Adaptations to the wider curriculum
We recognise that in order to enable our children to catch up in their learning, they need to have good attitudes to learning, perseverance and be engaged in what they are learning.
Reading, writing and Maths are central to children’s recovery and, through catching up on these, will enable them to access the wider curriculum.
Our curriculum is driven by our project base learning and this remains fully in place. This approach is driven by purposeful learning that ensures that our children’s learning has real relevance to themselves and the wider world. It enables them to explore real life issues, develop a social conscience and through this contribute towards changing this. This is fundamental to the way the curriculum at Trewirgie has been designed and shaped.
Each term children will be studying a new project that is driven by an essential question. This culminates in a legacy outcome where children hope to ‘make a difference, have an impact and leave a legacy.' This approach to learning means that children take a real ownership for their learning. The impact of this is that ‘learning sticks’, is durable and lasting.
We know that the first stage in learning is motivation, as supported by the field of neuroscience. Our curriculum has therefore been designed to spark children’s natural curiosity and our approach of open ended investigation and discovery is at the very heart of it. This approach of purposeful exploration and investigation increases children’s creativity and brain plasticity which, in turn, helps them to become open to new ideas and be more creative in their own thinking. This is central to our school’s recovery curriculum approach.
We have looked carefully at each year group and identified the key gaps in their learning. The timetable for the day has then been adapted and modified to enable them to have the time that is needed to focus on the key priorities. (See Maths, Reading and Writing section). The way that our wider curriculum is sequenced and structured means that these subjects are also essential to support the catching up of their reading and writing. Our Science curriculum has a rich vocabulary that will support and help develop children’s reading. Equally, the school’s history and geography curriculum is rich in vocabulary and requires the children to be able to read and write extensively.
The Arts are equally as important as, for many of these subjects, they are an outlet for children to explore and process their emotions. They are also essential in order to develop children’s imagination and creativity. PE too is an important part of the curriculum for children. Although there are aspects of this subject that we have had to modify, we understand the link between being physically active, good mental health and the release of endorphins and therefore ensure that children get the opportunity each week to be physically active.
PSHE is central to our curriculum and nevermore so that now. Through this, children will be able to learn and explore about their own feelings and emotions, how to keep themselves safe, both in real life and online, what a good relationship looks and feels like and how to develop good emotional resilience.
We know inevitably that there will be gaps in aspects of children's learning. By ensuring that children's learning time has been prioritised and focused on reading, writing and mathematic skills, this has enabled them to fully access the wider curriculum. Throughout the pandemic our curriculum has remain broad and balanced and key priorities within each foundation subject identified.