Summer School 2021

As part of our efforts to support pupils catch-up following two academic years which were highly disrupted by the pandemic and associate periods of school closure, Ark St Alban’s Academy histed a short summer school in August 2021.

The summer school hosted two cohorts of pupils:

• A small group of pupils about to start Year 11 who undertook revision and academic intervention activities.
• A larger group of younger pupils who undertook a mixture of both enrichment and academic catch-up activities.

Pupil Selection

The first cohort of pupils (those who were about to start Year 11) were invited based on an analysis of their End of Year 10 exam results. Invitations were offered to those who at the time needed to make the most progress in their core subjects in order to achieve their ambitious target grades.

The second cohort of pupils (the younger group of pupils) were invited based on the following criteria:

• Disadvantaged pupils.
• Looked-after Children.
• Pupils with special education needs and disabilities.
• Pupils with the most progress to make in relation to literacy and numeracy.
• Pupils for whom the initial transition to secondary school had been most disrupted.

Summer School Activities

The older cohort of pupils took-part in small group revision classes in English, Maths, Science and the Humanities, alongside team building activities and games.

The younger cohort of pupils took part in a wide-range of lessons and activities built around the topic of Greek Myths:

• Drama.
• Debating.
• Geography Fieldwork.
• Numeracy.
• Practical Science.
• Reading.
• Sports Olympiad.

Summer School Costs

The funding required to run the summer school was provided by the Department for Education.

The only costs involved were in regard to staffing. £14,803.56 was spent, paying for 598 hours worked.

Summer Camp was led by colleagues from across the school including curriculum leaders, teachers, pastoral support staff, teaching assistants and the catering team.