Parenta Magazine May 2019

Issue 54
MAY 2019
FREE
INDUSTRY
EXPERTS
Reflective practice vs
reflexive practice
There’s more to slime
than meets the eye...
Using a reward
chart effectively
+ lots more
Write for us
for a chance to
WIN
£50
p 29
A GOOD STORY CAN BE
TAKEN ANYWHERE!
Tonya Meers discusses storytelling and shares lots of ideas that are guaranteed
to spark your imagination – just by using your location and whatever you can see.
MENINGITIS AWARENESS WEEK • FOSTERING • HOW TO TEACH CREATIVE WRITING

Hello and welcome to the May edition of the Parenta magazine!
May is upon us, the daffodils and tulips have been in full bloom for some weeks now; and we can finally look forward
to a few months of long, drawn-out evenings and (hopefully) warm weather!
We have so many pieces of invaluable advice for you this month – ranging from great ways to take stories everywhere
you go, to how to teach creative writing, to the importance of fantasy, role-play and superhero play! All of which are
written to help you with the efficient running of your setting and to promote the health, happiness and wellbeing of the
children in your care.
Summer is just around the corner and children love to be outside at any given opportunity. Sometimes it’s just too hot to be running around so
what better way of helping them to cool down than getting them to create and tell stories outside? May is national Share-A-Story Month, and
Tonya Meers gives some fantastic advice on how to make up a story ‘on the spot’ without the need for any props!
How to teach creative writing doesn’t feel as if it needs to be a priority when talking about pre-school children. However, many practitioners
agree that creative writing for children is one of the many areas that is neglected in literacy development. On page 12, we look at ways in
which we can help our little ones start to express themselves more by allowing their imaginations to run wild and have some fun with words!
Speaking of imagination, Tamsin Grimmer continues her ‘superhero’ series on page 14 with a fascinating article exploring how important
fantasy play is for child development.
Viral Meningitis Awareness Week runs from 6th to 12th May this year and is a topic close to many people’s hearts. All early years professionals
should know what to do if they suspect a child is suffering with meningitis but it is not always detected in time. Why not try our meningitis quiz
on page 38 to see how much you know about the disease?
Congratulations to our guest author competition winner! Tamsin Grimmer’s article, “I’m killing the baddies!” which uses ‘superhero play’ to
deal with notions of killing and death within early childhood, was very popular with our readers. We’re always on the lookout for new authors
to contribute insightful articles for our monthly magazine. If you have written on a topic relevant to early years and would like to be in with a
chance to win £50 in shopping vouchers, turn to page 29 for details.
We really hope you enjoy all the advice articles and suggested activities in this month’s magazine – please feel free to share with friends and
colleagues!
Allan
SLIME!
hello
WELCOME TO OUR FAMILY
36
MAY 2019 ISSUE 54
IN THIS EDITION
REGULARS
24 What our customers say
28 Shape emergency services cars craft
29 Write for us for a chance to win £50
NEWS
4 Invitation to attend the House of Commons for
Hartlepool nursery
6 Parenta Trust news
ADVICE
10 A childcare career without a childcare
qualification?
12 How to teach creative writing to children
16 Deaf Awareness Week
19 Free childcare insurance review
20 Encouraging role-play with young children
25 Parenta solutions
26 People who help us
A childcare career without a childcare qualification? 10
Learn more about Deaf Awareness Week. 16
Encouraging role-play with young children. 20
Joanna Grace explores
how slime/gak can
be used to support
emotional regulation,
looking at two different
personality types.
FANTASY
PLAY
14
Tamsin Grimmer
delves further into
the importance of
fantasy play in child
development, and shares
some of the benefits.
STORYTELLING
Tonya Meers discusses storytelling and
shares lots of ideas that are guaranteed
to spark your imagination – just by using
your location and whatever you can see.
8
30 The importance of fostering
38 Viral Meningitis Awareness Week
INDUSTRY EXPERTS
8 A good story can be taken anywhere!
14 Keeping it real? The importance of fantasy play
in child development
22 Using a reward chart effectively
32 Reflective practice vs reflexive practice
36 There’s more to slime than meets the eye...
Test your meningitis knowledge with our quiz! 38

Invitation to attend the House of
Commons for Hartlepool nursery
Footprints Learning for Life owner and manager, Sharon Birch, and her colleague Vivienne
Dempsey were privileged to be invited to the Parliamentary Review at the House of Commons
- to put forward a paper for ‘best practice’.
MPs from all parties, some of the UK’s
leading business people and a few
celebrities were in attendance at the
gala ceremony on 27th March. The
nursery’s aim was to raise its profile as
a nursery in the north of the country and
to put forward its paper highlighting best
practice in early years childcare.
The staff at the nursery school, founded
in 2006 in Hartlepool, focus entirely
on providing every child with an equal
opportunity for a great start in life,
regardless of circumstances. They
believe that one size does not fit all, and
they cater for individual requirements
irrespective of need, culture, race,
gender and abilities.
Sharon Birch explains a little more about
the background and philosophy of her
nursery: “I founded Footprints after a
20-year career in the police service. As a
mother of three children born within five
years, I knew what a busy family needed
in terms of childcare. My husband was a
service police officer and we spent years
juggling childcare with shift work and
school hours. It was difficult, and the
system was inflexible. My children were
not able to attend school nursery ahead
of reception due to this inflexibility
and we took up their free nursery
entitlement. It worked well for us as a
family, but I believe parents should have
choice. Rigid systems are not compatible
with families today.
“I took on my children’s old nursery
when it was due for closure, and with
a personal investment, turned it into
‘Footprints Learning for Life’ – 12 staff
and 55 children returned to the nursery
after the takeover. The first thing I did
was devise a ten-year plan that focused
on three main areas: for Footprints to
become financially viable, to have a
reputation that other providers aspired
Happy staff
make happy
children - which
makes happy parents
who can carry on
their day knowing
their children are
well cared for. We
employ staff at the
start and the end of
their careers, and
everyone in
between.
towards, and to gain an “outstanding”
rating from Ofsted.
“In 2016, we achieved these goals, but
we had a difficult journey along the
way. I was new to running a business
and had never employed anyone, but I
knew the sort of childcare I wanted to
provide. It was hard to break the mould,
but, even today, we are one of the few
nurseries in the UK that provide these
services.”
Leadership
“I enrolled Footprints in the Investors in
People (IIP) programme and we have
learned a lot, achieving the standard
in 2008 and Gold IIP in 2010. Happy
staff make happy children - which
makes happy parents who can carry
on their day knowing their children
are well cared for. We employ staff
at the start and the end of their
careers, and everyone in between. We
have apprentices, students on work
placements, nursery nurses, teachers,
cooks and drivers, of both sexes. We
have low staff turnover and believe
in giving staff proper contracts, with
only three ‘bank’ staff on zero-hour
contracts. They have the same benefits
and entitlements as contracted staff,
and everyone works very well as a team,
irrespective of job role. We invest in staff
training and appreciate that everyone
works very hard for their wage. We
embrace opportunities and encourage
students with additional needs and
those who have been marginalised due
to their circumstances. We also employ
staff that are returning to work after a
long break. Although we can’t increase
wages, I give staff other benefits, such
as paying for a health therapist to give
treatments, recognition awards at every
staff meeting, a Christmas event, highstreet
vouchers and a subscription to a
scheme that offers perks to employees.
In 2012, we won a UK Nursery World
Award for team development and we
achieved our “outstanding” Ofsted rating
in 2016.”
Finances
“Our income is low in comparison to
our geographical area, because our
prices are half what our rivals charge,
and we have the same overheads.
Profits are minimal and there is no
spare cash, but thankfully we have a
good working relationship with the local
authority who ensure that payments
for the two-, three-, and four-year-old
funded places are completed promptly.
Payments from parents, many of whom
are in receipt of benefits or are on a low
income, are often late, which can also
cause cash-flow difficulties. Hartlepool
is an area with high deprivation and
poverty, and we care for around 180
children a week from a variety of family
environments. As a result, many cannot
afford additional services, so we provide
all meals through our grants and
funding. We do not charge for extras,
other than transport, and we provide
healthy menus, in line with early years
guidance from the government. We cater
for cultural needs and cook all foods on
our premises with fresh, locally-sourced
produce. We work with many local
businesses and actively support the
charities Changing Futures NE and Miles
for Men.”
Families and childcare
“We offer a range of services –
breakfast, after-school, holiday club,
half and full day care, late evenings and
Saturdays – depending on demand.
We also open on bank holidays, aside
from those over the Christmas period.
Every child receives breakfast, a twocourse
lunch, a two-course dinner and
two snacks throughout the day. Busy
families often need to be in two or more
places at once, and working patterns
and school schedules are often not
compatible. Footprints offers flexible
childcare sessions for shift workers,
as well as term-time-only places for
teachers and those that need it. We offer
a fully inclusive transport service across
town, which is tough to schedule but is
complemented by staff who also work
flexibly. We have a fleet of four vehicles,
operated by qualified, experienced
drivers and nursery nurse escorts. This
service fosters good relationships with
the primary schools across the town,
enabling positive transitions for children
preparing for school. Our parents
currently favour social media as a
means of communication.
“We are in the process of developing
an app for parents to book and pay
for sessions, and we have also gone
online with a new system that enables
parents to view their child’s learning and
development journal.”
What does the future hold?
“We are always looking to enhance
our nursery and grow the business
within our tight financial constraints.
We are innovative and embrace change
in a sector that has strict regulations.
My vision for the future is to continue
giving the families of Hartlepool quality
childcare, fit for purpose. I would love to
offer children up to the age of seven the
opportunity to continue their education
with us, as we know that not all are
ready for the formal school system.
Our emphasis is learning through play
and discovery in a variety of different
environments, in a variety of different
ways.”
4 Parenta.com May 2019 5

