On Friday 27th November the government announced a new funding stream available to schools to help to meet the challenges of staying open and fully staffed during the pandemic. The government will make this new funding will available to schools if they have used a set amount of their cash reserves and hit a threshold for the number of teachers who are off work.
Mainstream schools that are experiencing either a short-term teacher absence rate of 20 per cent or more or a long-term teacher absence rate of 10 per cent are eligible to access the funding. For special schools and Alternative Provisions, the short-term teacher absence rate falls to 15 per cent or more. Additionally, special schools will have greater access to the fund to meet the cost of supply support staff.
Financially, schools will be eligible for this additional funding once if their existing reserves reach 4% of their annual income. The fund will be backdated to 1st November to cover the whole of the current half-term.
The education secretary Gavin Williamson said: “Keeping schools and colleges open is a national priority, which is why I am launching the Covid workforce fund, to support schools and colleges facing significant budget pressures and staff absences. This new funding comes on top of our funding for schools facing exceptional costs during the summer months, the £1 billion Covid catch-up fund to help all children make up for lost learning”
“I know how hard school and college staff and leaders have worked over the past nine months, and I want to thank once again everyone working in education for going above and beyond while we continue to deal with the extra pressures caused by the pandemic.”
Your local Protocol Education branch is ready to help you find the short and long-term staffing you need to maintain a high level of support and education for your pupils during this extraordinary time. They will be able to provide you with all of the records you need to support your application for Covid Workforce Funding.
