We are fully committed in the ongoing support and education of the children in our care in the circumstance of non-attendance due to COVID19. We hope to achieve a realistic and accessible ‘at home’ curriculum for all.

As early years practitioners we know that excessive screen time can be detrimental to children’s development and therefore instead of calling our alternative curriculum an ‘remote curriculum’ we have intentionally called it the ‘at home’ curriculum. This curriculum will seek to support parents to support their children at home in key skills that have been proven indicators vital to success in their future schooling.

Common sense tells us that:

Children of 3 and 4 years will not be able to access the same curriculum that would be provided whilst at Nursery. For example, they will not be gaining from the huge benefits of social interaction with children their own age, and highly trained Early Years practitioners. They will not be building the confidence to separate from their families and become independent. They will not have access to the wide and varied resources and typically messy play experiences that are unlikely to be replicated at home, due to resources and precious carpets and furniture! They may also have limited space in which to be physically active, especially when isolating in their own homes.

Our ‘At Home Curriculum’ can never replicate the full opportunities that are provided whist at Nursery, but as any good curriculum should we hope that it will closely match the needs of the children and families who may be forced to remain at home. Equally, constraints of staffing, workload and the very nature of learning during the Early Years will limit the ability for blended learning to fully imitate the learning experiences offered remotely is currently awaiting content

In preparation

In preparation for a potential need for an ‘at home curriculum.’ We have sought information from last year’s cohort about what they were most likely to use, and which tech devices their children have access to for example, laptops, tablets, phones.  We have asked them about how much time they would have a day to commit to playing with their children and what support in which areas they will find most useful.  Many families work and the reality is that many parents are stressed, exhausted and overwhelmed by the circumstances we have found ourselves in since the beginning of the pandemic. We endeavour not to add to this pressure, but support and provide experiences that can relieve some of that weight. Parents are their child’s first and most important and influential teacher and our partnership needs to recognise the unique needs and experiences of our school community.

The initial findings of the Co-SPACE study (COVID19 Supporting Parents, Adolescents and Children during Epidemics) site that

Parents who had lots of ideas about different ways to play with their child;

• Were more likely to feel they could keep their child occupied
• Were less worried about doing enough with their child
• Found keeping their child occupied less stressful

 

https://www.psy.ox.ac.uk/research/topic-research-group/supporting-parents-adolescents-and-children-during-epidemics

 

During the first lockdown of the Pandemic we offered a range of successful remote content. Throughout we sort feedback from parents and carers to guide our provision. This feedback was overwhelmingly positive and as such has been used to inform our new revised ‘At Home Curriculum’ for this years’ cohort (some of which are returning children.)

 

How do we know what is needed?

Any assessments on the existing cohort will be the backbone of the priorities of the ‘At Home Curriculum.’

Baseline assessments are completed within the first two weeks of children’s admittance and this information as well as ongoing assessments will provide the starting point for priorities both for onsite and remote curriculums. However, there are recognised areas of development that are always prioritised over others. We know that language plays a vital part in future success and enjoyment of school, wellbeing and social mobility and that nurture, consistent, secure and warm relationships are high indicators for success in later life.

Therefore, priority will be given to the Prime areas (as set out in the EYFS);

• Personal, Social and Emotional well-being,
• Communication and Language,
• Physical Development.

These important areas will form the basis of our ‘At Home Curriculum’ with Literacy and Numeracy integrated to created a more holistic approach alongside Expressive Arts and Design and Understanding the world.

It is also worth mentioning that we will strive to further educate the parents on the heavily documented benefits and importance of structured and free play.

Implementation (how?)

How will this be delivered?

In the event of individuals non-attendance due to COVID protocol:

Pre-existing resources of recordings will be used where possible, so as not to impact negatively on those still attending the setting or increase teacher workload unnecessarily. In some instances, activities may not duplicate what is planned for children still attending, due to restraints mentioned above, but they will coordinate in terms of learning intentions. We aim to make sure that the transition from attending Nursery to isolating and back again is as smooth as possible. To support this and maintain the warm relationships developed in the setting the majority of our ‘At Home Curriculum’ will be mostly delivered through pre-recorded videos of familiar staff posted on our online Learning Journey Tapestry. All families are actively encouraged to activate their accounts. Although rare, where it is known that a family does not or cannot access Tapestry alternative communication will be sort.

Schedule for individual self-isolation while Nursery remains open:

Day 1 begins on first day of the school being given notice about isolation and the child’s first day of absence. If isolation continued beyond 10 days the cycle will begin again at day one with new content. 

Tapestry Publication Schedule

Day	Learning Provision	Video Clip of staff	Day	Learning Provision	Video Clip
Rebecca responsible			Melissa responsible
1	Story activity with Creative link	Story video (& play ideas)	6	Story activity with Understanding the world link	Story video (& play ideas)
2	Mathematic activity	Hello song	7	Mathematic activity	Hello song
3	Phonics activity	Song	8	Phonics activity	Song
4	Gross motor activity	Hello Song	9	Fine motor activity	Hello Song
5	Communication and Language activity	Story video (& play ideas)	10	Communication and Language activity	Story video (& play ideas)

 

Activity ideas will be retrieved from a bank of carefully compiled developmentally appropriate ideas that are easily done with at home resources Targeting the Prime areas of learning or link to what has been directly taught at Nursery. Videos of Teachers will be used to support visual links and aid transitions back to Nursery. Staff will be reading stories and singing songs. Online dialogue will to continue via Tapestry so that parents can communicate about learning with Teachers and to sustain partnerships with families. Phone or video calls will be made where necessary to check in on parent’s and children’s well-being/safeguarding and aid transition back to Nursery.

