Recovery plans (Covid-19)
We have been collaborating across all the levels of our organisation to develop our plans to welcome back our students to school and are writing to share the principles of our plan with you.
An overview of our plans for academic and pastoral support are above. They include strategies and programmes to nurture and develop skills as well as recover learning. The government’s Covid catch-up plan has been taken into account and while some strategies will be bespoke for identified individuals, every child should expect to benefit from these plans. We know many will agree that teachers and families across the country have provided extraordinary support to help children learn at home during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, we recognise that for many children, the disruption caused by school closures will have had a negative impact on learning and wellbeing.
Every school will have been affected by Covid-19 differently and we do not underestimate the needs of our school community. The right way to support students will differ between schools.
Our prevailing recovery principle is about how we plan to tackle the impact of lost teaching time rather than specifically focusing on catching up on the individual tasks that were set during the partial closure.
While curriculum catch-up is something we will address, for many children, simply returning to school will be what they need to resocialise and to reacquaint with the routines and habits of effective learning. In lessons, the identification and addressing of misconceptions arising from home learning will be a priority. Low-stakes assessment, including teacher questioning, will help teachers to plan next steps. We will be making arrangements for students who are continuing to shield.
Our pastoral support package focuses on nurturing productive relationships and learners’ wellbeing. We recognise that each young person will require varying types and degrees of support and we are building this into our plans. Students need to be ready to learn to get the most out of school and we are confident our pastoral support plans will promote this.
We recognise that it is important to explore the experiences the school community has faced during the global pandemic. When students return to school, we will be offering them the opportunity to consider the challenges society has faced, celebrate the positives and also provide support for those who have found the situation particularly difficult.
In drawing up our plans, we have taken students’ views into account through online student council meetings. We have invited parents’ and carers’ views on the principles of our plans too.