For many students, lockdown learning has not been easy, but thanks to two Bedfordshire charities and trainee teachers from the University of Bedfordshire, help is on hand to help everyone catch up.
The Harpur Trust and the Connolly Foundation are working in partnership with the University of Bedfordshire to deliver the Covid Catch-up programme in which trainee teachers will deliver specific sessions in schools during the summer term.
With schools closed for much of the last academic year, disadvantaged pupils have been hardest hit by the pandemic. The Institute for Fiscal studies (IFS) estimates that these pupils could have lost as much as two-thirds of a year in learning.
Despite government funding of £1.7bn to provide a nationwide tutoring programme and summer schools, educationalists have called for more to be done to support disadvantaged pupils.
They also want schools to have greater control over the way in which the funding is used. The hope is that this programme could help to bridge the gap for pupils in Bedfordshire.
A spokesperson for the charities said: “We are excited to be working with each other and with the University to help tackle a national issue at a local level.
“We are determined that the pupils hardest hit by the pandemic should receive as much support as possible to enable them to catch up with their learning and have the best possible chance to fulfil their potential.
“We wanted our scheme to be as bespoke as possible and we’ve been working hard to match up students with schools to ensure the best fit.”
The scheme, which launched on Monday 12 April, is completely free for schools to access.
The benefits of the programme are not just for the pupils catching up; it also enables the trainee teachers to gain valuable classroom experience and earn some money.
Juliet Fern, executive dean for the University’s Faculty of Education and Sport, said the University was delighted that its trainee teachers had been given this opportunity that would prepare students for their future work supporting pupils to achieve.
Kelli Foster, the headteacher of Mark Rutherford School, said they felt very fortunate to be among those that are taking advantage of the programme.
“The pandemic has caused unprecedented disruption to the education of young people. This programme will enable us to support our students who need to catch up academically after two periods of remote learning in the last calendar year,” she said.
“The strong partnership we have with both the Harpur Trust and Connolly Foundation, as well as our links with the university, will ensure we support our students most affected from being away from the classroom”.
There is high demand for the scheme and schools in the most disadvantaged areas have been targeted in the first wave of teaching which started this week (12 April).