In the event of school bubble closure due to COVID protocol:

All of the above will continue, with staff working from home (where practicable/if not ill) making new recordings and publishing new ideas in line with the current assessment and planning cycle, led by Teachers. This is important to ensure that the bank of pre -existing ideas is not duplicated or diminished unnecessarily. Content will be closely matched to the school’s curriculum dependent on what term it is and knowledge of the cohort’s stages of development. In some cases, bespoke ideas and recordings will be made, for example for SEND children and EAL children. SENDCO to coordinate these publications based on children’s individual targets, editing versions of teacher published activities where applicable. Teachers will lead Zoom sessions with TA3 staff leading in a Teachers absence. All other classroom staff will attend at least one zoom session a day to maintain visual contact with the children.  Experienced support staff will also contribute to published ideas, taking turns to record and publish themselves delivering hello songs and song entries alongside a demonstration of a gross motor activity. Less experienced staff will leave positive comment and likes on entries published by families and other staff. Teachers will record themselves reading stories and be responsible for publishing play ideas for parents and activity ideas, describing the intent (what) and impact (why) for parents and carers.

The frequency of remote learning provision will increase due to staff working from home. The schedule will follow this pattern. As mentioned above PSE, Communication and Language and Physical Development will be priority areas and as such be more frequent.

In addition, a weekly Tapestry Challenge will be set with the intention of encouraging families to post their own photos.

Day	Learning Provision	Video Clip of staff	Zoom Session a.m.	Zoom Session p.m.
	Teachers to publish activities	Staff to rotate responsibility for recording and publishing of hello song and song entries (in orange) Teachers to record stories	Teachers to lead with TA3 in Teachers absence (all other classroom staff to attend)
		(PD/CD/Literacy)	(PSED/Phonics/Maths/Literacy)
1	Creative activity	Story video & creative play ideas	Welcome time (WT)* and story session	WT Mathematics
	CD	Lit/CL/CD	PSED/Lit	PSED/MD
2	Mathematic activity	Hello song and an activity that increases heart rate	WT phonics	WT and story session
	MD	CD/CL/PD	PSED/CL	PSED/Lit
3	Phonics activity	Song and an activity that increases heart rate	WT and story session	WT and Phonics
	CL	CD/CL/PD	PSED/Lit	PSED/CL
4	Gross motor activity PD	Hello Song and an activity that increases heart rate	WT Mathematics	WT and story session
	PD	CD/CL/D	PSED/MD	PSED/Lit
5	Communication and Language activity	Story video & role -play ideas	L	WT and mathematics
	CL	Lit/CL/CD	PSED/Lit	PSED/MD
6	Understanding the world activity	Story video & creative play ideas	WT and phonics	WT and story session
	UW	Lit/CL/CD	PSED/CL	PSED/Lit
7	Mathematic activity	Hello song an activity that increases heart rate	WT and story session	WT and mathematics
	MD	CD/CL/PD	PSED/Lit	PSED/MD
8	Phonics activity	Song and an activity that increases heart rate	WT and phonics	WT and story session
	CL	CD/CL/PD	PSED/CL	PSED/Lit
9	Fine motor activity	Hello Song and an activity that increases heart rate	WT and story session	WT and mathematics
	PD	CD/PD	PSED/CL	PSED/MD
10	Communication and Language activity	Story video & creative play ideas	WT and phonics	WT and story session
	CL	Lit/CL/CD	PSED/CLED/	PSED/Lit/PSED/Lit

 

In the event of National or Local Lockdown

In the event of a National or Local Lockdown, during which only key groups of eligible children, (outlined by the Government and DF) children are able to attend the setting the provision of for the capacity of remote learning will be directly dependent on the number of children attending and the number of staff needed to remain in ratio. However, our intention would be to continue to focus on the three prime areas with Literacy and Numeracy alongside Expressive Arts and Design and Understanding the world. We aim to give parents both structured and free play ideas and guidance

Example of a weekly plan.

Format	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Video	Teacher Video reading Story of the week also shared in class. (L)	Teacher video session linked to previous days story – mark making focus.	Teacher video Mathematical story or song.	Teacher video Listening and Attention (Phonics Phase 1 and/or Phase 2)	Suggested links to alternative visual sources.
Video	Video of teacher showing an example of structured or unstructured activity linked to the story and story focus	Video of teacher showing an example of unstructured play idea (EAD/UW)	Video of teacher showing an example structured activity linked to the story or song (Math)	Video of teacher showing an unstructured play idea (L)	Video of teacher showing an example structured activity for physical development
Video or text and images	Communication and language structured activity. – Speaking	Physical development (gross/fine)	Communication and language structured activity – Understanding	Physical development (gross/fine)	PSED activity, video/story or link