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Recovery Curriculum

You may have heard a lot of talk Nationally about a ‘Recovery Curriculum.’ This term is being used to describe how schools will support children to ‘recover’ from the period of lost teaching and learning as the result of Covid 19 crisis.

At the Harlington and Sundon Academy, we have already started to think carefully about the impact of Covid 19 on education and the progress of our children and we are developing plans with careful thought and clear determination.

Nobody quite knows how adversely affected our children have been by the absence of daily routine which schools provide. From the evidence available, we can assume some will have felt acutely the isolation caused by the lack of social interaction or feel loss from not being able to undertake the informal rituals of school life – the missed school residential trip, Christmas and music performances or the end of year assemblies and production; we are talking about the traditional experiences for young people transitioning into the next phase of their education as they move through school.    

It underlines that schools are so much more than places which provide education – they are about people.  Our schools are communities; we embody values; we model relationships required for modern life to function:  collaboration, getting on with others, friendship. 

So, as we support all of our pupils as they return to school from national and local restrictions over the past year, our 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. We believe it is vital that we do not instil panic in our children by reminding them of what they have missed and will avoid at all costs them feeling like they are behind. 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.

As always, we maintain the belief that relationships are at the heart of good teaching. Our absolute priority is to welcome our children back into school and rebuild strong home-school links. Many children have been disconnected from their friends and teachers over the period of lockdown. Time will be made to listen to children, hear their experiences and support them with the transition back into school routines- both pastorally and academically.

We have spent time looking at evidence and research to plan our ‘Curriculum Recovery’ to ensure our Academy’s Curriculum Vision has uncompromising aspirations for every individual and to provide a quality of education, which is broad, balanced and challenging for all – regardless of their starting point continues to be at the forefront of our planning. Our recovery curriculum needs to balance and prioritise what children must learn with what skills and knowledge they need in order to move forward rapidly.  We want our children to become “Lifelong Learners” and continue to achieve and enjoy their learning. We acknowledge that recovery will be over at least 24 months and will continue to evolve in response to Government guidance with the global pandemic.