Summer School Catch Up Programmes 2023 - School Catch Up Workshops & Programmes

More than a million children and young people worldwide have now benefitted from our all year round creative learning programmes! So we’re ideally placed to support you.

We’ll work with you to design and deliver a one, two or three day programme allowing pupils to practise age-appropriate skills in and understanding of key areas of the curriculum in maths, literacy and science. Over the last two years we have delivered our Summer School programmess to over 5000 secondary students across the UK.

Get in touch for more details – we’re looking forward to hearing from you!

Download the Summer School Programmes leaflet here

Download the Summer School Programmes leaflet here

Maths - CSI: Bake Off

All is not well in the world of the Bake Off – one of the judges, Saul Pinewood, has had food poisoning – and he knows it wasn’t an accident! He’s narrowed the field down to six suspects – and hopes that pupils can use their understanding of fractions, percentages and measurements to help him take the final step.

Maths - The Trading Game

The Trading Game provides students with opportunities to think about maths in some very different ways. Working in an ever-shifting environment, they’ll come to understand that “value” can be a concept that changes depending on circumstances, that the ability to prioritise is an essential mathematical skill, and that the properties of 2D shapes allow them to be arranged in a variety of ways.

And while the Game has its own intrinsic merit, of course, its greater value lies in the follow-up – where students are facilitated through a process allowing them to identify and categorise the skills they have had to use.

Fast, furious and fantastically engaging, The Trading Game is particularly appropriate for schools operating “bubbles” consisting of entire year groups

Maths - Number Patterns: The Bunker

At the heart of maths, of course, lies the ability to identify, analyse and predict patterns. so, inspired by the work of Alan Turing and his fellow mathematicians at Bletchley Park during World War II, The Bunker is based in cryptology – the writing and reading of codes. Appealing to all age and ability ranges, The Bunker has a simple premise. Working in teams, and at their own pace, students need to identify as closely as possible the location of an Enemy Radio Transmitter by cracking a series of increasingly fiendish numeric, geometric and semiotic ciphers. The more codes they crack, the more precisely they’ll be able to pin the Transmitter down.

The Bunker has been so successful over the years that we've now developed the most challenging version so far (for those who wish to take it!). Calling on participants to manipulate numbers, geometrics and abstract symbols, it's ideal for high-ability mathematicians - and provides a perfect way of demonstrating just how far maths can take you!

"It was by far our most popular event during maths week. The students enjoyed the competitiveness of the trading game, it was great for their group and negotiating skills. The delivery and hosting of the activity was superb.” Langholm Academy

Literacy - CSI: Reading Skills

Students who tell us they don’t like “reading” are always amazed when they realise quite how much skilful reading they’ve accomplished by the end of this fun and busy workshop. From inference and deduction to skimming and scanning, from previewing to predicting and from context to content, CSI: Reading Skills makes no bones in drawing connections between the everyday skills required to interpret infographics and play computer games and those required to delve into more formal texts.

Specifically designed to support students in making those connections between different ways of “reading”, CSI: Reading Skills sees them working in small teams to help out in a time of national emergency – because a briefcase containing some Top Secret plans was discovered on the 8.42 to Little Padworth, destined for an Enemy Power. The only clues to the identity of the traitor are to be found in a pile of old train tickets, recipe, book reviews and faded photographs. If “read” correctly, however, they’ll allow the pupils to discover who took the plans and why.

Literacy - Spotlight on Shakespeare

Shakespeare didn't write his plays to be read - he wrote them to be experienced, of course, as living, breathing narratives. So our. Spotlight on Shakespeare programmes offer pupils a uniquely "actor's eye view" of a text of your choice. Mixing whole group activity, classic drama exercises, structured improvisation and grappling with the text, pupils will explore the backstory, meet some of the principal characters, bring to life key "landmark moments" and respond to "unseen scenes". Our approaches can be used to explore any of Shakespeare’s plays – but we are happy to make recommendations to suit the needs of your cohort.

