Why a recovery curriculum: 

During Autumn 1, we will be following a recovery curriculum where it will initially prioritise re-establishing core routines, core expectations and the core values we uphold for our communities. We will hold true to our belief in excellence for all pupils and will maintain a focus on delivering high-quality learning outcomes. We will explore themes which help us explain the past 6 months. This term, all learning will be celebrated through ‘A Museum of Hope Exhibition’, a physical exhibition for children to explore learning across the school, which will be shared with our community virtually.

“A learning community’s well-being has a lot to do with the quality of relationships, cohesion, inter-dependence and belonging.” 

What has been lost? ​ Routine, ​​Structure, ​ Friendship, Opportunity, Freedom

Lever 1: Relationships – we can’t expect our students to return joyfully, and many of the relationships that were thriving, may need to be invested in and restored. We need to plan for this to happen, not assume that it will. Reach out to greet them, use the relationships we build to cushion the discomfort of returning.
 
Lever 2: Community – we must recognise that curriculum will have been based in the community for a long period of time. We need to listen to what has happened in this time, understand the needs of our community and engage them in the transitioning of learning back into school.
 
Lever 3: Transparent Curriculum – all of our students will feel like they have lost time in learning and we must show them how we are addressing these gaps, consulting and co-constructing with our students to heal this sense of loss.
 
Lever 4: Meta-cognition – in different environments, students will have been learning in different ways. It is vital that we make the skills for learning in a school environment explicit to our students to reskill and rebuild their confidence as learners.
 
Lever 5: Space – to be, to rediscover self, and to find their voice on learning in this issue. It is only natural that we all work at an incredible pace to make sure this group of learners are not disadvantaged against their peers, providing opportunity and exploration alongside the intensity of our expectations.

The Core Text 

The Boy, the mole, the fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy.   “A book to bring people together, Charlie Mackesy’s inspirational paintings and delicate calligraphic text are a celebration of kindness, compassion and understanding, conveying an essential message for our time.”  The text is aligned to many of our core values, exploring profound questions, and key themes, that will enable all year groups to reflect, discuss and make sense of the recent challenges faced by our communities. The book is written so that it can be picked up at any page, providing many opportunities to create rich English learning journeys as well as unique art outcomes.