CALLING ALL CAR
& MOTORBIKE
ENTHUSIASTS...
Parenta Trust news
Don’t miss out on the road trip of a lifetime - come and
join us for an automotive adventure!
FUNDRAISE
for Parenta Trust and help us build more pre-schools for the little ones
living in deprived areas of the world - they really need your help.
Here at Parenta Trust, we are raising vital funds to build preschools
for young children in desperate need of a quality
education in deprived areas of the world.
Please join us on our annual Maidstone to Monaco Rally
on 26th — 30th June!
Check out our video here: bit.ly/ptrally2019
To take part in this adventure and to help us make a difference to hundreds of
children’s lives, find out more and register today at parentatrust.com!
The Rally:
ÌÌ
2000 miles. 8 countries. 5 days.
ÌÌ
Camp under the stars.
ÌÌ
Negotiate the winding roads of the
Furka Pass.
ÌÌ
Take part in crazy challenges.
ÌÌ
Absorb the stunning scenery of the
Alps.
ÌÌ
Enjoy plenty of laughter along the
way!
The Vehicles:
ÌÌ
All cars and motorbikes welcome.
ÌÌ
Teams or individuals can enter.
ÌÌ
Decoration is a must!
Choose Parenta
Trust for your next
fundraising event! Every
penny counts on our
mission to ensure every
pre-school child gets
the education they
deserve.
There are so many things you
can do to fundraise. Here are
just a few ideas:
• Take part in a sponsored run
• Have a bake sale
• Host a quiz night
• Set up a “tuck shop”
• Start an in-setting/in-office
challenge
• Hold a raffle
• Host your own “bake off”
The Dates:
ÌÌ
26th–30th June 2019.
ÌÌ
Setting off from Maidstone, Kent.
Now in its 6th year, the Maidstone to Monaco Rally is a fantastic way to bring
people together for a great cause and have fun along the way. Our 5th school
opens early in 2019 and in addition, funds raised from last year’s rally and our
two charity balls, means that we are now finalising funds for our next school.
Together, we can raise enough funds to continue building a new pre-school
year on year. With every pre-school we build, we give another 200 children the
opportunity they deserve to have an early years education.
Register today at parentatrust.com
Together we can make a difference to hundreds of children in the
poorest areas of the world
Parenta Trust was founded by Allan Presland in 2013 after a life-changing and
heartbreaking trip to Kampala in Uganda. He returned to the UK to set up a
charity, leveraging his existing network of contacts in the early years sector, and
his ambitious quest to build one pre-school per year began.
The Mission:
ÌÌ
Raise vital funds to build pre-schools
in the most deprived areas of the
world.
ÌÌ
Allow young children to break out of
the cycle of poverty and look forward
to a bright future.
Follow the Rally countdown on
social media!
8 weeks to go!
facebook.com/ParentaTrust
We’ll help you as much as possible by sending you:
• A dedicated contact to help you with any questions you may have along the way
• Promotion materials including wristbands, posters and information booklets
• A fundraising pack including information on the history of the Trust, events we’ve hosted,
our plans for the next year and a half-price ticket for our Charity Ball
Get in touch via our website: bit.ly/fundraise-for-parentatrust
6 Parenta.com May 2019 7

A good story can be
taken anywhere!
Yay summer is here at last and who doesn’t want to take full advantage of
those long warm summer days to be outside? Children love all that fresh
air but sometimes it’s just too hot to be running around so what better
way of helping them to cool down than getting them to create and tell
stories outside? May is national Share-A-Story Month, so what better time than
to explore how to make up a story ‘on the spot’ without the need for any props?
Stories are everywhere and whether we realise it or not we tell them every day, they are after all what
makes us human! But if I asked you to make up a story on the spot, you would probably look at me
terrified, I can see the panic in your eyes already! Well don’t worry, I’m going to give you lots of ideas
that are guaranteed to spark your imaginations and make you and the children natural storytellers,
just by using your location and whatever you can see.
So where to first?
The Garden
Why not let the children make a den in a corner of the garden just to use for storytelling? It
could be somewhere you can all sit in the shade just to tell stories, making it a special and
magical place. Or you could have a special storytelling chair where the person who’s telling
the story would sit and tell their stories.
Then look around the garden, what do you see? Perhaps you spot a bee buzzing
around the flowers, where has he been? Where is he going to next? How many
gardens has he visited and what has he seen on his travels? Why not give him a name,
you could make up a whole story of what he’s been up to just by asking a few questions.
The children will love this and it’s a great way for them to learn about nature.
The Beach
Perhaps you are near the beach or are planning a day trip with the children - there are no end of
possibilities here. You could make up stories about the people you see, like the ice cream seller or the
lifeboat crew or even a seagull. You can make up a story about where the seagull has been on his
travels and what he’s seen. How many ice creams has he pinched?
Perhaps he feels guilty about that and wants to put things right. Or
maybe you could all make up a story about a magic sandcastle. Who
lives there? What’s it like inside? Do you get transported off to another
world? What happens there?
The Park
Perhaps you will be taking the children for a picnic to the park. What do
you see? Is there someone there you can make up a story about like the park
keeper or the gardener? Or maybe you could include some of the play equipment
like a magic roundabout or a magic swing that transports you off somewhere? The
children would find this really exciting!
So as you can see, there are lots of different ideas you can use. The secret is to think
about the 5 Ws:
Who is the story about?
What are they looking for?
Where is the story set or where are they going?
Why are they going? Is it to find something?
When is it set in the past, the present or the future?
The stories you can make up with the children are endless and they will love it as
they have got such vivid imaginations. A plant pot might be just a plant pot to you or
me but to them it could be a snail’s house or even a rocket launcher.
So now you’ve got a bucket load of ideas, what are the benefits of taking
stories outside?
Don’t forget...
»»
It gets everyone out in the fresh air
»»
Improves our understanding of the world around us
»»
Improves vocabulary
»»
Improves speaking and listening skills
»»
It helps us to relax and that’s when the ideas really start to flow
»»
Helps us to bond with the children and creates some great, long-lasting
memories.
For some hands-on experience of how to create stories using the outside
world, and to enhance the experience of storytelling, why not join us at the
Holiday Inn Express at the Trafford Centre, Manchester on the 28th June
when we will be running a workshop on this in partnership with EYR? To
book, just go to www.littlecreativedays.co.uk/eyrworkshops.html
You’ve got five
senses: smell, touch,
sound: sight and taste
so use them to really
bring your story
to life.
Tonya Meers
Tonya Meers is the Chief
Storyteller at Little Creative
Days. Tonya believes that
stories are the most versatile
and powerful educational
tool you can use and there
isn’t anything that you can’t
teach through a story.
She is co-author of the
multi-award-winning
Pojo series of educational
creative storytelling kits,
which have won awards
for their promotion of
communication and
language skills for early
years and primary schoolaged
children.
In addition, she and her
storytelling sister/business
partner also deliver training
and workshops for early
years practitioners, local
authorities and primary
schools. They offer a range
of interactive workshops
to encourage, engage and
enable children to develop a
love of literacy.
You can contact Tonya at
Little Creative Days via
email@littlecreativedays.co.uk,
on Twitter @littlecreative or
via Facebook.
8 Parenta.com May 2019 9