Literacy - Poetry in Sight

Our poetry writing workshops encourage pupils to play with words and rhythms while working to the restrictions imposed by different poetic forms. By thinking carefully about the vocabulary they use, pupils will come to realise the role “choice” plays in creative writing processes - and the power that brings with it. Poetry in Sight can also support studies right across the curriculum and beyond - as we can build sessions round any topic/theme of teachers’ choices!

"Many of the students involved said it was one of their favourite parts of the week! I will be recommending As Creatives to colleagues in other departments and schools without a doubt and I very much hope to be able to include you in our literacy week next year." Head of English, The Kingsway School

Science - Innovation and Beyond

An exciting and engaging way to explore Seven Innovations That Have Changed the World – and some lesser sung heroes of innovation, including Mae Jemison (a medical doctor who became the first African American woman in space), Elijah McCoy (who revolutionised the railway industry) and Charles Richard Drew (whose work on blood plasma saved countless lives in WW2 – and is still being used today). The workshop also helps pupils understand that, far from being spontaneous, “innovation” responds to events, existing in a continuum where past, present and future are all linked.

Science - Journeys into Space

After a tour exploring the human journey to space so far, pupils will imagine the day when space tourism is routine. Working in small groups, and supported by our specially designed Interplanetary Fact Files, they’ll explore and bring to life some of the real, scientific challenges posed by space travel - and use to this to investigate some of the features of our neighbours in the solar system.

Science - CSI: Forces

How do different forces operate – and what do they actually do?

CSI: Forces sets your pupils a problem – to use their knowledge and understanding of forces in identifying which of six suspects sabotaged the new Jupiter VII space rocket. They’ll take part in a number of activities, each releasing a force-related clue eliminating one of the possible criminals – until the Police Force becomes the most important force, as the miscreant is hauled before justice …

"The main reason for the workshop was to engage the students and hopefully to develop more of an interest in science. The students definitely did this!" Head of Science, Notre Dame Catholic College

Transition - Bags of Confidence

It’s going to be an exceptionally anxious time for the new intake of Year 7s as they both cope with all that’s happened since the spring and manage the transition to their secondary schools. So we’ve developed Bags of Confidence, a workshop designed to support this group of young people by engaging them in activities allowing them to get to know some of their new peers and explore some of the different areas of the curriculum they’ll be encountering – all with a healthy dollop of fun!

Bags of Confidence has been developed with the current situation in mind, so can be safely delivered in accordance with individual schools’ Covid-19 policies. And it’s appropriate for both term time and, for those schools planning Summer Schools, in the summer holiday.

Transition - Thinking Back, Looking Forward: The Story so Far...

As your new Year 7s look forward to the next phase of their lives, this workshop offers them space to reflect on what they’ve gained from primary school and what they’re looking forward to about secondary school. After participating in creative activities allowing them to reflect on both the past and the future, they’ll design book covers for the story of their lives so far. What will their designs tell us about them and their achievements and, perhaps more importantly, what exciting plot twists will the blurb on the back promise…?

Outcomes: Individually designed book covers; a consideration of personal achievement and aspirations.

Cross-Curricular Links: Art, literacy, DT

"Thanks for your energy and enthusiasm – were really looking forward to the final performance" (Year 6 teacher, Mosspits Primary School)

Transition - Putting it into Words

We all know how difficult it can be to identify our own experiences and put them into words - so this delightful workshop helps Year 6s think back on their years with you through the “eyes” of a range of inanimate objects that have witnessed them growing up - the clock in the hall, perhaps, or the goalposts on the yard! We’ll support them in recalling the sounds, sights and scents of the past this way, then guide them through a process that will allow them to craft poignantly evocative poems. And in longer workshops we’ll give some guidance on performance, too, so that their verses can be shared with others.

Cross-Curricular Links: Art, literacy

Download the Creative Catch Up Summer School leaflet here