Core Academic Learning
Personalised teaching supports learners to strengthen knowledge, address gaps, develop confidence and continue making academic progress from an appropriate starting point.
Our Curriculum
Ambitious Learning. Personalised Around the Young Person.
Reconnect Learning provides a personalised curriculum designed for children and young people who may need a different route through education.
Our curriculum brings together academic learning, qualifications, SEND-informed teaching, personal development, wellbeing, life skills, careers and preparation for the learner's next stage.
Personalisation does not mean lowering expectations. It means creating an accessible pathway through which a young person can reconnect with learning, make meaningful progress and work towards ambitious outcomes.
Starting Point
Baseline First
We begin by understanding where the learner is now.
Approach
Personalised
Teaching responds to strengths, needs and barriers.
Expectation
Ambitious
Personalisation should increase access, not reduce aspiration.
Destination
Progression Focused
Curriculum decisions remain connected to the learner's next step.
Curriculum Intent
Reconnecting young people with meaningful education
Learners referred to alternative provision may have experienced disrupted education, persistent absence, EBSNA, SEND, SEMH needs, exclusion, changes in placement or a significant loss of confidence in education.
A standard timetable or teaching approach may therefore not provide the most effective starting point. Our curriculum is designed to establish what the learner already knows, understand what may be preventing progress and create an educational pathway that is achievable, purposeful and appropriately ambitious.
Academic achievement remains important. However, for some young people successful curriculum access may initially also depend upon rebuilding engagement, relationships, confidence, communication, routine and readiness to learn.
Our Curriculum Principle
Our curriculum is not a reduced version of school. It is a personalised route back into meaningful education, achievement and future opportunity.
Curriculum Framework
Six connected areas of learning and development
Individual programmes may draw upon different parts of our curriculum depending upon the learner's age, referral, starting point, SEND, intended outcomes and future pathway. The purpose is to create a coherent programme rather than a collection of disconnected sessions.
GCSE & Functional Skills
Where appropriate, learners can work towards recognised academic or vocationally relevant pathways including GCSE and Functional Skills preparation.
Wellbeing & Engagement
Curriculum planning can incorporate confidence, communication, resilience, emotional literacy, relationships and positive engagement with learning.
Life Skills
Practical learning can support organisation, decision-making, communication, healthy living, money awareness and increasing independence.
Careers & Aspirations
Learners are supported to recognise strengths, explore opportunities and develop realistic pathways towards further education, training and employment.
Reintegration & Next Steps
Where appropriate, curriculum planning supports reintegration, transition to another setting or movement towards the learner's next educational destination.
Curriculum Implementation
How the curriculum becomes an individual programme
Personalisation begins before teaching. Available referral information, previous education, attendance, SEND or EHCP information, learner strengths, interests, barriers and intended outcomes help inform the starting programme.
01
Understand
Review the referral, educational context, strengths, needs and barriers.
02
Baseline
Establish appropriate academic and wider starting points.
03
Plan
Identify curriculum priorities and intended outcomes.
04
Deliver
Adapt pace, resources, teaching methods and session structure.
05
Review
Monitor learning, attendance, engagement and wider progress.
06
Progress
Prepare for qualifications, reintegration, transition or the next destination.
Academic Curriculum
Maintaining academic ambition through disrupted education
Periods of absence or disrupted schooling can create gaps in knowledge and confidence. We therefore avoid assuming that chronological age automatically represents a learner's current academic starting point.
Teaching is planned around what the learner knows, what they need to develop and the academic pathway that is appropriate to their circumstances.
Where GCSE or Functional Skills outcomes form part of the agreed programme, teaching can focus on the knowledge, skills and preparation required to support progress towards those outcomes.
English
Reading, writing, literacy, communication and qualification-focused learning where appropriate.
Mathematics
Numeracy, mathematical confidence, reasoning, problem-solving and appropriate qualification preparation.
GCSE Support
Subject-focused teaching and revision linked to the learner's agreed GCSE pathway.
Functional Skills
Practical English and mathematics supporting qualification pathways and future progression.
Wider Subject Learning
Additional subjects and learning activities can be incorporated according to the referral, available expertise and agreed programme.
Personal Development Curriculum
Preparing learners for education, life and adulthood
Education extends beyond academic attainment. Depending on the learner's needs and agreed programme, personal development can be woven into provision to strengthen confidence, independence, safety, relationships and preparation for adulthood.
Emotional Literacy
Understanding feelings, recognising responses and developing appropriate strategies for managing challenge.
Communication
Building communication skills, respectful interaction and confidence expressing needs and opinions.
Confidence
Developing self-belief, persistence and willingness to attempt learning after previous difficulties.
Personal & Online Safety
Supporting age-appropriate understanding of safety, digital behaviour, boundaries and responsible choices.
