Council-Funded Holiday School Continues For Local Children

July 28, 2016 by Southend Borough Council

Council-funded holiday school continues for local children

Friday 29th July 2016

Southend-on-Sea Borough Council has again supported a number of local children in their quest to pass the 11 plus, by running another Holiday School this summer.

The activities, funded by the council, ran for four mornings this week at The Tickfield Centre, with Year 5 pupils from a variety of schools studying English and maths, past papers, and completing maths and comprehension games.

The sessions work on social skills and teamwork through interactive English and maths puzzles and games. It is in an open plan environment with face-to face group work for the majority of the course.

The sessions are staffed by members of Southend High School for Boys, led by Mr John Brandon.

Cllr James Courtenay, Executive Councillor for Children and Learning, says:

“We are funding these schools because it is a priority to give more local residents a chance of attending one of the four grammar schools in the Borough, particularly those that come from a potentially disadvantaged background.

“We are also committed to improving opportunities for all local children and this includes improving educational standards where necessary. As part of this we are working hard to improve the information available to pupils and parents on grammar schools and the 11+, and we are delighted to be able to continue these holiday sessions.

“They will be part of a longer term support programme being run over three consecutive long holidays for the following September entry.

“As well as academic study, the intention is also to build confidence and social interaction and we are really seeing that already with the current intake.

“The holiday school is challenging but engaging. For some of these children, they may be the first in their family to have the opportunity to go to a grammar school and the aim will be to provide the children with a flavour/taste of aspiration to go to a grammar school.”

Caption: Children from last year’s Summer School