regard to health and safety guidelines.

Schools seeking support with planning may wish to check whether help is available from system leaders in their local area through the school-to-school support directory.

Opportunity areas may be able to link summer schools to other supporting initiatives within their areas. They cover:

  • Blackpool
  • Stoke
  • Derby
  • Doncaster
  • Fenland and East Cambridgeshire
  • Oldham
  • Hastings
  • West Somerset
  • Bradford
  • North Yorkshire Coast
  • Norwich
  • Ipswich

Support for academic activities

Maths

Teaching mathematics in primary schools sets out what pupils need to know in maths when they start secondary school, in order to progress in the curriculum.

A range of supporting materials from video lessons through to PowerPoints is also available from the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics.

Reading

Local libraries may offer ‘borrow bags’ made up of librarian-chosen books, activity ideas and other resources. Find your local library to explore what is available and to join up.

The Poetry by Heart initiative helps to develop and support inspiring poetry teaching in schools and to motivate pupils to explore our rich literary heritage. The curated collection of poems and learning resources is categorised by key stage.

Schools may also wish to encourage pupils to take up the summer reading challenge, which this year has an environmental theme.

The National Literacy Trust is an independent charity dedicated to giving disadvantaged children the literacy skills they need to succeed. The trust’s secondary programmes help students develop their literacy skills to succeed at school and in their future lives.

Science

The Institute of Physics provides free, bespoke support for teachers of physics. Resources include Marvin and Milo enrichment activities for pupils aged 5 to 11 and 11 to 14.

STEM Learning science materials covering key features of science teaching, including subject knowledge, assessment and real world contexts, as well as targeted materials on areas such as SEND, transition and tutoring.

Schools can request a STEM ambassador to help with summer schools and classroom enrichment, free of charge and either face-to-face or virtually.

Schools could set up a STEM club to support enrichment activities.

Teachers may also wish to visit the STEM community, where they will be able to share plans for summer school development and delivery with other teachers.

Modern foreign languages

The National Centre for Excellence for Language Pedagogy provides support including professional development tools and teaching resources which can be sorted by language, pedagogical focus and age range.

Computing

TeachComputing offers a toolkit for teachers and resources by key stage.

Cross-curriculum

Schools may want to consider using video and interactive lessons from Oak National Academy. Oak is developing free, high-quality resources that will be available online throughout the summer holidays. In addition to Oak’s existing range of video lessons, the resources will include a holiday work plan, a menu of priority lessons and assessments, and a package of detailed guidance to help teachers, parents and pupils make the best use of the resources.

Primary and secondary resources are available from BBC Bitesize for teachers and pupils.

The National Tutoring Programme provides high-quality external tuition by approved tuition partners to support schools. Tuition takes place both face-to-face and online and will continue into the summer period to make up any tuition that has been missed, during lockdown. Although summer schools are targeted at pupils in the transition year 6 to year 7, schools may wish to take advantage of their premises being open over the holidays for summer schools as an opportunity for pupils who are being tutored to come into school. This would enable pupils signed up to the National Tutoring Programme to complete their face-to-face or online tuition programme.

Support for mental health

Schools should create an environment that supports pupils’ mental health and wellbeing, ensuring the right circumstances to enable pupils to be able to learn and thrive. Schools should be particularly aware and supportive of the greater mental health and wellbeing needs of vulnerable children.

Schools can access a range of mental health resource and support from the mental health and behaviour in schools guidance.

It gives advice on:

  • how to create a whole school culture, including promoting positive mental health
  • understanding the link between mental health and behaviour
  • how to identify children with possible mental health problems
  • where and how to put in place support, including working with external agencies where required

It also provides links to sources of further support and guidance.

Public Health England’s School Zone provides curriculum-linked teaching resources to support pupils’ health and wellbeing, including dedicated healthy eating, being active and mental wellbeing sections. The mental wellbeing resources have been written and reviewed by teachers and are approved by the NHS. They include videos, lessons and activities on:

Support for enrichment activities

Schools can work with their usual wraparound or holiday provider to ensure they can collaboratively create a broad and interesting programme for the pupils involved. Schools could consider working with any local cultural provision, for example working with their local library on reading events, or organising visits to local museums or galleries.

Arts Council England develops and invests in artistic and cultural experiences to enrich people’s lives. It supports a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries, such as:

  • theatre
  • digital art
  • reading
  • dance
  • music
  • literature
  • crafts
  • collections

Public Health England’s School Zone resources include recipe idea print-outs, with simple step-by-step recipe ideas to enable pupils to prepare healthy fresh food at school or at home with their parents and carers. The resources include recipes that do not require cooking. There are also some maths and English ‘sugar smart’ resources that schools may find useful for younger pupils.