Organisation
Developing routines, planning, time awareness and greater responsibility for learning.
Money & Practical Skills
Practical learning around money, budgeting, decision-making and everyday independence.
Careers & Employability
Exploring strengths, opportunities, employability skills and future education or training.
Learner Participation
Helping young people express what is working, what remains difficult and what they want to achieve.
SEND & EHCP-Informed Curriculum
Adapting access without reducing aspiration.
Where a learner has identified SEND or an EHCP, relevant needs, provision and outcomes can inform curriculum planning alongside the educational objectives agreed for the placement.
Adaptation may include changes to communication, pace, resources, session structure, environment, sensory considerations or the way learning is introduced and reinforced.
The purpose of adaptation is to improve access to learning while maintaining meaningful expectations for progress.
EHCP-informed planning where applicable
Individual academic starting points
Adaptive teaching approaches
Communication needs considered
Sensory and environmental considerations
SEMH and engagement needs considered
Learner strengths and interests recognised
Progress reviewed against agreed outcomes
EBSNA & Re-engagement
Sometimes the first curriculum goal is being able to learn again.
For a young person experiencing emotionally based school non-attendance, immediately recreating a full school timetable may not address the barriers that have prevented successful participation.
Provision may therefore begin with predictable, manageable learning experiences designed to establish relationships, routine, safety and engagement.
As confidence and participation improve, academic demand, session length and curriculum breadth can increase appropriately. The aim is not to remove challenge indefinitely, but to rebuild the learner's capacity to engage successfully with education.
1
Connect
Establish trust, predictability and a workable starting point for engagement.
2
Engage
Introduce accessible learning and rebuild positive educational experiences.
3
Extend
Increase challenge, duration and curriculum breadth as readiness develops.
4
Progress
Work towards sustained learning, qualifications, reintegration or another planned destination.
Curriculum Impact
How we understand whether the curriculum is working
Curriculum impact is considered through more than the number of sessions delivered. Depending on the referral, progress may be academic, behavioural, developmental, engagement-based or linked to preparation for a future destination.
Academic Progress
Development in knowledge, skills, subject confidence and progress towards agreed academic outcomes.
Attendance
Consistency, punctuality and the learner's ability to sustain participation in provision.
Engagement
Participation, communication, task tolerance and willingness to engage with learning.
Confidence & Wellbeing
Progress in self-belief, resilience, emotional awareness and readiness to learn.
Independence
Development in organisation, decision-making, communication and practical skills.
EHCP Outcomes
Where relevant, progress can be considered in relation to identified needs and agreed EHCP outcomes.
Learner Voice
The learner's perspective helps identify progress, barriers and what support is most effective.
Next-Step Readiness
Progress towards reintegration, qualifications, further education, training or another destination.
Reporting & Review
Making progress visible to commissioners
Schools and local authorities need clear information about the education they commission. Reporting can therefore bring together attendance, engagement, learning, progress, learner voice and recommended next steps according to the agreed provision.
Session & Attendance Information
Clear records help provide visibility of attendance, participation and the education delivered.
Learning & Engagement
Progress information can reflect academic learning, engagement and relevant wider outcomes.
Structured Reviews
Provision can be reviewed against starting points, agreed objectives and emerging learner needs.
Learner & Parent Feedback
Where appropriate, learner and parent/carer voice can contribute to understanding progress and barriers.
Recommended Next Steps
Reviews help identify whether provision should continue, develop, increase or prepare for transition.
End-of-Provision Summary
Where applicable, final reporting can bring together progress, outcomes and recommendations for the next stage.
Curriculum Delivery
Flexible settings. Consistent expectations.
The location of learning may change, but expectations around safeguarding, planning, engagement, professional practice and progress remain consistent.
Personalised education delivered through an appropriate home tuition arrangement.
Education delivered in suitable agreed community or outreach settings.
Structured remote education where online delivery is appropriate for the learner.
Delivery approaches can be combined where this supports the learner and agreed programme.
Transition & Destination
Alternative provision should help create a next step.
Our curriculum is intended to move learners forward, rather than allowing alternative provision to become an educational holding position.
Where appropriate, curriculum planning can therefore include preparation for reintegration, further education, training, qualifications, employment pathways or another suitable educational placement.
Reintegration planning
Transition preparation
Further education pathways
Careers and aspirations
Employability development
Preparation for adulthood
Next-step recommendations
Planning Provision
A curriculum built around where the learner is now — and where they need to go next.
Schools and local authorities can discuss a learner's current educational position, identified needs, barriers and intended outcomes with Reconnect Learning before provision is agreed.
This helps ensure that the curriculum, delivery model and intended outcomes are clear from the beginning.