Think Piece

A Recovery Curriculum:  Loss and Life for our children and schools post pandemic.

Barry Carpenter, CBE, Professor of Mental Health in Education, Oxford Brookes University, UK
Matthew Carpenter, Principal, Baxter College, Kidderminster, Worcestershire, UK

“When will they actually go back to school?” This is the cry from many parents, as we write and there is no answer. But that does not stop us thinking about what it will be like for each and every one of our children, at whatever age, stage or ability level on the day they walk through the classroom door.

It would be naive of any Headteacher/Principal to think that the child will pick up the Curriculum at exactly the same point at which they left it on the day their school closed. Too much has happened. Listen to what the children are saying. Look at what the children are experiencing. None of this follows the usual pattern of a school year with all of the annual cycle of events. It feels like a period of true social disorder. Compassionate Leadership is crucial at this time.

When the children return to school there needs to be a Recovery Curriculum in place. Suddenly daily routines have evaporated and with it, any known curriculum framework. No more rushing to get the school bag ready and running out of the door to begin the journey to school. For most children their daily goal in going to school is not just to learn but to see their friends and to feel a sense of self-worth that only a peer group can offer. You cannot underestimate the impact of the loss of that social interaction. It is as key to their holistic development as any lesson. Human beings are fundamentally social creatures, and the brain grows in the context meaningful human to human interaction. What will the children be making of this period of non-attendance? What worries will they have because grown-ups have now stopped them going to school indefinitely?

For many children the loss of structure will be devastating. This is why parents have been encouraged to establish clear routines in home schooling their children. Children need to know what they are doing now and what will come next. If they don’t, the child will become anxious and concentration levels drop; they become frustrated with themselves, and their parents as makeshift educator.

For some, the loss of freedom is constraining. What teenager wants to be with their parents 24 hours a day? Frankly they are not cool! Their whole self-image, self-esteem, and self-concept, is located in the interaction and dynamics of a peer group. They cannot test their emerging self, against the rules and routines of family life and to be taught by a parent who clearly knows nothing, (what teen acknowledges parental skills?) is to them an insult!

The common thread that runs through the current lived experiences of our children, is loss. Publicly it has been the loss of national examinations which has been most obvious. As one student said, “I was preparing to run a marathon, but now they tell me there is no race!” Many would think that the removal of examinations would be a matter of joy for most young people facing a gruelling timetable of examinations. But these are rites of passage; they are integral to how that young person shapes their ambitions for their life. What impact will it have on students to give their all to examinations next time around?

From loss emanates three significant dynamics that will impact majorly on the mental health of our children. Anxiety, trauma and bereavement are powerful forces. For them all to appear at once in an untimely and unplanned fashion is significant for the developing child. Our children are vulnerable at this time, and their mental-health fragile. And on top of that, they are witnessing a sea of adult anxiety, which they unwittingly are absorbing. There will be many students who are young carers, and this loss of freedom will be combined with a weight of responsibility that will have made academic learning feel inconsequential.

The loss of friendship and social interaction could trigger a bereavement response in some of our children. They will grieve for that group of peers, who not only give them angst, but also affirm them as the person they want to be. The rules of the peer group have vanished without warning, and our young people in particular, were ill prepared for this. They will mourn for how their life was compared to how it is now. They have undergone a period where friends and family members have been avoided because they are a threat; how long will it take for children to feel not threatened by nearness of others?

The loss of routine and structure, will be traumatic for some. Already we are receiving reports of the increased incidents of self-harm, (Young Minds, 2020). Children can find it alarming that the infrastructure of their week has been abandoned however logical the reason. The suddenness of it all may induce panic attacks, a loss of self-control, as the child feels their own intellect no longer informs their personal judgements accurately.

Anxiety is a cruel companion. It eats away at the positive mental health of the child, and can cause a deterioration in their overall well-being. The anxious child is not a learning child. Mood swings may prevail; they can become irrational and illogical. There can be a loss of sleep; the cumulative tiredness can diminish the child’s coping mechanisms.