A childcare
career
without a
childcare
qualification?
There are many people who really
enjoy spending time with young
children and would like to pursue
a career in childcare, but are
not always aware of how to get
started - or don’t realise that it’s
even a feasible option.
Nowadays, to become a qualified nursery
worker and to be counted in the staff-tochildren
ratios in an early years childcare
setting, you need to have a childcare level 3
qualification or higher.
People of all ages and walks of life decide to
pursue a career in childcare and their reasons
for doing so vary. We explore some options
for getting started into childcare employment
without a childcare qualification, and also take
a look at some of the categories that can apply
to these people.
Find volunteer work
Following the successful completion of a
DBS (formerly CRB) that will be carried out
by the employer, which is a check into your
background, you can be cleared to work with
children. Many nurseries and pre-schools are
short on resources and would welcome the
opportunity to have an extra pair of hands
helping them out. The advantage of this, is
that if a paid position becomes available,
you may be able to apply for it immediately.
Volunteering is looked upon very favourably in
most industries and the vacancy may even be
offered to you before it is opened up to anyone
else.
Become a childminder
If you are serious about starting up your own
childminding business, there are certain
training and qualifications that you will need
to take beforehand. You will also need to be
willing to adapt your house to make it a safe
environment to care for a group of children and
allow Ofsted to carry out regular inspections to
make sure you are providing a high quality of
care. You can read our guide on the steps you
need to take to become a childminder here:
bit.ly/childminderinfo
10 Parenta.com
Take on work-based training
If you’re already working with children in a
setting, such as a nursery nurse or pre-school
assistant, and you want to help shape the
future of the next generation of children whilst
at the same time improving your knowledge
of how to support their mental and physical
development, a childcare level 2 course
would be ideal for you. Work-based training
programmes, also known as apprenticeships,
allow you to gain valuable industry
qualifications whilst working in a childcare
environment. There are a number of reasons
why considering a childcare apprenticeship is a
good idea: there are no student loans or tuition
fees to pay – in fact, because you are training
in your workplace, you actually “earn as you
learn”! You get your own tutor who supports
you every step of the way and there are no
classes to attend.
It’s a good idea to talk to your employer
and agree with them that they will support
you in your decision to take your childcare
qualifications. The good news is, if your
employer is non-levy and you are aged
16-18 when you start an apprenticeship, the
government will subsidise 100% of your training
costs and from 1st April 2019, if you’re 19 or over,
the amount that your employer is responsible for
paying the government towards the cost of your
training drops from 10% to 5%.
Who might benefit from these top tips on how to
get started into childcare employment without a
childcare qualification?
The inspired parents
Although the number of fathers choosing to stay
at home to look after their children has fallen,
there are still nearly a quarter of a million stayat-home
fathers in the UK. Some new mothers
or fathers decide to take a couple of years out
of work to see their young babies grow up.
They soon decide they really enjoy taking care
of children and actively decide to get a job in
childcare.
The career-changer
This is someone who has worked in several
different jobs unrelated to childcare and has
decided to have a change of career - pursuing
childcare as something new and exciting.
The young school leaver
A young person who has just finished Year 11
at school. They may have some experience of
babysitting or looking after younger siblings, but
will never have held a full time job before.
The first time job-er
This is normally someone of graduate calibre,
who has finished university and is looking for
their very first job. Related degrees such as
Health and Social Care would be relevant for
working with children.
At Parenta, we help hundreds of people get started into childcare every year,
supporting them while they develop essential skills whilst working in an early years
setting. We have a highly skilled team of recruitment specialists, dedicated to finding
the ideal apprenticeships and jobs - giving the right start to a rewarding career in
childcare.
Our team is on hand with expert advice and guidance and can be reached on
0800 002 9242.
Do you love practical hands on
training and a good story?
The multi-award winning Little Creative Days are experts in running
fun and interactive workshops where you’ll learn lots of creative and
practical ways to use stories in your setting.
Next Workshops:
Introducing Maths Through Stories
Taking Stories Outside
28 th June Holiday Inn Express Trafford City Manchester
“I will use the ideas straight away.
Lots to take back. Thank you.”
Kelly Simpson, Teaching Assistant
“Very enjoyable and informative – you can’t
beat hands on, practical training. Thank You!”
Nicole Darbyshire, Teaching Assistant
To book your place go to:
www.littlecreativedays.co.uk/
eyrworkshops.html
In partnership with
Across the world,
many pre-school
children are deprived
of a basic education…
From an early age, in many countries, children are sent
out to fetch water, carry out domestic chores and look
after their siblings. Very often, this means that they miss
out on going to pre-school and receiving additional
education throughout their childhood. Therefore they are
not given the opportunity they deserve to develop to their
full potential.
Our sponsorship programme gives orphaned and
disadvantaged pre-school children the chance to lay
the foundations for their learning in a safe and loving
environment. Having a basic education means these
young children can break out of the cycle of poverty and
look forward to a much brighter future.
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How to teach creative
writing to children
The capacity to think creatively - for instance, in creative writing - forms the basis of selfexpression.
However, many parents and teachers would agree that creative writing for
children is one of the many areas that can be neglected in literacy development, and
today’s young generation happen to be struggling with it as a result! It is strange because
intrinsically, young ones are motivated to express themselves through writing, and we see
social posts becoming one of their favourite activities as they grow older.
As parents and early years
practitioners, we may be guilty of
not redirecting and channelling
this instinct towards something
fruitful - like giving them crayons
and paper. What we do instead
is give them gadgets with
educational videos on the
display, often just to be able to
give ourselves some time and
space. Thus, in the absence of
the right environment and
motivation, this creative
instinct can die, or at least
become muted.
If we want children in our care
to be more imaginative
and better creative
writers, here are
some strategies that
can get both the
children, and
you, started.
Unplug from technology more
often
The passive consumption of TV,
smartphones, laptops, and online
games etc., is largely responsible
for dulling children’s senses and
their desire to express themselves
through writing. So parents and
practitioners need to create a short
‘unplugged zone’ during the week or
a longer one over weekends - for the
family, and engage their children in
conversation, listen to them and tell
stories, explore ideas, or draw and
write things together. There are some
ways technology and media can
be used by parents to give children
material, for example to give them
writing prompts, and it can be used
by teens to create blogs too, but
unplugged time will give them room
to develop their imagination.
Surround children with books
and stationery
It is very important to surround
children with books rather than
gadgets. Proximity
creates curiosity and
the desire and
motivation to
explore, can
set the
ball rolling in the right direction. You
should also take children to libraries
and bookstores often, giving them
the freedom to choose the books
they want to read and the kind of
stationery they like. This can include
journals and any writing materials
they want to use for their projects,
such as pens, coloured pencils,
crayons, folders, binders and stickers.
Encourage children to read
more
Reading stimulates the imagination
as it exposes children to new
words, sentence structures, plots,
and characters. If a toddler is too
young to read on their own, you
should read out loud to them.
Picture storybooks and audio books
are best for them. Depending on
their age, you can ask them to
create short book reports on what
they have read or other journal
topics. Likewise, you could get a
teenager a Kindle or Nook Reader
and give them access to ebooks
and audiobooks. Active reading
skills naturally lead to a better
ability to express oneself in words.
Discuss ideas and extend
them into write-ups
One way to encourage creativity
is to help children unleash their
imagination through active
discussion. Once a child is old
enough to communicate, ask them
questions about common things
such as: places visited, people met,
and books you’ve read together.
Ask age-appropriate, probing
questions, raise points, and add
details. Use these discussions as
writing prompts and encourage
children to extend their ideas in
stories and write-ups. You can
extend this activity for older children
by asking them to develop the
scope of their imaginative work
into other areas such as essays,
paragraphs, compositions and
speeches. These techniques
can even be used in tackling
scientific or maths work.
Make composing words fun
Ironically, some children find
imaginative assignments boring,
probably because they fail to see
the point behind the exercise.
But penning your thoughts is
supposed to be fun, funny, bold,
silly, enjoyable, explorative and
adventurous, because this is the
way our imagination and intuition
works. Don’t force logical and/or
more rational thinking to interfere
with the flow of creative thoughts
and words. Also, don’t focus
too much on pointing out and
correcting any mistakes in content
and form, such as spellings and
punctuation at this stage. Let your
children compose freely and without
stopping. You can return to these
things later. Display your child’s
creative draft as much as you
celebrate their artwork - place it
prominently on the fridge, and show
it to guests and grandparents!
Set a better example yourself
Experts have hypothesised that
parents are not modelling better
literacy skills for their offspring
because they are themselves
guilty of spending too much
time in front of the TV or on their
smartphones. This is one of the
reasons why parents can be
distracted and pressed-for-time
themselves. Parents who read
more (including books, newspapers
and magazines), maintain diaries
or a journal, and visit bookshops
and libraries, are often able to set
a better example to their young
children than those who do not.
Helping children to think and
compose freely and creatively,
opens up their minds to
possibilities. Expressing oneself
creatively using spoken or written
words, is a skill that has many uses
beyond school, as it teaches young
ones to think ‘outside the box’,
solve problems and appreciate and
tolerate different viewpoints.
12 Parenta.com May 2019 13

Keeping it real? it The real? importance of
fantasy play in child development
The importance of fantasy play in child development
When you have a good imagination, you are never alone! You can be transported to a world of
make-believe where none of your worries exist. You can be as good or otherwise as you like, and
you can create friends to play alongside you. My youngest daughter often goes to an imaginary
land, when I asked her what she loved about it, she replied: “Vegetables are unhealthy and sweets
are healthy!” So in your imagination you can eat whatever you like too! My forthcoming book
“Calling All Superheroes” also explores the importance of fantasy play in child development. This
article touches upon some of the issues it raises.
According to the Oxford
dictionary, fantasy is defined
as: ‘The faculty or activity
of imagining impossible or
improbable things’ (OUP,
2019a). This is opposed to the
definition of reality which is: ‘A
thing that exists in fact, having
previously only existed in one’s
mind’ (OUP, 2019b). Fantasy
play is when children use
their imagination and play out
scenarios which are impossible
or improbable, for example,
having superpowers as a
superhero.
Practitioners within early
childhood education settings
are mindful of the importance
of starting with concrete,
hands-on, real experiences
when working with young
children and building on their
prior knowledge. It is vital that
we continue to use hands-on,
real life examples so that
the children
can explore using their senses.
Yet, whilst keeping it real, we
must also encourage pretence
and fantasy play. This type of
play feeds children’s creativity
and helps them to use their
imagination. It is a natural way
for children to play and we
must engage in this with young
children. Many educators
naturally incorporate elements
of pretence into their settings
which also keeps magic alive. I
have tried to do this within my
own practice and been inspired
by great authors such as Vivian
Gussan-Paley (2010, 1984) and
Jenny Tyrrell (2001).
Children are excellent players
and do not distinguish between
fantasy and reality play.
They move easily between
the two. I was reminded of
this when I observed two
boys in a pre-school setting
pretending to be werewolves
recently! In their game they
were able to breathe fire
and began toasting
marshmallows
for their
friends
on the fire. They were
being careful not to burn
their mouths on the hot
marshmallows, thus moving
easily between the fantasy
of being werewolves and
breathing fire, to the pretence
of toasting marshmallows
on the fire and the notions of
reality in potentially burning
their mouths on the hot
marshmallows. Imaginings
within the fantasy realm also
invoke real feelings, so if we
feel good during this play, we
will have a positive emotion
which outlives the fantasy. A
child who exclaims, “I can fly
like Superman!” feels powerful
and strong, and these are real
feelings, albeit which stem
from fantasy.
Again, I was reminded of
this when a
practitioner
told me
about her
son. He had a
condition which
required him
to have regular
blood tests from
about the age of
2½. She bought
him an Iron Man
suit in advance of
attending, which she intended
to be a reward for having the
blood test. Her son, however,
had other ideas! He wanted to
wear it to the hospital because
he knew that Iron Man was
powerful and strong and
nothing could hurt him when
he is wearing his suit. So this
little boy wore his Iron Man
suit each time he attended the
hospital and it helped him to
feel strong enough to cope with
the regular blood tests. This is
a great example of how some
elements of fantasy play, and,
in particular, superhero play,
can be immensely empowering
for the children.
Young children begin pretend
play from around 18 months
and this develops into more
refined role-play, real or
fictional, at about three years
old (German & Leslie, 2001).
However, by around 6 years,
most children have still not
fully grasped the difference
between knowing something
and believing it. Thus, early
childhood educators are
working with children who
are learning to distinguish
between fantasy and reality,
pretend and real. There will
be times when these lines are
very blurred. You only need
to have observed children
playing a make-believe game
to know that they are fully
engrossed in this play, they are
that character at that moment,
in their minds they are not
pretending. I was reminded of
this recently when I asked my
youngest daughter if she was
pretending to be the doctor,
“No”, she replied, “I am a
doctor!” That certainly put me
in my place and I was left in
no doubt about how seriously
fantasy and make-believe play
is taken by children.
After approximately seven
years, Kitson (2010) suggests
that if fantasy play is not
actively encouraged it slowly
diminishes. One way that we
can keep the magic of fantasy
play alive is through pretence
and superhero play. These
themes continue to engage
older children, teenagers and
adults as demonstrated by the
amount of media attention
dedicated to superheroes.
Pretence is the ability to play
with an object as if it were
something else, or take on a
role as another person. There
are considerable overlaps
with fantasy play, which is
linked with the improbable
and impossible, however,
pretending can be more closely
linked to reality. Children rarely
distinguish between the two
and we need to learn not to as
well!
There are many noted benefits for children engaging in this type of
fantasy and make-believe play. It:
ÌÌ
ÌÌ
ÌÌ
ÌÌ
ÌÌ
ÌÌ
ÌÌ
ÌÌ
ÌÌ
ÌÌ
ÌÌ
Encourages imagination and creativity.
Builds children’s confidence as they
experience the freedom to ‘be’ whomever
or whatever they want to be.
Enables children to deal with real life
scenarios in a safe environment.
Provides an opportunity for children to play
games involving social rules, cooperation
and collaboration.
Encourages children to empathise with
others.
Offers children a place to escape from the
real world.
Usually involves a narrative and acts as
a type of therapy as children talk through
scenarios and possibilities.
Helps children to deal with changes in their
lives.
Allows children an element of control in
their lives - e.g. they can put toppings on
a pizza that their parent wouldn’t normally
allow!
Improves children’s language and
communication skills and is a great
opportunity for extending children’s
vocabulary.
Provides an opportunity for children to
negotiate roles and understand rules and
boundaries.
ÌÌ
ÌÌ
ÌÌ
ÌÌ
ÌÌ
ÌÌ
ÌÌ
ÌÌ
Allows children to problem-solve and
resolve conflicts themselves.
Can counter stereotypes and discrimination
as boys can play at being a mummy and
girls at being Superman.
Offers opportunities for children to explore
different emotions and practice emotional
control and self-regulation.
Nurtures children’s dispositions such as
resilience, perseverance and a ‘can-do’
attitude.
Develops children’s cognitive skills and
provides opportunities for literacy and
numeracy.
Enhances children’s understanding of the
world and how things work.
Allows children to practise fine and gross
motor skills.
Is fun! As educators we are always looking
for the purposes in play – we should value
this play intrinsically!
For references please visit
parenta.com/references-tg
Tamsin Grimmer
Tamsin Grimmer is an
experienced early years
consultant and trainer and
parent who is passionate about
young children’s learning and
development. She believes
that all children deserve
practitioners who are inspiring,
dynamic, reflective and
committed to improving on their
current best. Tamsin particularly
enjoys planning and delivering
training and supporting
early years practitioners and
teachers to improve outcomes
for young children.
Tamsin has written two
books - “Observing and
Developing Schematic
Behaviour in Young Children”
and “School Readiness and
the Characteristics of Effective
Learning”.
Website:
tamsingrimmer.co.uk
Facebook:
facebook.com/earlyyears.
consultancy.5
Twitter:
@tamsingrimmer
Email:
info@tamsingrimmer.co.uk
14 Parenta.com May 2019 15

