Running a Setting
Big Energy Saving Week … Month … Winter!
Big Energy Saving Week runs from the 18th to 24th January 2021 and is a national campaign run to help people cut their fuel bills and get advice on their energy usage, as well as helping them to get any financial support they are entitled to. It...
Removing the stigma of poverty
In Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”, Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by two charitable gentlemen who ask him to donate to help the poor at Christmas. The passage reads: “At this festive season of the year, Mr. Scrooge,” said the gentleman,...
Burns Night
How well do you know our UK poets? Many English people will hotly debate that the world’s best poet and playwright is indisputably “The Bard of Avon”, aka William Shakespeare; and yet in Ireland, that honour may well be bestowed upon James...
EYFS series: Development Matters and changes to assessment and moderation
In the second part of our new series, we take a closer look at the changes coming in the new EYFS and some of the key changes to the Development Matters guidance. What is the Development Matters guidance? Sitting alongside the EYFS, is the...
What is Veganuary?
What do Paul McCartney, Joaquin Phoenix and Chris Packham have in common? No, they are not doing a musical wildlife documentary remake of “Gladiator”, but they are all ambassadors for this month’s Veganuary campaign which aims to help people...
The Importance Of Outdoor Play For Children’s Physical & Mental Wellbeing
Outdoor play is more important than ever for children, especially now when there are still such high restrictions in place to help stop the spread of coronavirus - but did you know it’s actually paramount for their physical and mental wellbeing?...
Celebrating Winter Solstice
Winter Solstice falls on December 21st, 2020 marking the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere and corresponding with the Summer Solstice or the longest day of the year in the southern hemisphere. Of course, the actual length of...
Christmas around the world
It has been a strange year in more ways than one and as we approach the end of 2020, many of us are now wondering what Christmas will be like this year; will we be able to see our families or will the traditional British Christmas, be the latest...
National Christmas card recycle
Did you know? The first person known to receive a written Christmas greeting was James I in 1611. He and his son were sent a decorated manuscript with a Christmas and New Year greeting by Michael Maier, a German physician Over 200 years later,...
Human Rights Day
What do you consider to be the most important words ever written? Are they in the Bible, the Quran, the Torah, The Vedas or other holy book? Or are they the words used in your marriage service, at a family member’s funeral, or those in your...
Countdown to the new education curriculum requirements – Part 1
Where are we now? Change is a part of life. Some would argue that changes are what drives society forward, improving life one small step at a time. In early years and education, we are used to changes; last year the Government made changes to...
The National Veg Pledge
This year we have included some articles on the benefits of gardening with children, growing for health and wellbeing and most recently on the benefits of having an allotment associated with your nursery. This month, with the harvest completed...
Child protection: safeguarding policies and procedures
All childcare workers have a legal responsibility to safeguard the children in their care, so child protection must be a vital part of your business and everyday practice. There are several documents you need to ensure that your staff have read...
Bonfire Night and Guy Fawkes
As the days get shorter, and with Halloween past, communities around the country finalise their preparations for a family event that has been celebrated in England for over 400 years – bonfire night! Autumn hedges are trimmed and carefully...
World Kindness Day
What if? What if our tongues could speak only good? What if we solely spoke that which we should? How would we change and grow in reaction? And would this result in less dissatisfaction? If we held true to our vision and dream Holding each other...
Armistice, Remembrance Sunday and the 75th anniversary of VE Day and VJ Day
Unfortunately, over the millennia of human history, war has been an uncomfortable fact of life. We humans have not always been the best at solving our differences around the negotiating table and, inevitably, this has often led to armed conflict...
Stress awareness… and top stress busting tips for your setting
Back in April, as the country went into a national lockdown, we were just beginning to comprehend the potential impact the coronavirus pandemic could have on the world. We marked Stress Awareness Month and discussed how important it was to...
Crisis management
In a recent magazine, we covered the topic of how to respond to accidents, injuries and emergencies. We follow this up with a more in-depth look at crisis management and how you can plan for it.What is crisis management and why should you...
Malnutrition Awareness Week and the need for better nutrition
When we think about malnutrition, what comes to mind often are images from news reports of starving children across the world. We automatically think about those harrowing images in which children appear little more than ‘skin and bone’ as their...
National Baking Week
“Ready, steady, BAKE!” Have you missed hearing these words over the summer? Are you wondering where the next ‘soggy bottom’ will come from or which overbaked celebration cake could be the cornerstone of your foundations? Or have you indulged...
World Space Week
One word that you currently see everywhere nowadays is “space”. Only last month, the Government in England changed their coronavirus tagline to read “Hands, Face and Space”. We are told to maintain our distance between each other at every...
Speech and Language Therapy and International Stammering Awareness Day
Question: What do Michael Palin, Ed Balls and Colin Firth have in common? Answer: They are all Vice Presidents of the charity, Action for Stammering Children AND… they have all been affected personally by stammering – Michael’s character, Ken,...
The Big Draw – the world’s biggest drawing festival
Reach for the children’s chalks and paint pots, sharpen your colouring pencils and check your felt tip pens are shipshape…the world’s biggest drawing festival is here!What is ‘The Big Draw’? ‘The Big Draw’ festival is a month-long worldwide...
International Literacy Day
If you are reading this, you are one of the lucky ones, because it means you have a good level of literacy which unlocks many aspects of life that you probably take for granted, such as being able to decipher a menu, read a road sign or get the...
Migraine Awareness Week
At some point in our lives, we have all had a headache, and know how painful and debilitating they can be. But if you are one of the 1 in 7 people in the population who suffer from migraines, then you will understand the misery caused by this...
National Fitness Day
Six months ago, the state of the nation’s fitness industry was looking good. The 2019 State of the UK Fitness Industry Report revealed that 1 in every 7 people belonged to a gym, the total market value was £5.1 billion, and the number of fitness...
European Day of Languages
If someone came up to you and said “Snak med mig”, what would you do? a) Run? b) Eat what they offered you? c) Be offended? d) Answer “Jeg ville elske at” and continue with a conversation in Danish? “Snak med mig” means “talk to me” in Danish,...
Raising awareness of sepsis
When a child (or indeed adult) has an infection, the body’s immune system automatically kicks into gear to fight it off. When faced with a viral infection (like a cold or flu) or a bacterial infection (like ‘strep throat’) a child, in...
Childhood Cancer Awareness Month: be bold, go gold
Imagine having to tell someone that they have cancer, and that they may or may not recover. It would be difficult, heart-wrenching and you’d know that your words would change that person’s life forever. Now imagine that person is only a child,...
The lowdown on sunscreen by the Melanoma Fund
The lowdown on sunscreen The summer is here (we think!), and naturally you are keen to spend the day outdoors. The first thing that many of us do (if we care about our skin health) is to reach for a hat and the sunscreen. However, if you are...