Holiday activities and food programme

Schools may also wish to consider linking up with their local authority’s holiday activities and food programme coordinator to provide enrichment or pastoral activities for summer school participants.

We have made up to £220 million available in 2021 for the holiday activities and food programme. This means that local authorities can offer free, optional holiday club provision to children eligible for benefits-related free school meals in their area. Local authorities are also encouraged to make the holiday clubs available to any children not eligible for free school meals, who can pay to attend.

Clubs are run by schools, voluntary sector organisations and private providers.

The holiday activities and food programme is a locally run programme and therefore the types of activities vary but tend to include sport, arts, drama, cooking and crafts.

Support for sports activities

To support schools over the summer holidays and for summer schools, Sport England and the Youth Sport Trust have launched an active recovery hub. This offers free resources that schools and local authorities can use in planning and resourcing any sports elements of summer schools.

The online hub can also be accessed through the school games website.

Schools may also contact their local school games organiser for help and support in arranging sports activities for summer schools.

Further information

You may find it useful to read:

You may find it useful to watch:

Contact us

For questions about summer school 2021 funding email Learning.Recovery@education.gov.uk.

For general enquiries, contact the Department for Education (DfE).

Annex A: benefits and drawbacks of approaches to timing

Early summer school

Several schools opted to run their programme immediately following the end of the summer term. The rationale was to maximise the availability of staff and parents and carers before the holiday period and to catch pupils while they were still ready to learn.

Benefits

It sometimes proved easier to engage the pupils because they were ‘still in school mode’. It provided pupils with reassurance about starting at secondary school before going on their summer holiday with family or friends.

Drawbacks

Secondary school staff felt that the break in learning of 4 or 5 weeks after the end of the summer school was not ideal.

Mid-summer learning boost

Staff in one school opted to run their programme at the mid-point during the summer holidays. Their aim was to break the holiday period into 2 shorter blocks, to minimise the time spent away from learning.

Benefits

Initial gains were reported to have been made at the summer school, in terms of pupils’ confidence and readiness to learn.

Drawbacks

Staff felt that pupils had not maintained their progress during the initial weeks of the new term.

Late summer school

Some schools held their summer school at the end of the holidays.

Two schools also opted to end their programme with a residential experience, so that pupils’ confidence was at its highest immediately prior to starting the new term.

Benefits

There was ‘…more of a sense that they [the pupils] were starting something new… it was more like the ‘start’ of secondary school’. They ‘enjoyed it [the learning experience] because it was fresh’.

Drawbacks

A teacher noted that: ‘It took longer for pupils to pick up the pace’. The timing resulted in a longer first term for those involved.

‘Stretched’ summer school

One school opted to stretch their activities across the 6-week school summer holiday period. The aim was to provide continuity and to enable pupils to take ownership of a longer project (involving crafts and film-making) that would give them a sense of achievement.

Benefits

The summer school provided valuable ‘time out’ for pupils with challenging home lives.

The school received positive feedback from parents or carers who were grateful for additional support with their child during the summer.

Drawbacks

The extended format placed pressures on staff availability, and pupils’ attendance was variable due to the summer school being disrupted by summer holidays or other family commitments.

 

Annex B: conditions of funding for schools and local authorities

The Secretary of State for Education is providing financial assistance to eligible schools and local authorities for their maintained schools, as stated in section 14 of the Education Act 2002, in the form of the COVID-19 summer schools programme fund.

The fund is to enable face to face summer schools in the summer of 2021.

Aim of the programme

The aim of the programme, drawing on the evidence of good practice, is to deliver a short summer school with a blend of academic education and enrichment activities.

Eligible schools

Funding will be made available to:

  • state-funded secondary and special schools
  • non-maintained special schools
  • pupil referral units

It will also be made available to alternative provision for any pupils whose education was funded by the local authority outside of state place funded schools, including independent schools and other providers.

Maintained schools will receive their funding via the local authority. All other providers will receive their funding directly. If you have not previously received funding directly from DfE or ESFA, you will need to provide your organisation’s bank details.

Purpose and permitted use of summer schools programme fund

The summer schools programme fund is to be used to deliver face-to-face summer schools during the 2021 school summer holidays to pupils identified by the school as being most in need of educational recovery or wellbeing support.

In delivering a summer school, schools must meet the following conditions.

Summer school general requirements

The summer school must include a mix of academic and enrichment activity.