Deaf Awareness Week
In the UK, it is estimated that 1 in 6 people (approximately 11
million people) are deaf or hard of hearing. Deafness is the third
most common disability in the world, but you would be hardpressed
to spot a deaf person in a crowd.
Most deaf people do not see their
deafness as a disability or even a
problem that needs to be solved. They
just view it as part of the normal life
experience that they share with others in
the deaf community and with their family
and friends.
From 6th – 12th May, the UK Council on
Deafness (UKCoD) will co-ordinate Deaf
Awareness Week (DAW) to highlight
problems that deaf people face in their
life, work, education and leisure. Many
organisations and charities get involved
in events, fund-raising activities and
education to bring the message to
others. There is a lot of free material on
their website including bunting, posters
and educational materials, but read on
to find out more.
Origins of Deaf Awareness Week
Deaf Awareness Week was originally
run in October by the British Deaf
Association (BDA) and its main focus
was on promoting British Sign Language
(BSL) and the people in that community.
As more and more organisations and
groups wanted to get involved and draw
attention to more general deafness
topics, in 2001, the October week name
was changed to Sign Language Week,
and the mantle of organising Deaf
Awareness Week passed to the UKCoD,
who subsequently set the week in May,
so as not to conflict with the BDA’s work.
Nowadays, Deaf Awareness Week is a
platform to discuss and raise awareness
of many general issues related to
deafness, and countless organisations
get involved both locally and nationally
to bring more understanding of
deafness, and positive change to their
own communities.
The theme for this year’s DAW is
“Celebrating Role Models” and it’s hoped
that organisations will publish their own
role models (deaf and hearing) using
the hashtag #DAWrolemodels2019 on
social media during the week to raise
awareness.
Communicating with deaf people
One on the main issues for both
people in the deaf community and
those who are not, is the problem of
communication. Many hearing people
might wrongly assume that deaf people
will not be able to understand them
and there are still many misconceptions
about the abilities of deaf people which
need addressing.
Many hearing people become easily
frustrated trying to communicate
with deaf or hard of hearing people
(especially with elderly relatives) and
often give up in their attempts. This can
leave the deaf or hard of hearing person
feeling isolated and lonely, so it is
important that hearing people gain more
understanding and information about
ways they can effectively communicate
with their friends and loved ones.
The National Deaf Children’s Society has
lots of useful information about this and
emphasises the need to understand
that all deaf people have different levels
of deafness, hearing aids, implants
or technology as well as their own
preferred method of communication.
It has published the following tips on
communicating with deaf people, but
especially with children.
1. Find out the person’s preferred
method of communication - speech,
lipreading, BSL or a mixture. In some
instances, children may need an
interpreter.
2. Get their attention before attempting
to communicate - you could wave,
knock on a table or lightly tap their
shoulder.
3. Face the person and stand still when
talking so that they can see your
face clearly.
4. Speak clearly and naturally - if you
try to over exaggerate or speak too
loudly or slowly, lipreading becomes
more difficult.
5. Don’t cover your mouth with your
hands when you speak. Many
people try to speak whilst eating,
smoking or chewing gum, which
makes understanding difficult, even
for hearing people!
6. Use visual cues where you can.
Even if you don’t know official BSL,
you can use commonly-accepted
gestures and facial expressions to
communicate ideas.
7. Ensure that deaf people know
what the topic is, or when the topic
changes.
8. Stand in the light or by a window so
your face is visible.
9. Speak one person at a time.
10. Try to reduce any background noise
- turn off radios/machines or do up
car windows.
11. Never give up or say “I’ll tell you
later”. This is a deaf child’s ‘pet hate’.
They want to be involved, not left
out. Try alternative methods: texting,
emailing or using a pen and paper.
British Sign language
British Sign Language is used by an
estimated 125,000 deaf adults in the
UK, plus 20,000 children. It is not just
a matter of adding gestures to replace
words but is a language in its own right,
with its own vocabulary and grammar.
It also differs from American Sign
Language and Makaton Signing and is
the preferred language of many deaf
people, so learning BSL is one thing you
could do to help your communication
with deaf people.
How to get involved in DAW
1. Organise an event to raise awareness and/or funds for your favourite
deaf-related charity
2. Nominate a role model and publicise it on your social media using
#DAWrolemodels2019
3. “Dress in decibels” is an idea from Action on Hearing Loss, to encourage
people to dress in their ‘loudest’ and brightest clothes for the week
4. Create a sensory experience not based on sound; alternatively, one purely
based on sound
5. Hold a sponsored silence
6. Learn to spell your name using British Sign Language letters
7. Take a lipreading challenge - hold a conversation with friends using
lipreading
8. Decorate a doughnut and sell them to raise funds – another idea from
Action on Hearing Loss. You can even download a free recipe from their
website here: www.actiononhearingloss.org.uk/you-can-help/fundraise/
deaf-awareness-week/donut-challenges
For more information, see:
• deafcouncil.org.uk/deaf-awareness-week
• bda.org.uk
• british-sign.co.uk
• actiononhearingloss.org.uk/you-can-help/fundraise/deaf-awareness-week
16 Parenta.com May 2019 17

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Encouraging
role-play
with young
children
Children learn by playing. They
first observe - listening and
watching others; then they copy –
imitating the people around them.
And when they are able, they
experiment. That’s when they
learn to ask, and answer, new
questions – not “what is the capital
of France?”, but the much more
important questions, such as:
“What happens if I do this?”, “what
will I feel if I say that?” and “who
am I really?” That’s where roleplay,
really comes into its own.
What is role-play?
Role-play is where children take on
different roles and play at being different
people in any number of improvised
situations. It could be an everyday role,
a job or complete fantasy, and all types
of role-play should be encouraged. Not
only is it fun, but each is a stepping stone
which can help children learn new things.
The benefits of role-play
Research has identified many benefits
of role-play including cognitive, social,
emotional and physical benefits, all vital
for a child’s development.
Improved creativity and imagination
When children role-play, they use their
imagination. They engage the right
(creative) side of their brain and learn to
think for themselves and to think in new
ways - for them. That’s important. As early
years professionals, we might have seen
many children use a cardboard box as a
spaceship, but to that child, role-playing that
scenario for the first time, they are thinking
and creating something essentially ‘new’.
Sir Ken Robinson, a long-time exponent
of the value of creativity and its important
place in education, says:
“Imagination is more important than knowledge.
For knowledge is limited to all we now know and
understand, while imagination embraces the entire
world, and all there ever will be to know and
understand.”
- Albert Einstein
“Imagination is the root of creativity. It
is the ability to bring to mind things that
aren’t present to our senses. Creativity
is putting your imagination to work. It is
applied imagination.”
Improved language and
communication skills
Role-play can develop language and
teach children new vocabulary. Recent
data acknowledged that: “Play is highly
beneficial to children’s language skills
and provides a supportive context for
language learning”. These researchers
also suggested that children’s language
can be enhanced most when adults
helped and guided their use of new
words during role-play.
Thinking, learning and cognitive
problem-solving
Role-playing helps children develop
creative and abstract thought processes
and encourages the formation of new
neural pathways. It also encourages
problem-solving as children work out
who will be who; what the rules are; and
which props/costumes they need. These
key cognitive skills are needed in adult
life, and being able to develop them as
children, is vital.
Social and emotional skills
Stepping into other people’s shoes,
developing empathy, understanding
different situations and perspectives, and
being able to react in an emotionallyappropriate
way, are clearly skills that
children need to develop. Role-play
can facilitate this. It allows children to
collaborate, pretend to be someone
else, and experience different points of
view - all in a safe environment with the
added benefit of feedback from others.
Many therapists use role-play situations
to encourage children’s emotional
development because the ‘pretend’
element disassociates the person from
any real situation and reduces any related
anxiety or stress.
Physical development
Role-play is perfect to get children active
– escaping from pirates or fighting a
monster gives children the opportunity
to run, jump, climb and fire-up their
cardiovascular systems, which aids fitness,
the development of large motor skills and
helps maintain appropriate weight. Even
simple activities such as operating a toy
till or dressing a teddy, can enhance fine
motor skills and dexterity.
Different types of role-play
There are different types of role-play that
you can encourage.
oo
oo
oo
Real-life situations - pretending
to be at the beach, a playground, at
school or on holiday, for example.
Fantasy - becoming a superhero,
prince/princess, witch/fairy or other
mythical creature like a dragon or
unicorn.
Occupational - being a teacher,
doctor, fire-fighter or builder, amongst
others.
oo
Disassociated, toy-based play -
this is where a child role-plays with
toys such as dolls, action figures,
or puppets. It is often undertaken
individually, but the child can take on
an ‘architect’ role, deciding the fate
of each toy and multi-rolling between
them - think Andy in “Toy Story”.
What do you need to
encourage role-play?
Essentially, children need very little to
role-play – only their imagination and
a safe space to play in. However, to
actively encourage role-play, you can:
Provide spaces, props and
costumes
Different safe spaces such as kitchen
areas, outdoor spaces and sandpits
are great. Try to include some props
and costumes to facilitate different
situations/places too – these do not
need to be expensive, sticks and
cardboard boxes do very well as
swords and rockets, although specific
toys are useful too.
Costumes often work best when they
are indicative rather than prescriptive;
so long skirts can make a princess
and a piece of material can become a
superhero cloak or some wings.
Let the children lead
Role-play activities should be childled
and any interventions by adults
should be used to safeguard children,
encourage additional learning or
explain alternative options that
children can take.
Be a good role-model
Engage in the role-play yourself,
enacting out different characters and
situations based on the children’s
ideas. Be careful not to ‘lead’ their
play too much. You can be there to
assist and help if needed but resist the
temptation to say that “time-travel is
against the laws of quantum physics!”
Offer stimuli
You could use real or fantasy stories,
pictures or films as a starting point,
if needed, but allow the children
themselves to work out what happens
next.
It is vital to encourage role-play
in your setting. It allows children
complete freedom to explore; to use
their imagination without the limits
of ‘knowledge’; and to reimagine the
world in a better way. What a beautiful
gift and what amazing opportunities
early years specialists have to facilitate
that freedom.
20 Parenta.com May 2019 21

