Summer School 2021

Kinver High School Summer School Evaluation

Context

Kinver High School was delighted to provide an action-packed weeklong Summer School in which all incoming Year 7 students were invited to attend. A total of 105/131 students (22% FSM) opted to take part in the Summer School Programme that ran from Monday 9th to Friday 13th August 2021.

Utilising additional government funding we provided students with a blend of transition, academic, pastoral and enrichment activities.

The Summer School spanned an entire week with five full days of activities (see Appendix 1 – summer school timetable). The timetable included some focused academic ‘catch-up’ sessions alongside some specific taster and ‘bridging the gap’ sessions in English, Maths, Science, Spanish, Humanities, Art, PE and Dance. All sessions were delivered by qualified teachers at Kinver High School and supported by our Teaching Assistants.

Students also took part in some additional well-being and PSHE sessions and took part in two fully funded off site visits to better support their transition. Students enjoyed a full day visit to West Midlands Safari Park and an afternoon visit to Kinver Edge, where they were able to explore the school’s local area and history.

All students were also provided with a daily lunch and commemorative summer school clothing (T-shirt and hoodie for off site visits).

Summer School supported the transition process and helped students to catch up on missed face-to-face learning. Staff worked with students to make the move from primary school a happy and enjoyable one. The activities allowed children to get to know each other, forge friendships, familiarise themselves with our school, staff and expectations and dispel any preconceived myths about secondary school. It has made the transition to ‘big school’ a positive, easy and enjoyable experience.

Feedback from parents:

"Thank you so much for arranging such a brilliant Summer School this week. William has really enjoyed himself, whilst building his confidence to start at Kinver in September, along with making new friends of course! He has come home full of news from his day all week and names of friends he has made along the way. He has told us the week has helped him to dispel any worries he had with starting in September, as parents that really helps us too. So thank you, to you and the staff who have worked on such a great week"

"Many thanks for your continued efforts and a huge thanks for a wonderful summer school experience for the pupils last week. Please pass on our thanks and appreciation to all staff involved. Jacob thoroughly enjoyed the week and it has definitely helped settle some of the pre- September nerves that are a natural part of transition".

"Thank you so much to everyone involved in Summer School last week. It was a fantastic opportunity for all the young people"

"I just wanted to say thank you to you and the staff at Kinver for a brilliant summer school week! Ben has really enjoyed it and made new friends ready for September. He even said if summer school was happening again this week he would happily attend!"

Funding

The Department for Education funded Summer School, below is a breakdown of how the funding was used.

Summer School Timetable