Schools must:

Value for money

Schools must:

  • seek to maximise attendance at summer school for those pupils that are due to attend, in order to achieve the best value for money
  • where they have information that enables them to know that pupils who were due to attend will not do so, take all reasonable steps to reduce the costs of their summer school provision accordingly
  • if they come to a local arrangement that means that places are delivered more cheaply than the unit rate, only reclaim actual costs up to the maximum of their allocation

Required record keeping

Schools must:

  • keep a daily attendance record of pupils attending the summer school
  • keep receipted records of summer school costs - these must be kept available for inspection either as part of a spot check on summer school expenditure or as part of an audit
  • publish brief details of their summer school on their website by the end of October 2021 - this should include the amount of funding received and a breakdown of how it was spent

Schools and local authorities must provide information as may be required by the Secretary of State to determine whether they have complied with these conditions.

Required notification

Schools must:

  • confirm their summer school places to DfE via the confirmation form by the end of June
  • complete the confirmation form and the September claim form to be assured of funding

The maximum amount of funding a school can claim will not exceed their confirmed allocation. The claim amount will include both the per pupil day amount, for those who attended, plus any unrecoverable costs associated with pupils who did not attend a provided place.

‘Unrecoverable costs’ are defined as sunk costs that are already irreversibly committed or spent and cannot be recovered. They will occur where pupil numbers fall below forecast and these costs cannot be reduced in line with actual attendance.

If places are delivered more cheaply than the unit rate, schools must only reclaim actual costs up to the maximum of their allocation.

Example 1

A mainstream school has £41,790 as a confirmed total allocation. This equates to 70 pupils attending a 2-week summer programme, that the school confirmed in June that they would offer. 68 pupils did attend, so the total claim calculated by per pupil day amount for those who attended is £40,596.

The total cost of running the summer schools programme was £41,000 including all unrecoverable costs.

The school will be able to claim £41,000 (£40,596 by per pupil day place attended plus £404 in additional unrecoverable costs).

Example 2

A special school has £21,492 as its confirmed total allocation. This equates to 12 pupils attending over 2 weeks at the uplift daily rate of £179.10 that the school confirmed in June that they would offer. 9 pupils did attend, so the total claim calculated by per pupil day amount for those who attended is £16,119.

The total cost of running the summer schools programme was £19,701 including all unrecoverable costs.

The school will be able to claim £19,701.

As usual, we reserve the right to audit the expenditure and claw back money if claims have not been made in accordance with the guidance, in order to protect public spending. We will be carrying out assurance checks on a sample of the claims.

Schools and local authorities must notify DfE immediately through the ESFA enquiry form where they become aware of any instance of error, suspected fraud or financial irregularity in the claim. Any overpayment shall be recovered against GAG funding by ESFA on behalf of the Secretary of State.

Specific conditions for new free schools

Free schools in pre-opening must adhere to the following conditions, in addition to those set in this document for all other schools. New free schools:

  • must be due to open in September 2021 to be eligible for summer school funding
  • must have their funding agreement signed and in place before the start of their summer school programme
  • must have the appropriate commercial insurance cover in place or be a member of the risk protection arrangement (RPA) as an alternative

Specific conditions for local authorities

Local authorities must comply with the following with respect to summer schools programme fund.

On receipt of confirmed claims from ESFA, the local authority is required to distribute the fund to all eligible schools for which they are responsible. Local authorities must comply with this condition irrespective of any deficit relating to the expenditure of the school’s budget share.

The summer schools programme fund is not part of schools’ budget shares and is not part of the individual school’s budget. It is not to be counted for the purpose of calculating the minimum funding guarantee for schools or the special schools protection (also referred to as the minimum funding guarantee).

Local authorities will be required to certify that they have passed on the correct amount of funding to schools and that it has been spent in line with these conditions of grant. We will issue a certification form in April 2022.

Variation

The basis for allocation of this grant may be varied by the Secretary of State for Education from those we have set out.

Overpayments

Any overpayment of summer schools programme funding by ESFA to a school or local authority shall be repaid by the school or local authority upon such terms and conditions as ESFA or the Secretary of State for Education shall determine.

Further information

Books and other documents and records relating to the recipient’s accounts shall be open to inspection by the Secretary of State for Education and by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

The Comptroller and Auditor General may, under Section 6 of the National Audit Act 1983, carry out examinations into the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which the recipient has used its resources in discharging its funded activities.

Schools and local authorities shall provide information as may be required by the Secretary of State to determine whether they have complied with these conditions.

Failure to provide this information may result in the Secretary of State recovering funding.

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