As we get into the Easter holidays and Governments and school Head Teachers take stock of where their pupils are now and where they should be at this stage in the academic year there are a few considerations as to how to play “catch-up”. According to this BBC article the option of Summer Schools, using qualified teachers focused on small groups, “can help children make up to four months of academic progress”. This is a huge leap in terms of lost time but has the negative side due to potential “burnout among teachers”. The second option is that of Weekly Tutoring, where “sessions could help a student make three to six months of academic progress…particularly…in literacy and numeracy among primary-school pupils”. But historically this work has been carried out by University students and little research has been done on this, as well as the fact that this is one-to-one so very labour-intensive. The third option is one of repeating the whole academic year, but this is one that should only be offered to a few students in extreme cases and is not very practical causing a potential log.jam. Extending school days is another serious and popular option. But, key to any catch-up has to be the provision of well-being support for children which alone might help this.
