It is one of the DfE’s better kept secrets. In fact so well kept is the secret that in 2014 a survey found out that only half of the secondary schools knew that fully funded summer schools could be held on their premises.
But the funding does exist, and it is enough to pay for a fully organised, fully staffed one or two week summer school for the pupil premium year 6/7 transition students.
Indeed the DfE funding is guaranteed for all eligible schools and students. But the deadline for the initial application for funding is 29th May. (There is a link through to the DfE for details on the website shown below.)
And so, as a result we offer a Year 6/7 transition summer school, funded by the DfE grant, to enable students to make friends, gain confidence and improve their communication skills.
But, of course, it is vital that such a summer school does what it sets out to do, putting the new year 7 pupils at their ease and making them feel that their new school is going to be exactly the place they want to be in the coming months and years.
Which leads to the question: who is it that can walk in front of a group of 11 year olds about to start secondary school and can put them utterly and totally at ease so that any worries they might have about their new school life are set aside?
There are, of course, many possible answers. But here’s one answer that you might not have thought of.
Highly trained theatre professionals with a range of skills and strong teaching experience are trained to grab an audience, hold the audience and engage with the audience.
Which is why West End in Schools exists and why, for the past six years, we have been bringing actors from the National Theatre, TV and the West End, along with dancers, directors and choreographers, into schools across the UK.
They then work with your transitioning students for either one or two weeks in the summer holiday, offering a range of different themes from Shakespeare to dance, from literacy to theatre-making, from storytelling to…
The summer school typically ends with a performance to parents and carers – which is a great way of welcoming disadvantaged families to your school community.
Once a booking is made we work with you to finalise the attendance numbers and the staff requirement closer to the summer. This means that we can work together to ensure that the DfE budget allowance covers all the costs incurred and ensure that the school incurs no overall cost from the summer school.
Our summer schools webpage includes a one minute video which will give you more information and which contains feedback from the workshop coordinator at an Academy we worked at last summer. You can see this at www.WestEndinSchools.org.uk/summer-schools
To find out more please do give me a call on 020 7395 7520, or send a quick reply to this email.
Nigel Godfrey
Director