RECRUIT, RECOVER, RAISE STANDARDS (RRRS) PROGRAMME
RRRS – funding for school
Grant Allocation:
£4,058.05 (April - Aug 2023)
£5,681.27 (Sept - March 2024)
Total: £9,739.32
Spend Plan Summer Term 2023: £7,977 for teaching assistant for reading intervention
Spend Plan Autumn Term 2022 to Spring 2024: £11,167 for teaching assistant for numeracy, literacy and well-being intervention
Total Spend £19,144
Actions:
- Appointment of additional staff for catch up intervention (literacy and numeracy) and pastoral needs
Success Criteria:
- Identified pupils make at least expected progress in literacy and numeracy
- Identified pupils receive the appropriate well-being intervention
Purposes
The expectation of the funding is to help schools meet the ongoing demands that have been created by the COVID-19 pandemic through the Recruit, Recover, Raise Standards (RRRS) programme.
Due to the pandemic, it has become clear that many learners have not progressed as much as they might in terms of their progress in learning, some learners having been impacted more seriously than others have. This RRRS funding enables investment in schools to allow them to recruit and deploy additional human capacity to support learners in addressing their ongoing needs following the COVID-19 crisis and the related periods of school closure. All pupils are eligible for additional help, although the scope of the help needed will vary significantly depending on individual circumstances. Given that resources are limited, we will prioritise in the following way when planning the allocation of resources.
Priority Cohorts for Support
The funding is to be targeted at specific cohorts identified as most at risk as follows:
1. Learners in priority year groups i.e. Year 11 due to exams, and Years 7 and 1 as key transition points;
2. Vulnerable and disadvantaged learners as defined by a range of characteristics such as:
• Learners with statements of special educational needs or individual development plans (IDPs);
• Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic learners and those from Gypsy Roma & Traveller communities;
• Learners who are eligible for free school meals; and • Welsh medium learners.
These specific cohorts are an indication of how headteachers should think about the deployment of support. The expectation of the funding is that, although the funding formula is based on specific learner cohorts, learners who are identified as in need of support are given the opportunity to engage with support where possible. It is therefore not reserved exclusively for the use of the priority groups listed above and should be used to enable access to support where needed for children who have been impacted by a wide range of aspects of the pandemic.
As there will be individuals not in the priority groups who also need support, it is an important principle that headteachers have autonomy in deciding any further groups or individuals that they support as part of their individual school plans.
Areas of support to be provided
Curriculum for Wales remains our central priority for education in Wales. As such the foci for support under the RRRS programme are:
• Development of independent learning skills, motivation and enjoyment of learning, to enable and encourage learners in all groups to make accelerated progress and, where appropriate, by working more effectively alone and out of school.
• Literacy including oracy, numeracy and digital competence developed and applied within a broad, balanced and engaging curriculum. This will include higher order reading and writing skills, high level mathematics, where relevant, and digital competence at the appropriate level and as relevant to learners progressing with their qualifications.
• Support and engagement through coaching – this in recognition that learners may need coaching, emotional support and relationship building as well as support for examination preparation and skills for those undertaking qualifications.
What the funding should be used to provide
This grant dedicates financial resources to the creation of new capacity in the education system.
• Schools may appoint Qualified Teachers including NQTs, Teaching Assistants and other supporting roles to the school (for example roles designed to provide coaching support), in line with the school’s understanding of its learners’ needs
• The new capacity may be full time or part time, or an increase in hours for an existing contract where those skills are necessary
• The new colleagues might work across more than one school where clusters of schools are working in a collaborative partnership
• Headteachers may appoint new teachers to the school in order to release existing teachers who know their learners best to work with them to accelerate their progress (backfilling their usual positions on a temporary basis)
• The skill-sets of new colleagues will need to reflect the needs of groups and learners
• The delivery model within which new colleagues work will be specific to the needs of the school and its learners
The funding is not eligible to be used for the purchase of equipment, including ICT devices, or any form of consumables and is only to be used to deploy additional human resources in support of the programme. There is an expectation that schools will maximise the efficacy of the funding by pooling their resources appropriately across clusters, structured networks and/or collaborative partnerships to maximise the impact and level of funding.
Monitoring and Reporting Requirements
The provision of such a large amount of additional funding dictates that we all ensure that the resources are deployed well and have the required impact. In keeping with these principles you are expected to:
• Ensure that schools set out what they intend to do with the RRRS funding in a simple and clear plan that has been signed off by the school’s Governing Body.