Recovery Curriculum

Dear Parents, Carers & Children, 

You may have heard a lot of talk Nationally about a ‘Recovery Curriculum.’

This is the term used to describe how schools will support pupils to ‘recover’ from the period of lost teaching and learning as a result of the Covid-19 crisis and the time most children spent away from school. 

The evidence available suggests children (and parents) are likely to feel anxious about the return and will need support, reassurance and positivity when they come back. 

As always, we maintain the belief that relationships are at the heart of good teaching. Our absolute priority is to reach out and greet our children in September and to rebuild those strong home-school links. Many children have been disconnected from their friends and teachers for five months. Time will be made to listen to children, their experiences and to support them with the transition back into school routines – both pastorally and academically. 

At Haydonleigh, we have thought carefully about the impact of Covid-19 on education and the progress of our children. We are implementing a carefully thought out 2-part recovery and return curriculum plan. 

1) Recovery Curriculum

Haydonleigh have put the child’s well-being at the centre of our thinking.  We acknowledge that the children will have had different experiences during this time. However, the common thread running through all is the loss of routine, structure, friendship, opportunity and freedom.  These losses can trigger anxiety in any child.  Some of you may have experienced this with your own children.  

We know that an anxious child is not in a place to learn effectively.  So with this in mind, the school community has thought about the most effective way to support your child’s ability to learn.  This approach will encompass and support the academic expectations for your child. 

What is it?   

Professor Barry Carpenter has developed the Recovery Curriculum, as a response to the losses described above.  It is a way for schools to help children come back into school life, acknowledging the experiences the children have had.  We want children to be happy, feel safe and able to be engaged in their learning.   We have decided that a way to achieve this for the children is to acknowledge the importance of helping them lever back into school life using 5 Levers of recovery.

Here is a link to a podcast on the Recovery Curriculum.

https://www.evidenceforlearning.net/recoverycurriculum/#mentalhealth

2) Return Curriculum

The first step to re-engaging our children with their learning is through building on their confidence and capturing their interest with exciting and engaging topics. It will serve no purpose to children or staff to start the next academic year by formally testing children to find ‘gaps’ in their learning. All children learn at different paces and all children have times where they find learning a challenge – this is healthy, and staff are well-prepared for how to support children during this time. 

The second thing we must do is look carefully at our curriculum and prioritise what children must learn, what skills and knowledge do they need to move forward rapidly? Nobody fully knows how children have been affected by the absence of school routine. 

Time will be made for children who require additional support and all staff are clear on supporting the re-connection with school whilst maintaining an ambitious curriculum for all our children.   

We know already that the Government still plan to assess children in Phonics in Year 1, and across Reading, Writing and Maths in Year 2 and Year 6. For these children there may need to be adjustments to the curriculum as the year progresses. We will monitor Government announcements and developments with care and adjust our teaching routines accordingly. 

We hope this has explained some of the thinking behind our approach and provided some reassurance on how we will support your child’s well-being and education as they begin their re-engagement with at school. 

Our Recovery and return Curriculum Plan sets out our coherent plan and expectations for the return to the normal curriculum by Summer 2021. 

Remote Learning 

In these uncertain times, it is important that we are fully prepared for the possibility that we may have a full or partial school closure depending on the local Covid-19 situation.  

There will also be instances where individual children will be self-isolating due to coming into contact with a positive case of Covid-19.  

You can access our provision for remote learning via our Home Learning page under the Learning tab. 

We am confident that by working together we will make up for lost time.

Mrs Billinge