The Recruit, Recover and Raise Standards (RRRS) funding programme was launched in 2020 in response to the Covid 19 pandemic. It provides all schools and settings delivering funded nursery education with additional staffing capacity to ensure the impacts of the pandemic on the learning and well-being outcomes of children and young people could be identified early and appropriate mitigating actions put in place. This has been particularly important for our most disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils who were more adversely affected.
Since 2020 £165.5million of RRRS funding has been distributed to schools and early years settings - £59.1million in 2020-21, £68.9million in 2021-22 and £37.5million in 2022-23. In this financial year (2023-24) £37.5 million will be distributed to schools and settings delivering funded nursery education and in 2024-25 a further £28.5million will be made available.
Within the Welsh Government’s Renew and Reform Plan children in the early years (up to the age of 7) were also identified as a cohort of learners requiring extra support. Additional funding of £10m was provided through the Education Improvement Grant in 2021-22 to strengthen the delivery of early education, particularly to ensure children’s emotional, physical and learning needs are met. A further £3m was provided to wider childcare settings, including childminders, that do not provide nursery education but are expected (as outlined in the National Minimum Standards) to understand and apply the pedagogical principles of early education in their provision.
