Press Release - St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic High School

A Merseyside school has teamed up with a national training provider to deliver intensive and immersive lessons to pupils to support them in ­catching-up as they return to the classroom.

St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic High School, in Whiston, has joined t­ogether with training provider PET-Xi to deliver GCSE maths and ­English lessons to some of its Year 11 pupils who are most in need of additional support.

PET-Xi is delivering its High-5 training programme to four groups of p ­ upils over the next few weeks at the school, which promises to move a ­minimum of 70 per cent of the group up by a grade in just five days and to increase their confidence.

The move comes as pupils return to the classroom for the first time since December last year.

The school is the first location PET-Xi has delivered face-to-face l­essons at since the very first lockdown in March last year after moving its p ­ rogrammes online.

Steve Smith, business development manager at PET-Xi, said: “We’re ­extremely pleased to be working with St Edmund Arrowsmith C ­ atholic High School to do what we do best - delivering intensive lessons to pupils. It’s fantastic for us to be back in the classroom delivering face to face.

“Year 11 pupils need supporting now more than ever, and the sessions we d ­ eliver complement everything the school already has in place.

“We are working with groups of between 20 and 25 learners each week who are the most in need of additional support with maths and English.

“We look to provide a really engaging ­environment which motivates and encourages the pupils, ­providing them with a ray of hope following what has been an unprecedented 12 months.

“For these learners, it’s about showing that even if their grades aren’t as high as they would like, there’s still the support available to improve this – it’s certainly not too late.

“The lessons are paid for through Pupil Premium and catch-up funding, and exams take place at the start and end of each week to gauge the progress of each pupil.

“If we don’t succeed in increasing the grades of 70 per cent of those taking part, the cost is reduced, but we are confident in the programme and this very rarely happens.

“We’ve already received some fantastic feedback from the pupils and look forward to continuing to work with the school during the coming weeks.”

Bruce Williams, Kelly Wright and Arif Ghaffer, of PET-Xi, at St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic High School.

“As part of our Covid-19 Catch Up Strategy we took the decision to provide targeted academic s­ upport for i­dentified pupils and pupils have found the ­PET-Xi maths and English sessions invaluable in identifying and closing gaps in learning.

“The sessions are enjoyable, engaging and interactive but also academically rigorous and as a c­ onsequence pupils develop their knowledge, skills and understanding and make accelerated progress.

“Pupil voice is overwhelmingly positive and we will continue to work with PET-Xi in the future to support and challenge our pupils.”

Helen Charnley, assistant headteacher at St Edmund Arrowsmith C ­ atholic High School Further information about PET-Xi, including details of its summer school sessions which can now be booked by schools, is available at www.pet-xi.co.uk.