Year 6 Summer Transition Camp 2021
After the disappointment of having to cancel all face-to-face transition activities for July 2020, we were absolutely thrilled to be able to invite our incoming Year 6’s into school on a number of occasions so that they could meet some key staff, experience a taster day in the life of a St Thomas More Catholic School pupil and then to participate in a week of transition activities through our Summer School event.
The transition from small primary schools to large secondary schools is quite an adventure for our youngest students and their families. For some, they look forward to the exciting new challenges that are ahead of them, whilst for others the change in routine can be daunting and overwhelming.
Summer School is a valuable opportunity for incoming students to get familiar with their new environment, meet other students from other primary schools and make new friends, whilst maintaining their enthusiasm for learning. This year, more than ever, it has been a necessity to fill gaps in learning and offer ‘catch-up’ activities to boost progress and confidence after the pandemic lockdown.
This year, Summer Schools, were identified as a valuable opportunity to enhance the educational recovery programme and as such they were eligible for government funding to support a wide and varied package of activities.
Our school was eligible for funding based on 100% of our Year 7 cohort being offered a week-long programme. This funding equated to a maximum of £298.50 per 1-week place.
To make the very most of the time and funding available for Summer School, we invited Let Me Play (LMP Education) to deliver a programme of activities which boosted confidence and wellbeing, filled gaps in numeracy and literacy knowledge, built on the skills learned at Key Stage 2, offered team building tasks as well as a range of physical activities.
LMP were also able to target the specific needs of individuals attending the sessions which enabled us to also include a small group of Year 7 students, that had been identified as needing some extra catch-up, in preparation for their move up, into year 8.
In total 155 students attended the sessions across the week. They were supported by LMP staff, key staff from St Thomas More Catholic School as well as some of our Year 13 students that were leaving and as well as some of our ex-students who were now at university.
The impact of the week’s activities was all very positive with 100% of Yr7 students having enjoyed the event and 89% of the Yr6 stating that they felt more confident and better prepared for the start to school in September.
Below is a summary of our summer school expenditure:
| Expenditure | Costs |
|---|---|
| LMP education – Programme provider | £23,664.30 |
| Internal staffing | £4,525.57 |
| Vouchers | 506.50 |
| Chartwells catering – Breaktime and drinks | £563.76 |
| Chartwells catering – Lunch | £1503.36 |
| Chartwells catering – Labour | £990.00 |
| Total expenditure | £31,753.49 |