Hampshire and Portsmouth education leaders welcome £1bn catch-up plan but say the ‘devil will be in the detail’

On Friday the government announced a £1bn Covid catch-up plan which will include £650m for one-to-one support when children return to school for pupils identified as most in need as well as £350m for tutor support over the summer holidays for the most disadvantaged children.

While ‘grateful’ for the additional funding, headteachers are waiting to hear just how much control they will have over how to spend the money to cater for the needs of their children.

Headteacher at Priory School in Southsea, Stewart Vaughan, said: ‘It’s very encouraging news and there will be no headteacher who is not grateful for the additional money. However, the devil will be in the detail as we don’t yet know exactly what this will mean for individual schools.

‘The government have said we will get more details in two weeks but that only leaves another two weeks to put plans into place before the summer holidays.’

Portsmouth City Council’s cabinet member for education, Suzy Horton, added: ‘I welcome the additional funding. We initially thought this was going to be administered by local authorities but it now looks as though it’s going straight to schools.

‘It will be interesting to see just what this funding looks like for Portsmouth schools once this money is divided up.’

Shadow cabinet member for education and Conservative councillor, Terry Norton, believes the funding can help to redress the education gap created during lockdown but feels it will be ‘unlikely to fully make up for 20 weeks out of school’.

Cllr Norton said: ‘I welcome the government’s £1bn catch-up plan. This will go a long way in lifting outcomes for all pupils and I’m pleased that schools will be given the discretion to tailor this funding to their individual needs.’

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While Chris Anders, the headteacher of Park Community School in Leigh Park, welcomed the news he said it may come at the cost of other funding with the Department for Education informing schools that a Year 7 catch-up grant, in place for disadvantaged children, will no longer run.

Mr Anders said: ‘Small group tutoring can certainly help as long as it complements what happens in schools and does not lead to confusion for children in their learning. We are awaiting to hear more details as to how the funds can be used. My main concern is around whether there will be flexibility for headteachers to decide how best to use the money.

‘As the new funding is replacing the Year 7 catch-up fund my school could end up with a possible loss until we know how it’s to be distributed.’

What’s not yet clear is whether teachers will be expected to work during the summer holidays as part of the catch-up programme.

Cllr Horton said: ‘Most teachers have been working throughout the pandemic and I can see potential tensions with the unions if teachers are asked to work over the holiday period.’

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