Putting children and young people's views at the centre: Appendix - Ideas for catching up on lost learning due to absence

The following examples demonstrate how practitioners/parents can address/support lost learning/catch learning after absence. 

• Use the first/last part (10-15 mins) of the day/class to target learners who need to catch up 

• Work with the learner, or with a group of learners who have missed similar content, or who need reinforcement in the same areas 

• Work with the learner to help them catch up in a time away from whole-class input 

• Focus on recapping main concepts rather than trying to cover every missed detail, to avoid overwhelming learners 

• Include short activities that cover essential skills and knowledge in bite-sized chunks 

• Focus on core concepts and learning outcomes rather than trying to review everything missed, prioritise content that is needed for future learning 

• Build in opportunities to revisit or reinforce missed skills during ongoing lessons 

• Provide parents with key tasks that relate to the content missed, so that they can support catch-up at home