Daily, children are listening to reports of the spread of the pandemic and to the reported death toll in their country and internationally. It is probable that most children may return to school knowing of someone who has died. Indeed, they may have first-hand experience of the death of a loved one. In this respect, we have much to learn from the experiences of those children affected by the earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand. Schools there, kept a register of the deaths within a family, or other significant traumatic events, to guide and inform staff as children returned. Subsequent evidence from research studies from NZ, (Liberty, 2018) have shown that there has been considerable impact on the learning and development of those children who were under 5 years old at the time of the earthquakes, (eg speech delays, emotional immaturity, etc). We ignore such related evidence at our peril.

Those 5 losses, of routine, structure, friendship, opportunity and freedom, can trigger the emergence emotionally of anxiety, trauma and bereavement in any child. The overall impact cannot be underestimated. It will cause a rapid erosion of the mental health state in our children.

How are schools to prepare? What curriculum adjustments are crucial? What pedagogical frameworks will facilitate teaching with compassion? How will staff manage their own recovery? We inevitably have a finite resource and we must consider the gradual implementation of any form of curriculum to recover from loss. All of our learners will need a holistic recovery, some may need a focused recovery intervention programme, personalised to their needs; others may need a deeper and longer lasting recovery period, enabling a fuller exploration of the severity of their trauma and emergent attachment issues .

Teaching is a relationship-based profession. That has been clearly demonstrated in the response of the teaching profession, supporting children through online teaching during the crisis, and also caring for the children of key workers by keeping schools open and offering an activities programme. This was not without its inherent risk.

In response to the weight of loss our young people will have experienced, what are our levers of recovery? Many of us will focus on the recovery of lost knowledge, but this does not recognise the scale of impact. If we consider the definition of a relevant curriculum as the ‘daily lived experience’ we must plan for experiences that provide the space for recovery. Already Headteachers are saying “The children will be so far behind academically when they return.” Such statements are incompatible with the process of recovery from loss, trauma, anxiety and grief. It is more about the results culture so many Headteachers are steeped in. Now is the time to return to more humane approaches concerned with the fundamental wellbeing, and secure positive development of the child. Without this there will be no results that have true meaning and deep personal value to the child in terms of their preparation for adulthood.

We suggest the Recovery Curriculum is built on the 5 Levers, as a systematic, relationships-based approach to reigniting the flame of learning in each child. Many children will return to school disengaged. School may seem irrelevant after a long period of isolation, living with a background of silent fear, always wondering if the day will come when the silence speaks and your life is changed forever. Our quest, our mission as educators, should be to journey with that child through a process of re-engagement, which leads them back to their rightful status as a fully engaged, authentic learner.

What must be going though children’s minds at this strange time? Is school to be always transitory, when for you as a child, it has always been a constant, love it or hate it? Can I trust you again, as my teacher, to not abandon me? We were walking a path together, and then this ‘thing’, this virus, sent us on different journeys. Can our lives reconnect? Can our relationship be re-established? School is no longer the safe, constant place we thought it was. We must be ready to understand, to reframe their perceptions, and show that we are trustworthy.

The Recovery Curriculum is an essential construct for our thinking and our planning. Each school must fill it with the content they believe is best for the children of their school community, informed by your inherent understanding of your children in your community. What were the aims and values of your school before this pandemic? Use them now to guide your judgements, to build a personalised response to the child who has experienced loss. No Government can give you the guidelines for that. It is down to you, as that skilled, intuitive teacher, who can lift the mask of fear and disenfranchisement from the child. You can engage that child as a learner once more, for engagement is the liberation of intrinsic motivation, (Carpenter et al, 2015).

