Summer School

Summer School 2021 Report

Our successful Parrenthorn Summer School 2021 took place during the first two weeks of the summer holidays: Monday 26th July to Friday 6th August. Sessions ran from 9:00am to 3:15pm each week day.

The summer school reinforced the transition process for year 6 pupils moving up from primary school, supported a targeted number of pupils in years 7 and 8, provided advice to pupils about mental health and wellbeing, and helped pupils to catch up on missed face-to-face learning due to lockdowns and periods of self-isolation. Staff worked with pupils to make the move from primary school happy, enjoyable and less stressful. The activities allowed children to get to know each other, familiarise themselves with the school and our expectations, and to dispel any myths they may hold about secondary school life. We also provided literacy and numeracy catch up through the Tutor Trust for targeted year 10 pupils.

Parrenthorn offered a wide variety of exciting activities including STEM workshops, sporting and creative activities, and literacy and numeracy work. The mix of both academic and enrichment activities gave pupils the opportunities to work on gaps in English and mathematics, to take part in crime investigation experiments in science, creative tasks in art, daily PE/games and coding and filmmaking tasks. Pupils also focused on mental wellbeing through facilitated discussions and mindfulness activities. We worked with a number of local businesses and enterprises including Paint a Pot, Dicey Tech and Skills for All. The activities all focussed on a wide range of outcomes for the pupils, such as building confidence, improving wellbeing, being creative, problem solving and teamwork. Activities were led or facilitated by a wide range of staff, both teaching and support staff.

The Department for Education funded the summer school through a grant totalling £43,426.00. This funding was used to provide:

• Staffing for teaching, support and administration
• Lunch and refreshments for all pupils
• Resources for teaching/activities
• 3rd party costs for activities/resources etc