An online learning programme has been launched to enable young people across the Fens to develop a range of skills during the coronavirus lockdown.
20Twenty Productions in March has created Neurons, designed for children and their families to access creative activities including photography, film-making, coding and environmental challenges.
All activities can be undertaken at home or during daily exercise as part of the programme, which was developed from 20Twenty Productions’ ‘Bits and Bytes’ project to reach more children.
Tim Nightingale, digital director at 20Twenty Productions said: “The current range of activities can all be undertaken in the home, garden or on safe walks.
“This means no person will have to break any of the social distancing guidelines to enjoy any of the exciting activities made available by Neurons.
“20Twenty Productions had, for the 18 months leading up to social distancing, been delivering a social mobility project within primary schools across Fenland and East Cambridgeshire.
“During the delivery of this programme, which was funded by the Department of Education, our staff began to discuss the creation of a purely ‘online’ version of the original classroom programme - known as Bits and Bytes - so that we could reach more children.
“While the concept was being discussed and planned by our team, it was the arrival of social distancing that accelerated its development and subsequent launch of Neurons on April 14.”
Neurons is a free email subscription service where individuals confirm which topics they are most interested in from the given list, their email address and the school their child attends.
Each participant then goes through five stages when exploring each topic, with each step detailed in a series of emails.
Another service, Neurons: Junior, is close to launching and with participants able to enjoy learning through play, Tim believes these programmes can be beneficial for both younger and older children in years to come.
He said: “We all know how a busy email inbox can be overwhelming and given that the activities are distributed via email, that was the last thing we wanted to do.
“The option to change topics exists, so subscribers can dip in and out at their leisure.
“The activities are designed to be flexible and adaptive. Having stated this, we are very excited to be close to launching ‘Neurons: Junior’, designed specifically for nursery and reception aged children.
“Neurons has been, and will continue to be, developed by our team to be used in the home.
“Our pledge is that Neurons will always provide free educational, creative and engaging content that will help children and young people develop the vital essential skills that they need to thrive in their future.”
For more information, email neurons@20twentyproductions or to subscribe to Neurons, go to https://bit.ly/3eBY9gj.
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