The Loss the children experienced during this pandemic will have caused issues around attachment – in their relationships in school that they have forged over years; these will be some of the strongest relationships the young people have, but bereft of the investment of those daily interactions, will have become fragile. Our unwritten relationships curriculum must restore the damage of neglect; it must be a Curriculum of Recovery. Now is the time to address the damage of loss and trauma, so that it does not rob our children of their lifelong opportunities. Now is the time to ensure that we restore mental wealth in our children, so that their aspirations for their future , can be a vision that becomes, one day, a reality.

References:
Carpenter, B. et al (2015) ‘Engaging Learners with Complex Needs’, London, Routledge.

Liberty, K., (2018) ‘How research is helping our children after the earthquakes.’
https://www.healthprecinct.org.nz/stories/how-research-is-helping-our-children-after-the-earthquakes/ (accessed 14th April, 2020.)

Young Minds (2020) Coronavirus; the impact on young people with mental health needs. www.youngminds.org.uk

Date: 23rd April 2020

© Barry Carpenter, CBE, Professor of Mental Health in Education, Oxford Brookes University. Matthew Carpenter, Principal, Baxter College,  Kidderminster , Worcestershire.

About the authors:

Professor Barry Carpenter’s website: https://barrycarpentereducation.com

Professor Carpenter’s recent lecture on “Nurturing a culture of inquiry at your school” : https://www.evidenceforlearning.net/barrycarpenter/

Matthew Carpenter (Baxter College): http://baxtercollege.co.uk

EXPLORING A RECOVERY CURRICULUM

Podcasts (LearningShared)

To explore and develop what a Recovery Curriculum might look like in the context of a school’s existing curricula, we’ve been hosting a series of conversations with school leaders, practitioners and researchers over the coming weeks. We’ve released and shared these discussions as episodes on the new LearningShared podcast.

The first of these episodes is available below. LearningShared is available for (totally free) subscription via the usual podcast channels. Please join our mailing list (below) to be kept up to date when future episodes are released. 

Episode 1 includes a lecture with visual slides from Professor Carpenter, that delves deeper into some of the ideas, concepts and research behind the Recovery Curriculum Think Piece and begins to think about questions that leaders and practitioners can ask of each other as they prepare to lead the recovery. 

Below is an audio-only podcast feed for LearningShared with Episode 1, as well as the video version with presentation slides to accompany the lecture.

Please feel free to share with colleagues and on social media. 

LearningShared: Episode 1 – A Recovery Curriculum Part 1 (Loss and Life for our children and schools post pandemic) [AUDIO ONLY]

LearningShared: Episode 1 – A Recovery Curriculum Part 1 (Loss and Life for our children and schools post pandemic) [VIDEO with SLIDES]

The video below contains the audio from LearningShared Episode 1 with visual slides from the presentation.

Following the introductory lecture in Episode 1 (in the video above and shortly available as an audio streaming/download podcast), we’ve been discussing and exploring practical approaches with a number of school leaders, practitioners and researchers asking and diving into questions such as:

• How will you identify and understand your students’ own sense and experience of loss? (Identifying loss)
• How will you adapt and develop your curriculum for recovery (Responding with recovery)
• What do you see as the key leadership values in leading recovery at your school? (Compassionate leadership)

If you’d like to join the LearningShared podcast mailing list to be notified when the new episodes are available, please subscribe below…

CONVERSATIONS ON A RECOVERY CURRICULUM

LearningShared: Special Episode for Mental Health Awareness Week – “When will we talk about the mental health of our children?” [VIDEO with SLIDES]

In this special episode of LearningShared, recorded for Mental Health Awareness Week, Barry Carpenter CBE (Professor of Mental Health in Education, Oxford Brookes University asks this question and provides a lecture exploring important threads and dynamics in considering the mental health of children and young people.

RECOVERY CURRICULUM CONFERENCE & WEBINAR

“Reflections on Recovery …Reigniting Children’s Learning”

We’re hosting an online conference /webinar to pull together the incredible amount of development and work that has gone into planning and enacting the recovery and transition back to effective learning for our children and young people.

