Going above and beyond

At the opening of this year’s Alliance annual conference, we shared some amazing examples of the help and support that early years providers are giving children and families.

Below, we share some more fantastic examples of settings going the extra mile.

When one of our three-year-olds was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer, she was not able to attend the nursery for almost a year. We held her place open for her in case there were any patches in her treatment where she might be well enough to come in briefly.

We use a digital observation platform and kept her on this. We sent her regular observations and included her in activities and events in whatever modified manner we could. Before we were in a position to share news with our families, we opened a closed Facebook page to read stories for all of the children, but primarily to keep our small friend connected to us and remembering where she belongs.

We have taken the children to stand on the pavement outside her house to sing to her and invited her family to use the nursery garden at the weekends when they were unable to mix with others. Our cook made her some of her favourite meals and dropped them in to the family. The child sent a message to say, "the hospital food was nice, but not as god as Treasure's!”

Our families, of their own initiative, reached out and kept in contact, volunteered transport, school pick-ups and playdates for the older sibling, and carefully managed playdates when they became appropriate.

All of the staff, children and families sent individual ‘Happy new hair day’ video messages, so that mum could make a positive montage for our friend when she needed to have that first big hair cut…and the list goes on.

I am delighted to say that she started a staged return to nursery a few weeks ago and because of our nursery community's investment and the family's confidence in this community, our friend is looking at home here and making great strides.

We have several months before she heads to school in which to build her confidence and resilience, and we could not be happier or prouder of our little superstar.

We supported a child who was taken into emergency foster care by going with the child (as a familiar person) and the social worker to the foster placement for the first time. [We supported] the child's consistency by offering a drop-off and collection service so that the child could remain at our setting during a really unsettling period.

We also hosted supervised contact at the nursery for the parents and child [while] the social worker had to assess the parents and ensure the child could safely return to the family (nine months later). 

I believe what we did as a setting and I did as a manager made a significant difference to the trauma that child experienced during this time. Seeing the family reunited and thriving afterwards was one of the most rewarding times of my life.

I have visited schools with parents to help with transitions.

We invested £10,000 into our SEND provision as a mainstream setting over the past two years.

We have set up a free lending library, with books, games, activity sheets, resources and more, for families to access educational resources as they’re not always available through public services.

We have sent home home-cooked meals and baskets of fruit and veg that we grow organically on site with children facing food insecurity. We also provide free food and completely free places to EYPP and THINK2 (disadvantaged two-year-old-funded) children, along with free toothbrushes and toothpaste.

We also put on free stay-and-play sessions for parents regularly to improve parental mental health and help families find social opportunities that are inclusive and welcoming.

When a grandmother – who had lived with one of our families since the child was born – died, we were the first place that her daughter rang as she left the hospital.

Despite it being a Saturday morning, she knew that we would listen to her, offer her support, help her to talk to her son and support him to grieve but also to remember her. We spoke for over an hour on that day.

Having got off the phone, I worked my way through the child's digital observation file and downloaded all the images of him with his grandma, added a phrase about what they were doing and dated them.

I created a memory box, which I had discussed with mum, and we looked through it with the child every day for several weeks, keeping the box available to him at all times and passing it onto his family when they were ready to take it.

By acting swiftly, we were able to have several strategies and tools available to support the child and the family when we next saw them on the Monday.

We go over and above on a daily basis, supporting the whole family and going the extra mile.

We visit families if a child has been off for long periods to check on their wellbeing and to see if we can support them in any way. Families experiencing bereavement etc are offered extra sessions, or to drop off unannounced if they have an emergency, so that we can offer holistic support.

We have set up a food bank to support our less advantaged parents. We make up little bags for children who are poorly and cannot attend for periods of time. We have also previously sent home craft and activities to a family where a child’s brother was undergoing surgery and who therefore couldn't attend the setting for isolation reasons.