Summer School Week, July 2021 

Utilising the DfE funding for Summer Schools we focussed on our transition cohort and ensuring that they were confident and well prepared to start life at Poynton High School.  We ran a timetable of events between the 26th and 30th July.  We selected a book to share with the young people throughout the week, The Crossover by Kwame Alexander, to ensure a focus on the evidence-based emerging reading gap, a suggested focus area from the Education Endowment Foundation.  Daily sessions worked through the text collaboratively and allowed for activities to ensure that we could get to know the cohort.

Throughout the week sessions in maths, English, physical education, dance, product design, computing, history, science, music and food allowed for the young people to have a taste of the curriculum on offer at Poynton.  Utilising a wide area of the school site throughout the week meant that students starting with us had a good grasp of the building in preparation for September.  

The year group attended sessions in their form groups and were able to mix with the year group community as a whole at break and lunch times.  Through allocating subject teachers, form tutors and learning support leads to each group we were able to monitor the young people, looking to see who might need further support in starting Year 7 with us.

We pushed for a high attendance across the year group and had 196 out of a possible 232 young people attend (84%).  Focussing on our key cohorts:

• 18/25 (72%) of young people from our Pupil Premium cohort attended.
• 30/35 (85%) of young people from our SEND and First Concerns cohort attended.
• 3/5 (60%) of young people joining us with Educational Health Care Plans (EHCPs) attended.

When asked their views about Summer Activity Week directly in our Year 6 transition survey the young people were really positive. Some quotes from the survey are below:

• ‘I really enjoyed it and found it exciting.’
• ‘I enjoyed it. I really liked playing basketball and designing a game on scratch and the baking. The food was good. I liked being able to get to know the school before starting in September.’
• ‘It was good to look around the school, and it made me feel more confident about starting in September.’
• To be honest I loved it all especially cooking I would not change anything’
• ‘I enjoyed that there is a classroom for every subject’
• ‘I loved it. The teachers were so polite and welcoming, I also made some new friends and met lots of lovely new people in my form.’
• ‘Loved going to the activity week, enjoyed science yes do it again next year as I feel ready to start high school now as I know what it will be like now’
• ‘It was fun and I made new friends which is great because I only knew 2 people.’

• Staffing related costs      £18,890.00
• Materials purchased       £5,293.60
• Site related costs              £2,301.20
• TOTAL                                     £26,484.80