Comniae caborem perore nonsequaepe Comniae caborem perore nonsequaepe Comniae caborem perore nonsequaepe
Using a reward chart effectively
Many early years providers choose to use reward charts as a way of promoting positive behaviour
in a child. When used well, these are a fantastic tool for helping a child to change a particular
behaviour. Unfortunately, though, they are often used in ways that are not clear for the child and
that don’t encourage a child to achieve. Here are some factors to bear in mind when designing a
reward chart.
ÌÌ
Pick your battles. If you could
change one behaviour what would
it be? Focus on this one behaviour
only. Once things have improved
you can always tackle a different
behaviour (using the same chart if
you like).
ÌÌ
Be specific. Don’t rely on
expressions such as ‘be good’.
This is one of the most common
mistakes I see when parents use
a reward chart at home. Telling a
child their chart is for ‘being good’
doesn’t work. Why? Because ‘good’
is subjective and is far too broad
for a child to understand. What one
person considers to be good may
not be the same as someone else’s
standards. Furthermore, if you tell a
child their reward chart is for ‘being
good’ and they don’t achieve it,
then they come away believing
they have been… bad. This isn’t
going to boost their self-esteem or
help them want to strive to achieve
next time. Instead, tell
the child exactly what it is
that you want them to do
e.g. sit down at carpet
time, use kind words,
or for use at home it
might be ‘stay in my bed
all night’.
ÌÌ
Use positive wording. For
example, ‘I can use gentle hands’
rather than ‘I will not hit’. Don’t
remind the child of the behaviour
that you don’t want to see. If you
tell a child ‘don’t run’ then the last
word they hear is ‘run’ and guess
what they are likely to do?! If you
try saying ‘walk’ instead they are
far more likely to do so. Set them a
target that clearly says what they
do need to do.
ÌÌ
Make it realistic/achievable.
The child needs to be able to
achieve the reward quite soon
after receiving a new chart so that
they get to enjoy the value of the
reward. If they keep trying and
trying but don’t get to experience
the reward within about the first
week, then I would say it is too
hard and they are likely to give
up. So, let it be easily achievable
at first. You can always
extend the chart later by
increasing the number
of times you expect to see the
positive behaviour, or the amount
of time that they do it for.
ÌÌ
Pick a theme, something that the
child is interested in – they are
far more likely to want to engage
with it if it’s related to a theme
that they love. Some great reward
charts allow a child to work along
a race track, up a space rocket or
to collect something like unicorns
or characters from a favourite TV
show. It doesn’t need to be a work
of art – just a simple drawing or
printout will be fine.
ÌÌ
Choose a reward carefully. This
is the bit that you really need to get
right. Choose something that really
matters to the child. The reward has
to be something that a child really
really wants – it has to mean more
to them then the buzz they get from
the behaviour you want to stop. For
some children, it is time playing with
a particular toy or in a particular
place, for some children it is
food, for some children it is
simply attention – what they want is
to spend 1:1 time with an adult that
is important to them.
ÌÌ
Let the reward be instant. Once
the chart has been achieved, try
to make the reward as instant as
possible. If a child earns a reward
on Monday but then doesn’t get
it until Friday then the novelty will
have worn off, plus things could go
wrong between Monday and Friday
and you may feel that by Friday you
are rewarding negative behaviour.
You may also lose the trust/interest
of the child if they don’t get the
expected reward when they have
earned it.
ÌÌ
Make it positive. Create a chart
whereby the child starts at the
bottom of a chart and works
towards their target. Don’t start
with, for example, 10 stars and
then take them away if the child
does something wrong. That way
things can only go downhill. So,
for example, a child might earn a
character on their chart each time
they go for part of the day using
gentle hands.
ÌÌ
Stay calm. Don’t react/tell a child
off if they don’t achieve their chart.
Millie’s
Reward Chart
TASK MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY TOTAL
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Show the child that you believe
that they can do it. The idea of a
reward chart is that receiving or
not receiving the reward is enough
for the child. If they really want
the reward that badly and don’t
achieve it then that is going to be
enough of a disappointment for
them. Don’t tell them off, just calmly
remind them that they can try again
tomorrow.
ÌÌ
Keep it visual. Make sure the child
can see how well they are doing
and what more they need to do
to achieve their reward. This will
really help them understand that
changing this behaviour is worth it!
If things start to go wrong, you can
show them the chart to give them
an incentive to stay on track.
You will notice that most of the advice
here relates to a reward chart for one
child. This is because, for the chart to
be most effective, it needs to be specific
to the needs and interests of that child.
Whilst some ‘whole group’ reward charts
can be useful, if you are tackling a
particular behaviour, then a child is likely
to need their own chart. If you need any
support coming up with a reward chart,
then please feel free to email me – we
can put our heads together and see
what we can come up with. Good luck!
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Gina Smith
Gina Smith is an
experienced teacher with
experience of teaching
in both mainstream and
special education. She
is the creator of ‘Create
Visual Aids’ - a business
that provides both homes
and education settings with
bespoke visual resources.
Gina recognises the fact
that no two children are
the same and therefore
individuals are likely to need
different resources. Create
Visual Aids is dedicated
to making visual symbols
exactly how the individual
needs them.
Website:
www.createvisualaids.com
Email:
gina@createvisualsaids.com
22 Parenta.com May 2019 23

What our customers say
WHAT OUR CUSTOMERS SAY
Parenta solutions
RESOURCES -
APRIL 2019
All your posts have been so
beneficial for our practice and
especially for my studies. I am in
my first year of childhood studies,
hoping to become an early
years teacher.
Aneesa
TRAINING & RECRUITMENT -
FEBRUARY 2019
Parenta services have been highly
professional and extremely useful for
my business in finding apprentices and
providing the support and training to our
nursery team.
Cheryl - Meadow View Childcare
Parenta Solutions
With 20 years’ experience, we provide award-winning nursery software management
solutions and are the UK’s largest provider of work-based childcare apprenticeships. We
train nearly 3,000 nursery staff a year, offer a free recruitment service and help hundreds of
settings invest in tomorrow’s generation of childcarers.
SOFTWARE SUPPORT - APRIL 2019
Excellent advice and guidance, so if it happens again, I’m sure I
could do it myself.
Veena - Hillside Preschool
Nursery Management
Software - Abacus
Online EYFS Tracker -
Footsteps 2
Online Daily Diary -
Dayshare
Fee
Collection
SOFTWARE SUPPORT -
APRIL 2019
Jamie is so patient, I am just sorry we
were not able to get the remote session
up and running. Despite this, he is very
thorough in explaining the detail. I have
no hesitation to contact him with
queries again.
Jo - Victoria Park
Give back more time to every
child in your care! Discover
how our software helps you
gain more hours during the
week to enrich children’s
learning opportunities.
Record detailed and
meaningful EYFS observations,
improve essential
safeguarding and identify
at a glance, each child’s
development pathway.
Marketing Solutions for Your Business
Share every magical moment
of each child’s day, including
photos, with their parents
and carers with our online
diary software.
FIND OUT MORE FIND OUT MORE FIND OUT MORE
FIND OUT MORE
Focus on childcare,
not chasing fees. Our
automated fee collection
service enables parents to
pay their fees to you every
month via direct debit.
FIND OUT MORE
Your childcare setting provides a vital service to the local area, and you can let parents know this
by showcasing your business in the right way.
24 Parenta.com
SOFTWARE SUPPORT - APRIL 2019
Excellent customer service and was very helpful. Felt very
satisfied and happy when I had finished.
Hillside Preschool
SOFTWARE
SUPPORT -
APRIL 2019
The support I have received
throughout this process has been
amazing. Nothing is too much
trouble! Thank you again.
Jennie - Ash House Day
Nursery
FIND OUT MORE
Website Design
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websites – we only design
and build childcare
websites. So you can rest
assured that our team
know what Ofsted and
parents look for.
Training
We provide training for almost
3,000 learners each year.
From those just starting out in
their career to those already
established and working in a
setting - we offer a range of
courses.
Branding & Design
We take care of all
your branding needs,
whether it is a new
childcare website, printed
prospectus, business
cards, newsletters or
logos.
FIND OUT MORE
Social Media
A social media page will
open up your setting to
thousands of parents
searching online for a
provider in their area. We
can help you set up and
use your account in no time.
Recruitment
Our recruitment team
helps learners find an
apprenticeship in their area,
assists settings looking for
apprentices, and governs the
Parenta job board, which you
can use for FREE.

