Running a Setting
Funding constraints in the early years childcare industry
We know, of course, that the early years childcare sector plays a vital role in the development of children, providing them with essential skills and nurturing their cognitive and emotional growth. However, none of this is possible without...
How to avoid spreading infection in your setting & the importance of vaccinations
It’s inevitable that wherever young children are together in a group, there will be a high chance that infections will spread. When working in early years, it’s an occupational hazard; with the children touching each other and the toys – often...
Safety and safeguarding: IICSA summary
Introduction The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) was established in 2015, following serious concerns where some organisations in England and Wales had failed their duty to safeguard children and the aftermath of the highly...
How early years leaders can make a positive workplace culture stick: the power of embedding mechanisms
We know that a positive workplace culture matters. It’s a huge player in why people join particular nurseries and why they choose to stay. In a time when recruitment and retention are such huge challenges for the sector, and when pay and...
Stress management – coping mechanisms for you and your colleagues
In our November magazine, we talked about Stress Awareness Week and ways to help you a) notice the signs of stress, and b) combat stress, particularly in the workplace. As we move into February, with people feeling the pinch after Christmas, the...
Celebrate all things apprenticeships this month during National Apprenticeship Week!
Now in its 16th year, National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) returns this month from 6th to 12th February. The week provides such a great way to bring together businesses and apprentices across the whole of the UK to showcase how apprenticeships...
Dealing with the death of a staff member – focus on parents and children
When a staff member dies, colleagues, children and parents are impacted. This impact is felt in varying ways and in differing levels of understanding. Our last article focused on the loss of an early years staff member called Mandy, how this...
Organisational culture in nurseries: what is it and why does it matter?
They say that culture eats strategy for breakfast. What this means is that without an intentional and strong culture in your nursery, it doesn’t matter what action plans you have in place – it will be impossible to implement the improvements and...
Grief and loss in early years; dealing with the death of a colleague
It was a normal Monday morning at the nursery. Staff members came in to do the early morning shift; they prepared breakfast, opened the windows to let the autumn breeze refresh the rooms, set up tables that would capture the children’s interest...
Are you ready to sprinkle some magic on your STEM in the New Year?
Following on from the November article “Putting the ‘A’ in STEM”, I thought we could start the New Year together with some creativity and roleplay to engage your little ones in learning with a little bit of magic! Don’t worry as we have done all...
The importance of movement: gracious circulation
Have you ever watched competitive ballroom dancing where there are ten or twelve couples who are all twirling and swirling around the floor at the same time? Have you ever wondered just how they move about the space without bumping into each...
What does leadership look like when you notice room for improvement? – part 2
Leaders in early years see how the practice around them could be improved. They notice what is not going as well as it could and think carefully about the changes needed to make a positive difference for children, families and staff in a...
Preparing for the new year in your setting
New Year is traditionally a time of discarding the old and bringing in the new. It is a time to reflect on what has gone well in the last year and to bring your dreams and goals for the incoming year to the forefront. New Year’s resolutions...
Everyone’s a reader -10 top tips to create engaging-rich literacy environments for all
I remember when my son was three months old, and I had a conversation with my friend about books that she was reading to her son who had just been born. She asked me which books my son enjoyed and I panicked! I realised that although we had...
What does leadership look like when … you notice room for improvement? – part 1
One of the most important aspects of leadership is recognising when, where and how things could be improved. In the context of a nursery, leaders are constantly assessing what is happening in the setting and how there might be room for...
The individual and collective nature of learning stories
The content of this article was inspired by personal experience which is often the encouragement one needs to put pen to paper. Having observed and listened to people close to me whose children started at new settings this past September, I’ve...
Salaries or toys?
I have had many conversations with managers and childminders and one recent conversation has really stuck with me. The manager of a nursery informed me that she was having to choose between salaries and purchasing toys and resources for the...
Identifying child grief stages & signs: what you can do to help
National Grief Awareness Week is coming up from December 2-8, and as this important week approaches, we need a reminder that adults are not the only ones who experience grief. Children are affected by grief too, though they show it in different...
Inclusive end of year musical celebrations in the early years
Towards the end of the year, many Western countries traditionally celebrate Christmas. With the increase in travel for so many reasons, it is clear that even this one occasion is not celebrated in the same way in each country and culture. In...
Back to basics – part 2
We have reflected on how we are overcomplicating our practice and approaches to children’s learning and development as a result of new pedagogies and concepts within the early years education system and how this is impacting upon the learning...
Where would we be without imagination and creativity?
Creativity and imagination are not just for artists; the same level of openness to ideas and creativity is required for science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM). Without imagination and curiosity, we would not have built a rocket to...
Exclusive interview with Dr Kathryn Peckham: the whys not the whats of early childhood development
We asked the early childhood consultant, researcher and author “Are we doing everything we can to develop the full potential of the children in our care?” How often do we question why we chose to become a childcare practitioner? Working with...
What does leadership look like when… you’re feeling overwhelmed?
Feeling overwhelmed is something that affects us all and leaders are not immune. So how can you lead while you are feeling overwhelmed? In this article we will look at three practical steps you can take to find a way out of overwhelm and into...
Black History Month
October is Black History Month, where everyone, regardless of race, is invited to come together to celebrate and remember some of the accomplishments of Black people from all over the world, whose inventions and achievements have not necessarily...
Kindness for The Queen
To commemorate our late Queen Elizabeth II’s support for charitable causes, we have found some fantastic ways to spread kindness within our settings and our own community. These ideas and activities, together with more information, can be found...
World Mental Health Day
In May we wrote about Mental Health Awareness Week and how it aimed to bring the whole of the UK together to focus on mental health, and in particular, to help tackle loneliness, a factor identified as affecting people’s mental health. In...
Family Learning Festival
This October sees the return of the Family Learning Festival, which is a national celebration recognising and promoting the learning that can be achieved through family life. When you think about it, family life is how most of us learn in the...
Halloween around the world
The ancient festival of Samhain Halloween (October 31st), as we know it today, may have become more commercialised over the last 20 years or so, but its origins date back many centuries to the ancient Celtic peoples who first used it as a...
ADHD Awareness Month
ADHD is a term that has come into common parlance in recent years and more people are being diagnosed with it as children, and even as adults. However, there is still a lot of misinformation in the public domain about the condition and a lot of...
Movement and how it can help the well-being of your little ones
We have all had those days when we need to get outside to go for a walk to clear our heads. Have you ever wondered why this helps? The reason is that when your body moves, so does your brain. The movement promotes the production of the...
