The new head of a Suffolk school has revealed the measures she has introduced to keep children safe from coronavirus while trying to help them to catch up on missed learning.

Heidi Philpott, head of the SET Beccles School on Castle Hill, started her new position last month, amid the continuing coronavirus crisis.

New initiatives for the students at the school, part of the Seckford Education Trust (SET), have now been introduced.

Mrs Philpott claims she has implemented safety measures around the school site allowing students to return to a safe environment while also focusing on a catch-up programme for individual students.

This includes one-to-one tutor support for English, Maths and Science as well as online tutoring for GCSE students that is starting this month.

Mark Barrow, chief executive at Seckford Education Trust (SET), said: “Although our schools had to close at the end of the last academic year due to Covid-19, the introduction of the catch-up programme will allow our students to receive ongoing tuition on a 1:1 basis to enable them to catch up in areas where they need additional support.”

Mrs Philpott’s priority at SET Beccles School is to support all the student’s achievements, not just their academic achievements, she said.

This has seen talent building workshops introduced on Wednesday afternoons at the school.

She said: “It is so important to highlight all of the student’s achievements and I am keen to encourage this further by building on their amazing talents.

“SET Beccles School was borne out of the local community’s desire to have something different.

“It is a small school that knows and values each of its students and can offer each of them a bespoke education.”

Mr Barrow added: “Community is a strong focus at our schools and although we may be physically distancing, we aren’t socially distancing in terms of being social with others.

“We are exploring different ways of engaging the school community as well as the wider community too, starting with virtual school assemblies to continue the community feel across year groups who currently need to stay in their own bubbles due to the pandemic.”