People who help us
In the UK, there are over eight million ‘999’ calls made every year? That’s
approximately one every 4 seconds! And millions of other calls are made to the nonemergency
police number, 101.
But it’s not just the police, fire and ambulance
service that respond. Did you know you can also call
mountain rescue, cave rescue, the coast guard and
lifeboats too?
In this article, we look at these emergency services
and suggest ways you could introduce the work
of these amazing people to the children in your
setting.
Fire Police Ambulance
Mountain rescue
Lifeboats
Cave rescue
Emergency
services from
a landline or
mobile in the
UK 999
Coast guard
Emergency
services from
a mobile
worldwide 112
A brief history of the main emergency services
It’s nice to think that if we are in trouble, there will
always be someone there to help. But this was
not always true, and in the past, many fires went
untended and many crimes unsolved, due to the
lack of an organised emergency response.
A Roman general called Marcus Licinius Crassus
set up the first organised fire service in the first
century BC. He employed around 500 fire-fighters,
but as a businessman, unless he could negotiate
an ‘acceptable fee’ from the owner of the burning
building, his fire-fighters would simply let it burn to
the ground.
In 1829, Sir Robert Peel set up the first Metropolitan
Police Force, however, the Royal Irish Constabulary
had been set up in 1822, and Scotland had
benefitted from the Royal Scottish Constabulary as
early as 1800. Despite this, the early police officers
were known as ‘Bobbies’ or ‘Peelers’ in reference to
Sir Robert.
And if you were injured in the 1890s, then it was left
to the police, fire service or a passer-by to assist
you! It was not until The National Health Service Act
was passed in 1948, that ambulances were legally
required for all those who needed them.
Thankfully, things have improved since these
fledgling days and nowadays, members of the
emergency services are called out regularly. Let’s
look at who these people are and what they do.
Police
The police are the first port of call when
dealing with crimes, but they have other
duties too, such as enforcing the laws
of the land (e.g. traffic laws), promoting
crime prevention and maintaining public
order and safety. Sadly, the days of the ‘Bobby on the
beat’ are mostly over, but police officers are often
involved in visiting local schools to promote prevention
strategies to children.
Fire
The fire service was, until relatively
recently, considered a ‘man’s job’,
as it was only in 1982 that Josephine
Reynolds became Britain’s first female
fire-fighter, aged just 17. In January of
this year, the BBC ran a story about a 4-year-old girl
who wanted to be a fire-fighter but thought that it
was only for men, because that’s all she’d ever seen
in books and films. Reassuringly, several female firefighters
replied to her mother’s tweet, proving their
existence to little Esme. However, 95% of firefighters
in England are male, so more needs to be done to
attract women in to the profession.
The NHS website says:
“An ambulance service career is much
more than ‘flashing blue lights’! You’ll
make a difference every day to patients
in emergency and non-emergency
situations.”
Many people who work in the ambulance service
reiterate this desire to help, and it is what drives most
medical staff to train for years and join the service.
Ambulance staff include paramedics, emergency care
assistants and technicians, but let’s not forget the
wonderful doctors and nurses of the NHS too, who are
always ready to help whenever disaster strikes and
who, together, save countless lives each year.
“Most of all, I love the feeling that I’ve helped
others in their moment of need”
Elisha Miller - Paramedic
Ambulance
Cave rescue
Whilst the responsibility for inland rescue
rests generally with the police, when
people get into difficulties in caves, mines
or potholes, it is usually some of the
1,000 volunteer cave rescuers who are
called in to assist the police, due to their specialised
training and experience.
Giving their time freely, British cave rescuers have also
participated in worldwide rescues, such as the muchpublicised,
cave rescue of 12 boys and their coach in
Thailand.
Coast guard and RNLI lifeboats
Since its formation in 1824, the brave
RNLI lifeboat crews; and the coast guards
who look out for us on our beaches, cliff
tops and coastal waters, have saved over
140,000 lives. Her Majesty’s Coastguard
is not a military force, nor a law enforcement agency,
but exists to keep us safe and offer assistance if people
get into difficulty at sea or on our shorelines. The RNLI
is a charity and is funded by donations and run by
some extraordinary volunteers – most of whom have
everyday jobs too. They are also involved in education
and incident prevention, and many children will have
seen them at the beach ensuring these areas are kept
safe for us to enjoy.
These RNLI statistics underline the need to keep these
services running:
22
people aided
a day by
lifeboat crews
735K+
young people
reached with
safety tips
24K+
people aided
by RNLI
lifeguards
Mountain rescue
8,436
Lifeboat
launches
There are over 70 mountain rescue
teams in the UK and each region exists
as its own charity. As well as mountain
rescue, these volunteers help many
hikers and dogs are often used to help
locate people in extreme conditions. Teams also help
people in floods and other natural disasters.
GET CELEBRATING!
People who help us in times of need are truly
special and should be celebrated as real-life
heroes.
You could make some bunting or a display to
celebrate their work. You could read the children
books or newspaper articles or research your
own local heroes and invite them to your setting
to tell their own stories. Or why not make a big
‘thank you’ card to remind them they are really
appreciated? Check out our craft on the next
page for some ideas.
26 Parenta.com May 2019 27

Shape emergency
services cars craft
You will need:
> > Coloured craft paper
> > Scissors
> > Glue
Write for us for a chance to win £50
We’re always on the lookout for
new authors to contribute insightful
articles for our monthly magazine.
If you’ve got a topic you’d like to write about,
why not send an article to us and be in with a
chance of winning? Each month, we’ll be giving
away £50 to our “Guest Author of the Month”.
Instructions:
1. Pick which emergency services cars you’d like to make
2. Cut out the different shapes and sizes that will make up your
chosen cars, body, wheels, etc.
3. Glue the shapes together on a piece of paper
4. You are done!
Here are the details:
••
Choose a topic that is relevant to early years
childcare
••
Submit an article of between 600-900 words
to marketing@parenta.com
••
If we choose to feature your article in our
magazine, you’ll be eligible to win £50
••
The winner will be picked based on having
the highest number of views for their article
during that month
This competition is open to both new and existing
authors, for any articles submitted to feature in
our Parenta magazine for 2019. The lucky winner
will be notified via email and we’ll also include an
announcement in the following month’s edition of
the magazine.
Got any questions or want to run a topic by us? For
more details, email marketing@parenta.com
MARCH’S WINNER
Tamsin Grimmer
Congratulations to our guest author competition
winner! Tamsin Grimmer’s article “I’m killing the
baddies! Using ‘superhero play’ to deal with
notions of killing and death within early
childhood” was very popular with our
readers. Well done, Tamsin!
28 Parenta.com May 2019 29

The importance of fostering
Every year, around 30,000 children enter the British care system – imagine the intake of 30,
average-sized comprehensive schools – all children needing to live with people other than
their parents, in surroundings that may, or may not be familiar to them. On any one day
in the UK, there are 65,000 children living with over 55,000 foster families. That’s a lot of
vulnerable children.
In a recent report on the state of
fostering in England, the government
recognised that:
“…the number of children in care
increased at a faster rate than the
number of fostering places, which
may suggest the fostering sector
is struggling to keep up with the
increasing demand.”
The charity, Fostering Network,
reports that another 8,100 foster
families will be needed in the next 12
months alone to meet the increasing
demand for places.
So what exactly is fostering, and why
is it important?
Fostering has a long history
There are references in The Bible
and The Talmud to societies having a
‘duty of care’ for dependent children,
although fostering as we understand
it today, could be said to have been
introduced in 1853, when a Cheshire
Reverend, John Armistead, took
children out of the local workhouse
and placed them with foster
families instead. The local union (a
predecessor of the local council) paid
the foster parents a sum of money,
equal to the cost of keeping the
child in the workhouse, and was still
legally responsible for the children.
In the mid-1800s, the practice began
to be more regulated, and the
passing of the Adoption of Children
Act in 1926, began the move towards
increased regulation, legislation and
safeguarding, which continues to this
day.
What do foster carers do?
Ostensibly, fostering is a simple job
involving looking after children and
providing them with a bed, food
and a stable, nurturing environment
that they may not have previously
enjoyed. In reality, fostering is much
more complex and simply feeding
and providing material comforts is
the tip of the iceberg. More often,
what these children really need,
is a loving, stable and consistent
approach to their physical, emotional
and psychological wellbeing; and
those skills go far beyond just ‘bed
and board’.
Many children in care have suffered
abuse or neglect; causing them to
have a range of physical, emotional
and mental challenges to deal with,
in addition to the trauma of being
removed from their parents.
A survey of foster carers revealed
that 48% were supporting children
with mental health needs who were
not currently accessing specialist
support; and 43% had looked after a
child who had either caused violence
in their home, gone missing or had
some involvement with the police.
This compares to just 8% of parents
coping with the same challenges,
and highlights the increasing
demands of the role. Fostering
can be a difficult and emotionallydemanding,
24/7 job!
Responsibilities (amongst others)
include:
• Providing food, clothes and
accommodation for the dayto-day
living of the child (an
allowance is paid to support
carers financially with this)
• Passing the statutory minimum
standards for foster carers within
12 months of being approved
• Attending CPD sessions
• Keeping accurate records or the
child’s progress and incidents
involving their behaviour or
wellbeing
• Attending meetings with social
workers, medical services, and
review sessions
• Liaising with the birth family
• Acting as an advocate for the
child
• Keeping up-to-date with current
training and legislation
• Supporting children in transition
- if they ‘move on’ – either
returning home, being adopted
or to a new placement
Who can foster?
In short, most people! There’s no
‘generic’ foster carer profile – they
come from all social spheres, have a
wide range of backgrounds, cultures
and life experiences. They receive
training and have a dedicated social
worker to support them.
There are a few criteria that you
need to meet, although these may
vary depending on whether you
apply through a Local Authority or a
private fostering agency. You should:
• be at least 21 years-old
(although you can apply from
age 18)
• have a large-enough spare
bedroom
• be a full-time resident in the UK
or have permission to remain
• be able to give the time to care
for a child or young person
depending on
their needs
Applications can take from 6-12
months from enquiry to approval
and will take into account your
health, financial security, friends
and own family too. Carers also
need to pass safeguarding checks.
Things that don’t affect your ability
to apply include your race, marital
status, religion, gender and sexual
orientation. In fact, people from
ethnic minorities are often sought
after to match with children from a
similar background. There’s also no
upper age limit.
There are also different types of
carers including those who look
after babies, short-term, longterm,
parent-and-baby carers and
enhanced carers who deal with the
most challenging children.
So with all this potential stress,
why does anyone do it?
A foster carer we spoke to said:
“I do it because I can, and because
I know I can make a difference. It
has not always been easy. There
have been many times when I
questioned the sanity of what I
was doing, especially as a singlecarer.
There have been tantrums,
misunderstandings and difficult
issues to resolve – and we are still
working through many things each
day - all of us learning slowly from
each other and making progress. But
when I see the life the children have
now, and think about what might
have been, I know it is the right thing
to do and I wouldn’t change it for the
world.”
The truth is, we all have a
responsibility to help the most
vulnerable children in our society,
and fostering is one important and
vital way that can give them security,
love, and the prospect of lasting
change.
For more information, contact your
Local Authority, or visit:
www.thefosteringnetwork.org.
uk/advice-information/all-aboutfostering
30 Parenta.com May 2019 31