The conference will also provide an opportunity to celebrate the mammoth collaborative effort that has underpinned the evolution of the Recovery Curriculum and its positive achievements during the pandemic.

COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE

Opening up the conversation… a space and community to discuss and co-develop ideas around a Recovery Curriculum

Facebook Group: Recovery Curriculum

We’ve set up a private facebook group at:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/recoverycurriculum

or search for “recoverycurriculum” in the Facebook app.

The group already has over 11,000 teachers, school leaders, practitioners and has become a home for sharing ideas, resources, experiences as school prepare for and enact the recovery and return to effective learning at their school.

Facebook: EfL SEND Community Group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/eflSENDCommunity/

or search for “eflSENDCommunity”

The purpose of the group is to provide a safe, closed space to seek out and share ideas, experience and resources that can help with any and all aspects of SEND provision. It’s also a community for practitioners and schools that use Evidence for Learning and Insights for Learning to share ideas, resources and support each other in using these apps. It’s a peer moderated and supported group.

https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12399451/

REFERENCES

Below are some of the references, books and materials referred to in the podcasts.

Download and share a copy of the Think Piece “Recovery Curriculum – Loss and Life for our children and schools post pandemic”:

Recovery Curriculum – Loss and Life for our children and schools post pandemic (PDF copy)

‘Happiness Boxes’

Here is a how to make a Happiness Box, with a sound rationale for doing so. Written by Barry Carpenter and Bev Cockbill this step by step guide is perfect for welcoming children and young people back to school, or for home learning. In either contexts it enables the child to build their emotional resilience, and self regulate their emotional well being.

Rationale for the Happiness Box and how to make it (PDF Copy)

‘Social Stories’

Here are some examples of the ‘Social Stories’ that Bev Cockbill refers to in Episode 7.

Examples of ‘Social Stories’ (PDF Copy)

Books Beyond Words:

https://booksbeyondwords.co.uk

Coping with Coronavirus – www.booksbeyondwords.co.uk/coping-with-coronavirus

BW Story App – www.booksbeyondwords.co.uk/bw-story-app

Lenny and Lily in Lockdown and Lenny and Lily Return to School will help children make sense of their experiences during the coronavirus pandemic, communicate their feelings and prepare for more change as they go back to the classroom. As the stories are told in pictures alone, it is not necessary for children to be able to read words to enjoy them. This means they are appropriate for pupils in both mainstream and special education settings.

Both stories are structured around the 5 Losses and 5 Levers of the Recovery Curriculum .

Supporting text at the end of each story gives teaching staff and parents guidance on how to use the stories with children.

Both stories are available to download for free in time for the start of the new term from: www.booksbeyondwords.co.uk/lenny-and-lily-childrens-stories.

Nurture UK:

https://www.nurtureuk.org

Bereavement Box / 60 Sensory Minutes – https://www.nurtureuk.org/publications/practical-tools

Transition Tool Box – https://www.nurtureuk.org/our-services/publications/programmes/transition-tool-box

Recommended Books:

Understanding & Preventing Self-harm in Schools – Tina Rae & Jody Walshe

Building Positive Thinking Habits – Tina Rae

Bouncing Back & Coping with Change (Building Emotional & Social Resilience in Young People Aged 9-14) – Tina Rae

The Essential Guide to Cognitive Behaviour Therapy with Children & Young People – Tina Rae & Pandora Giles

Girls and Autism: Educational, Family and Personal Perspectives – Carpenter, B., Happè, F. and Egerton, J. (Eds) [London: Routledge]

The ASD Girls’ Well Being Tool Kit: An Evidence-based intervention Promoting Mental, Physical and Emotional health – Tina Rae and Amy Such (2019) [Hinton Publishers]

Well Being Tool Kit for Mental Health Leads:

A Comprehensive training resource to support well being in education and care by Hinton House publishers

http://www.hintonpublishers.com/isbn_template.php?isbn=978-1-912112-65-4

Journals from Butterfly Print

https://www.butterflyprint.co.uk

RC PSYCH (Royal College of Psychiatrists)
Psychiatrists reflect on kindness during Mental Health Awareness Week

https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/news-and-features/latest-news/detail/2020/05/19/psychiatrists-reflect-on-kindness-during-mental-health-awareness-week

Mental Health training module

Module 3.4 – http://www.complexneeds.org.uk

The Engagement Model Guidance from DfE, Jan 2020

The Engagement Model Guidance (DfE, January 2020) (PDF)

Referenced Articles

Mental Health Foundation – Research Briefing “Kindness” Mental Health Awareness Week (May 2020)

Mental Wealth Journals article in SEND magazine – Bev Cockbill & Jo Egerton (PDF Copy)

A Little Guide for Parents on Home Schooling During Lockdowns

Author: Laura Purser, January 2021
Parent and Teacher Trainer. Head of Primary and Early Years ITT, SEND & Inclusion Lead, Mental Health and Well-Being Support at The University of Buckingham
Twitter: @LauraPurser1

As the author says in her introduction to this excellent resource guide for parents:

“Knowing how to home school is not something parents are born knowing. Even fully trained teachers and those working directly in education, may find themselves thrown as to how to navigate their way through these circumstances flung upon them. Balancing the emotional turbulence of the pandemic and all that comes with it is enough to throw us off kilter. Add to that the media diet of fear and breaking news, social media notifications and a constant stream of conflicting and ambitious information, it can be a minefield to know what to do for the best.”

Professor Barry Carpenter CBE writes “This booklet not only offers thoughtful guidance, (from someone who is home schooling her child) but a reflective piece that enables parents to frame their own emotions and experiences of home schooling in Lockdown. On top of that it offers some useful tips, and points to invaluable resources. At a time when there is nothing to support parents in these most challenging of times, this free guide is extremely welcome.”

‘A Little Guide for Parents on Home Schooling During Lockdowns’ by Laura Purser, University of Buckingham (PDF)

The Motivation Mystery

Author: Laura Purser, January 2021
Parent and Teacher Trainer. Head of Primary and Early Years ITT, SEND & Inclusion Lead, Mental Health and Well-Being Support at The University of Buckingham
Twitter: @LauraPurser1

In her latest Think Piece, Laura Purser of the University of Buckingham, reflects on children’s learning in this time of pandemic, and reminds parents and teacher alike of the power of intrinsic motivation. It is a valuable and helpful reflective piece.

The Motivation Mystery (PDF)

Active Recovery Hub

A new Active Recovery Hub is launching to provide schools, local authorities, and families with easy access to free resources to get children moving before, during and after the school day , co-ordinated by the Youth Sport Trust and Sport England.

The hub has hundreds of free resources available on it to help all children of all ages and abilities achieve the Chief Medical Officer’s recommendation of an average of 60 active minutes a day.

Supporting the launch Professor Barry Carpenter CBE, said:

“The pandemic has had such a devastating impact on the social and emotional wellbeing of our children, causing high levels of mental distress. Active Recovery offers a positive and proactive route to recovery which builds physical fitness, stamina and social skills.”

The Active Recovery Hub is available by visiting www.yourschoolgames.com/active-recovery

Read the full press release here: Active Recovery Hub Press Release (PDF)

SHARED RESOURCES

Please join and participate in the Facebook and LinkedIn groups (above) to suggest and share resources and reference articles.

Schools Helping Schools platform to support the Recovery Curriculum
This site provides practical resources for classroom activities and whole-school approaches to support the Recovery Curriculum. It is a peer-sharing platform where schools can upload and download resources freely. The site is managed by the SDSA with a core remit to support schools in Derby and Leicester, but there are no restrictions upon schools anywhere contributing to the site. (https://offschool.org.uk/teacher-zone/recovery-curriculum)