Parenta bosses climb a mountain to raise money for Marie Curie

Thursday, September 23rd, 2010

Nick & Allan will climb Kilomanjaro to raise money for charityThe two co-founders of Parenta leave for Tanzania tomorrow to climb Kilimanjaro, the largest free standing mountain in the world and raise money for charity.

Allan Presland and Nick Williams are taking a break from their normal working routine to do their bit for Marie Curie Cancer Care.

Fundraising activities have seen our friends at Top Days hold a cake bake day, poker nights, a summer garden party and even a Parenta team sports day!

Recent weeks have seen the pair walk 25 miles in a day, and after months of solid training, the time has come for them to tackle the 5,895 metre mountain.

So far donations for Marie Curie have reached over £5,000, but there’s still time for more! If you would like to help raise money for Marie Curie, simply head over to their donations page to leave a small contribution.

Marie Curie Cancer Care provides high quality nursing, totally free, to give people with terminal cancer and other illnesses the choice of dying at home, supported by their families.

Good luck guys, it’s for a great cause!

Nursery Chain launches campaign for changes to Code of Practice

Thursday, September 23rd, 2010

What challenges has free entitlement presented your setting?Nursery providers, Early Years Childcare, are running a nationwide campaign in an attempt to force a review of the Code of Practice by the Government.

With nine settings based in Sussex, Hampshire and South-east London, Early Years Childcare are concerned that free entitlement is under-funded and that parents are not aware of the challenges that it poses.

They’re looking for your support and feedback on how other nurseries are coping with implementing free entitlement and whether you believe parents are aware of the impact this has on their child’s setting.
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Happy Days launch competition to win free childcare

Thursday, September 16th, 2010

Happy Days free childcare competitionHappy Days have launched a competition across the south-west for a parent to win a year’s free childcare at one of their nurseries!

In association with Pirate FM, Happy Days are running the competition throughout September, with six adverts aired each day. Parents can enter the competition by telling Happy Days the three most important things they look for when choosing childcare.

After running a successful direct mail campaign earlier in the year in partnership with Bounty, Happy Days were keen to reinforce their market position using a different marketing method.
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Huge cultural shift needed in NHS childcare – review

Thursday, September 16th, 2010

Childcare providingA huge cultural shift is needed in the NHS to ensure children get the right care, a government-commissioned review says.

The report, by Professor Sir Ian Kennedy, who used to lead the NHS regulator, said services were mediocre. He called for specialist training for GPs and extra investment in services.

Particular attention also needed to be paid to transferring children into adult services between the ages of 16 and 18, Sir Ian said.
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NDNA members urge Government to ‘Avoid huge change’ with EYFS

Thursday, September 16th, 2010

Purnima TanukuNational Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) has announced that initial research with its nursery members has revealed that the majority do not wish to see large-scale change with the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). However, one of the key areas that nurseries have said needs addressing is the level of red-tape under the framework.

NDNA has conducted research with a focussed group of nurseries in England who represented a total of over 400 settings to gather initial feedback following the announcement of the review. This will be supported by national consultation events on 29 September in Leeds and 30 September in London so that members can attend to debate the review and feed into NDNA’s response on behalf of the sector. However, this initial research exercise has revealed a high level of support for the EYFS, with 83% saying that they felt that the EYFS supported children to get the best start. NDNA has already shared some of these initial findings with those leading the review prior to submitting a full response.
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Concern over private nursery cash

Thursday, September 9th, 2010

Free childcare is a financial constraint for many nurseriesMinisters have been asked to clarify government policy on part-time funded nursery places after claims councils may be “ignoring” official guidelines.

Scottish Conservative education spokeswoman Liz Smith is seeking assurances that funded places have not been withdrawn from private nurseries.

If this happens, parents need to find another partner nursery or risk losing a part-time funded place.

In some cases this can be worth up to £1,550 per year for each child.
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