Reflective practice vs
reflexive practice
Reflective practice is an important part of our professional
development. It means we look at what went well, what didn’t
and this allows us to tweak and amend our approach in the
future. Although this practice is necessary, it is quite passive and
is done after the event.
Stacey Kelly
Reflexive practice, however, is much more transformational
because it is often done in the moment and takes our level of
understanding much deeper. Reflexive practitioners have a
higher level of self-awareness because they are not only able
to assess a situation as it is happening and tweak things as
they go, but they also have the ability to look at why things are
the way that they are, and consider the role they are playing in
the current outcome.
A reflective thinker will analyse what
has happened. However, a reflexive
thinker will automatically self-assess
and react to the circumstances as
they are happening. They will know
themselves well and will look inwardly
as well as outwardly.
In an early years setting there are a
million and one things to consider
at any given point. A reflective
practitioner will set up the room and
at the end of the day they will assess
how the children interacted, how
engaging the resources provided
were and how they could possibly set
the room up differently the next day
to get a better outcome. However,
the reflexive practitioner would tweak
things as they went along and would
also run with the direction that the
children were going in, even if it
wasn’t a part of the plan. They would
also be able to look at how they
have impacted on the efficacy of the
present situation:
oo
Are they engaging with the
children on their level? If not,
they would tweak the way they
are communicating with them
to make their message more
accessible to that individual child.
oo
oo
oo
Are they understanding the needs
of each unique child? If not, they
will make sure they understand
what makes each child tick and
adjust their actions accordingly.
Are the children displaying signs
of being a visual, auditory or
kinaesthetic learner? If so, they
would adjust the setting and
activities available to make
sure they are appealing to each
learning style. Instead of doing
what they think is fun, they would
put themselves in the shoes of
each child and make decisions
based on their reality, rather than
their own.
Do they know the children’s
triggers and look beyond what
is happening for a deeper level
of understanding? If one of the
children keeps crying all of the
time, do they look beyond their
tears and tantrums and find
the root cause? Does this child
suffer with separation anxiety?
Do they feel insecure? Do they
have problems at home that are
making them more sensitive? If
so, they would meet the child’s
deeper-rooted needs as well as
addressing the present situation.
oo
Does the practitioner actually
understand their own triggers
and how this can impact their
reaction to situations? Can they
see how their own childhood
can actually affect their actions
as adults? For example, were
they brought up with ‘no
nonsense’ parents who had high
expectations and wouldn’t allow
for mistakes and is this now
filtering into their own practice
and meaning they can, at times,
lack tolerance themselves? Do
they have an issue with control
and project this onto the children
or the way the setting runs?
Were their parents overbearing
when they were younger, and
they have vowed to never make
children feel this way, so struggle
to set boundaries through a
subconscious need to make
them happy? Do they have things
going on at the moment that
could be affecting their own
patience? If so, the reflexive
practitioner would identify these
deeper-rooted issues and work
through them, rather than solely
focusing on external factors.
With reflexive practice, there is a
level of responsibility that doesn’t get
reached with reflective practice. This
all sounds very deep. However, there
are no greater teachers in life than
children. We have all been moulded
throughout our own childhood and
look at the world through a lens that
is influenced by the experiences
and beliefs that we have acquired
throughout our early years. Sometimes
our own blueprint serves us well. Other
times, not so much. If we can identify
why we are the way that we are, why
we think the way that we think and
why we react the way that we do, we
can have a better understanding of
how the current situation is, at times, a
reflection of this. Self-awareness is the
foundation of happiness and success.
We focus on developing it in children.
However, it is imperative that we take
the time to develop it in ourselves if we
are going to become the best that we
can be.
It is important to be a reflective
practitioner, but if we can take
this a level deeper and become a
reflexive practitioner, it will have a
positive impact on both the children’s
development and our own personal
development too. Our role is to
teach children and provide them
with amazing learning opportunities.
However, if we can also see the many
amazing lessons that children bring
to us, we will also give ourselves
the opportunity to unlock our inner
brilliance and release any inner
programming that could be holding
us back.
Stacey Kelly is a former
teacher, a parent to 2
beautiful babies and the
founder of Early Years Story
Box, which is a subscription
website providing children’s
storybooks and early years
resources. She is passionate
about building children’s
imagination, creativity and
self-belief and about creating
awareness of the impact
that the early years have
on a child’s future. Stacey
loves her role as a writer,
illustrator and public speaker
and believes in the power of
personal development. She is
also on a mission to empower
children to live a life full of
happiness and fulfilment,
which is why she launched
the #ThankYouOaky Gratitude
Movement.
Sign up to Stacey’s premium
membership here and use the
code PARENTA20 to get 20%
off or contact Stacey for an
online demo.
Website:
www.earlyyearsstorybox.com
Email:
stacey@earlyyearsstorybox.com
Facebook:
facebook.com/earlyyearsstorybox
Twitter:
twitter.com/eystorybox
Instagram:
instagram.com/earlyyearsstorybox
LinkedIn:
linkedin.com/in/stacey-kellya84534b2/
32 Parenta.com May 2019 33

Construction
that’s child’s play
We’ve learnt our craft over 15 years. And
in that time, we’ve turned our hand to
creating bespoke construction projects
for childcare and nursery settings.
We create safe environments for toddlers and children to explore,
play and develop their imaginations. One day they can be a
builder, the next an astronaut, ambulance-driver or high-flying
footballer. We can build from scratch to suit exactly what you need.
And we offer landscaping, decorating, a 24-hour help desk, and
maintenance service after the job’s complete.
It’s not all about fun and games
Safety and security are core to our service. All our projects are risk
assessed. We’re experts in fire protection. We can install intruder
alarms, door-entry systems, non-slip surfaces and CCTV. We have
gas and electrical engineers as part of our team. All our staff are
DBS checked, and all our vehicles are tracked.
We’ve converted buildings into Ofsted rated nurseries, and
playscapes that are ROSPA accredited. For more case studies,
references or a quote – get in touch.
Give us a call on
01634 258238
or email us at enquiries@kentlincs.com
kentlincs.co.uk
“I’ve worked with
Kentlincs for fourteen
years, and in this time
they have supported
our ninety six nurseries
through their growth.
They have helped
build quality nurseries,
including maintenance,
major refits and gardens.
They provide a personal
service with quality
work. I would highly
recommend them.
Andrew Morris
ex CEO Asquith

There’s more to slime than
meets the eye...
We have all heard of fiddle toys, and children with “sensory needs,” and there is a dilute
understanding amongst educators of the value of such things. Some of us provide our
students with them, some of us feel the costs in terms of disruption and clutter in class
outweigh the benefits. As with any tool, the utility of these items is partly dependent on
the choice of item and partly on how it is used. Imagine teaching a class handwriting skills
but providing them with crayons. Similarly imagine a class equipped with the very best
fountain pens but taught none of the skills associated with learning to write. Neither group
is going to be producing calligraphy very soon. It is the same with sensory resources, there
is absolutely value to be had from having them around, but we need also to be teaching the
skills associated with their use. In my coming articles, I will be examining individual sensory
resources and unpicking their application in the classroom. We looked at search jars last
month, this month I will cover gak or slime.
Gak or slime
In schools today we are constantly meeting
sensory crazes. No sooner were fiddle
spinners banned than the production of gak
(or slime if you prefer) began. That the young
people of today delight in these sensory
resources is reflective of a population with
greater sensory needs than past generations.
You may have been impressed, as have I,
by the creativity unleashed in children and
young people as they develop even better gak
recipes and turn up to school with ever more
amazing colours and textures. This article is
one of a series of articles unpicking the value
of such sensory resources within our settings.
As with any resource, it is not simply owning it
that makes the difference but knowing how to
use it. In this article I will explain how you can
make gak and how you might seek to use it
or other comparable resources to support the
behaviour of your students.
What is gak?
Gak is a non-Neutonian fluid that can be
stretched, poured and manipulated in a wide
variety of ways. It comes in different scents,
colours and textures.
How does someone use gak?
The malleability of gak is very enticing, unlike
a search jar, which we discussed in the first
article in this series, there is no set way to
use gak, making it very supportive of creative
play. As there is no end goal with gak there
is no getting it wrong or right, meaning
it can be explored without fear of failure.
Someone exploring gak may shape it into
different shapes, stretch and pull it to admire
its colours and textures, or squeeze it in the
palm of their hands so that it squidges out
between their fingers.
How to make gak
You need:
• PVA glue
• Something with borax as its chemical
agent, for example: contact lens solution,
Lidl’s Formil Super Concentrated Laundry
Liquid, or just plain old borax itself which
is sold as a powder for you to dilute with
water.
Optional:
• Glitter, or other particulate matter to add
texture, for example sand.
• Coloured ink
To make:
Gak results from a chemical reaction between
the PVA glue and the borax. Failed attempts at
making gak are often due to insufficient mixing,
or not allowing time for this reaction to happen.
1. Begin with your PVA glue, use an amount
slightly smaller than the amount of gak
you wish to end up with.
2. Mix in any ink or glitter/particles that you
want in your gak.
3. Now add a small amount of your chosen
borax carrier and mix well.
4. Mix really well: you want the borax to
mix with all of the glue. You will notice
the consistency of the substance begin
to change. At first it will seem sticky, with
the mixture sticking to the sides of the
container it is in and to the tool you are
using to mix it with. Keep mixing.
5. Add a little more of your borax carrier
and repeat the mixing process, allowing
plenty of time for the reaction to take place
before adding any more borax.
6. Continue this process until your gak
reaches the desired consistency: this is
when it forms a single lump in the bowl
and no longer sticks to the sides. You will
be able to lift it out of the bowl and knead
it with your hands.
If you add too much of
your borax carrier your
gak will go from too sticky
to too slippery. You may be able to save your
batch of gak by adding more PVA glue to
make amends. Always mix really well and
allow time for the reaction to take place.
Safety
Clearly gak is a substance made out of
glue and detergent, it is not edible. Nor is it
advisable to play with it for long periods of
time. Horror stories can be found online of
teenagers who spent their whole weekend
making batches of gak to sell to their peers
tell of hands burned by over exposure to
the chemicals in the detergent. But used
intermittently, and with hands washed after
use, it is as safe and a lot of fun. (If you want
to create a similar substance for someone
who may be liable to put it in their mouth,
you can find recipes for edible play dough
online, or simply mix cornflour and water
together to make a dough).
Discussion
So far you may be thinking you have
the beginnings of a motivating science
experiment but gak has a utility beyond
offering a beginner-level introduction to
chemical reactions. In Exploring the Impact
the Senses have on Behaviour, we look at
gak, and other sensory items, not for their
science lesson potential, but for their uses in
helping people to emotionally regulate. Here
we are going to think of two sorts of people
as we consider the usefulness of gak, the
first one you are likely to find among your
friends:
Person one:
Do you have a friend who is a fidget, the sort of
person who at the cinema will twiddle their hair,
who couldn’t sit at dinner without fiddling about
with the cutlery or tapping their foot on the floor?
Imagine this friend in an interview situation,
facing all the stress of the adjudicating panel.
Would they sit on their hands? Would they be
embarrassed by their fidgetiness? Would it be
exacerbated by the stress of the situation?
All of us need to regulate our sensory systems
in order to be able to access information from
the world and be included successfully within
society. Just as we would expect eyesight to
differ between individuals, so we can expect
other sensory systems to differ. A fidget may
need more vestibular (balance and motion),
proprioceptive (body mapping and movement) or
tactile stimulation than the next person. In their
fidgeting, they seek to regulate their systems so
that they reach a point of homeostasis in which
they are able to engage and concentrate.
If your friend sits in that interview and focuses
their attention on not fidgeting, they are likely
to miss the nuances of the questions being
thrown at them. If they can find a way to provide
their body with its fidgeting needs, then their
concentration is freed to focus on the interview.
In the modern climate, gak offers us a way to
allow children with significant sensory needs to
have them met in a socially acceptable, even
cool way! To take the comparison with vision
again, in gak we have progressed from the old
embarrassing bulky national health spectacles
to the cool contemporary designer shades. Other
contemporary fiddle toys have the potential to
do the same: silly pencil toppers, fiddle spinners,
along with the good old-fashioned blue tac, bent
paper clip and rubber band. You may think you
are running a tight ship by banning such things
but if your ultimate aim is to improve
behaviour in your classroom, you
may find that adopting a more laid
back attitude in response to them
actually results in a better behaved
class than rules that inhibit selfregulation.
Person two:
The second person we are thinking of may also
be among your friends, but often times, these
people find themselves isolated because their
inability to regulate their systems damages their
friendships. These are people who are constantly
tense or on edge, people quick to snap, jumpy
people.
These people are likely to have had a traumatic
early life, a life that has taught them that danger
is around every corner. Neurodiverse conditions
can also result in a hypersensitive response
system, meaning people live with high levels of
anxiety and feel the need to be constantly on
guard and in control of the world around them.
This person two feels a little bit tense all the
time; it is not a feeling triggered by a particular
event or altercation, it is something they have to
cope with all day, every day, and it is exhausting.
We used to believe that people should “let out”
tensions by indulging them by, for example,
hitting a punch bag. But we now understand that
practicing hitting in response to feeling tense
makes us – rather unsurprisingly – more likely
to hit out when feeling tense. A couple of things
are going on within this piece of advice that are
worth unpicking to prevent misunderstanding: 1)
Exercise is great for enabling self-regulation and
will help someone to feel calmer. 2) Disciplines
such as boxing and martial arts do not simply
teach people to hit, they also teach people when
to hit and are often beneficial to people looking
to learn to control their behaviour to a greater
extent.
There are many strategies we can use to relieve
tension for someone who is naturally prone to
feeling tense: meditation practices can help to
reprogramme the mind: exercise is wonderful,
time spent in nature is also fantastic, but when it
is not possible to go outdoors, for example
in the middle of a maths lesson, then
having the opportunity to knead
gak, and to admire its colours,
scent and sparkles – in itself a
small dose of mindfulness –
will help. And as with person
one, the current trendiness of
sensory toys provides us with
intervention options that do
not require us to single people
out as different or weird, but
enable us to provide for each
according to their needs in the
community.
Joanna Grace
Joanna Grace is an
international Sensory
Engagement and Inclusion
Specialist, trainer, author, TEDx
speaker and founder of The
Sensory Projects.
Consistently rated as
“outstanding” by Ofsted,
Joanna has taught in
mainstream and specialschool
settings, connecting
with pupils of all ages and
abilities. To inform her work,
Joanna draws on her own
experience from her private
and professional life as well
as taking in all the information
she can from the research
archives. Joanna’s private life
includes family members with
disabilities and neurodiverse
conditions and time spent
as a registered foster carer
for children with profound
disabilities.
Joanna has published several
books: “Sensory Stories for
Children and Teens”, “Sensory-
Being for Sensory Beings”
and “Sharing Sensory Stories”
and “Conversations with
People with Dementia”. Her
latest two books, “Ernest and
I”, and “Voyage to Arghan”
were launched at TES SEN in
October.
Joanna is a big fan of social
media and is always happy
to connect with people
via Facebook, Twitter and
LinkedIn.
Website:
thesensoryprojects.co.uk
36 Parenta.com May 2019 37

Viral
Meningitis
Awareness
Week
The first full week in May
(6th – 12th) is Viral Meningitis
Awareness Week. It’s run by
the charity, Meningitis Now,
as an annual event aimed
at “stopping lives being lost
through meningitis and to make
sure that sufferers and survivors
get appropriate support.”
As children under 5 are most at risk
of developing meningitis, we think it’s
important that all pre-schools are informed
about the disease, its causes, symptoms
and treatments. Most importantly, all early
years professionals should know what to
do if they suspect a child is suffering with
meningitis.
Take our meningitis quiz to see how much
you know about the disease and then
read on to find out more information and
advice. (Answers at the end of the article).
1. Meningitis is a disease which
causes inflammation of the:
a. Meniscus
b. Meninges
c. Metatarsals
2. In the UK, Meningitis is most often
caused by:
a. Bacteria
b. Viruses
c. Fungi
3. What percentage of people
contracting bacterial meningitis may
die (approximately)?
a. 5%
b. 10%
c. 15%
4. Babies and young children are at
particular risk of meningitis due to
their:
a. Immature immune systems
b. Milk teeth
c. Developing DNA
5. Septicaemia can occur with
meningitis and cause a rash, which
can be identified by:
a. A urine test
b. Counting the spots in a specified area
c. Pressing a glass onto the skin to see
if the rash disappears under pressure
6. The most common types of
meningitis can be prevented by:
a. Vaccination
b. Gene therapy
c. Pre-natal diet
7. Which of the following does NOT put
you at increased risk of meningitis?
a. The seasons
b. Smoking
c. Body mass index (BMI)
8. Which of the following are
symptoms of meningitis?
a. Vomiting
b. Dislike of bright lights
c. Blank, staring or vacant look
9. You always get a rash with
meningitis:
a. True
b. False
10. There is no treatment for viral
meningitis, but what might help
with recovery?
a. Painkillers
b. Injectable antibiotics
c. Insulin therapy
11. Which of the following can be longterm
effects of meningitis?
a. Acquired brain injury
b. Learning and behaviour changes
c. Weight gain
12. What should you do if you suspect a
child of having meningitis?
a. Confine the child to bed until the
symptoms dissipate
b. Make an appointment to see your
local GP
c. Take them to hospital or dial 999
What is meningitis?
Meningitis is a serious illness that has
the potential to cause death or disability
within hours. It is the inflammation of
the meninges, which are the protective
membranes that surround the brain and
the spinal cord, but can also lead to lifethreatening
blood poisoning (known as
septicaemia) which in fact, is the cause of
a rash often associated with the bacterial
form of meningitis.
Meningitis can be caused by a number
of different factors including bacteria,
viruses and fungi and each type has
a different prognosis. The most fatal
is bacterial meningitis which can have
devastating effects for survivors including
acquired brain injury, seizures, learning
difficulties, deafness and physical
disability.
Viral meningitis is the most common
form and is usually less severe than
the bacterial form as most patients
recover without any permanent damage,
although full recovery can take many
weeks or months. There is no treatment
for viral meningitis, but painkillers and
rest can help.
Who is at risk?
Children under 5 are most at risk. The
second most at-risk group for meningitis
is teenagers and young people, with firstyear
university students being particularly
vulnerable. However, it can strike anyone,
at any age and there are thousands of
cases in the UK each year.
Symptoms of meningitis
The following have been identified as
common symptoms of meningitis, but this
is not an exhaustive list:
• a high temperature (fever) of 38˚C
(100.4˚F) or above
• cold hands and feet, shivering
• vomiting
• headache
• diarrhoea
• irritability
• rash that does not fade when a
glass is rolled over it (but this will not
always develop)
• stiff neck
• blank, staring or vacant look
• dislike of bright lights
• drowsiness or unresponsiveness
• fits (seizures)
Symptoms can appear in any order
and sufferers do not always get all the
symptoms. If in doubt, you should contact
A&E or call 999.
Prevention and treatment
Prevention is always better than cure and
there are several vaccinations available
that offer protection against meningitis.
These are usually administered to infants
although other ‘catch-up’ and teenager/
adult programmes also exist. No vaccine
is 100% effective but vaccinations have
been shown to reduce meningitis
incidence rates and one of the aims of
meningitis charities is often to raise the
vaccination rates, especially in children.
Treatment for bacterial meningitis
requires hospitalisation, intravenous
antibiotics and fluids. Viral meningitis
is usually treated with pain killers and
rest, although antibiotics may be given
in certain cases to rule out bacterial
meningitis or secondary infections.
Meningitis Aware Recognition Mark
(MARM) for childcare providers
Meningitis Now have launched the MARM
toolkit to help nurseries, pre-schools and
childminders learn more and inform their
staff and parents about meningitis.
To achieve this recognition mark,
providers need to register their interest on
the MARM webpage and then download
and complete a checklist, which includes
actions to take on:
• Raising awareness internally
• Raising awareness externally
• Planning ahead
This will confirm that the setting has
demonstrated their awareness of
meningitis, the issues surrounding it,
and the actions they have taken. There
are a lot of free resources available
on the website to help you including
PowerPoint presentations, information
sheets, helpline numbers and videos. You
can access these after you register your
interest.
To find out more about the condition, or to
see how you can help, visit:
www.meningitisnow.org
www.meningitis.org
www.comomeningitis.org
www.nhs.uk/conditions/meningitis
Answers: 1b, 2ab, 3b, 4a, 5c, 6a, 7c, 8abc, 9false,
10a, 11ab, 12c.
38 Parenta.com May 2019 39

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