Parenta Magazine July 2019

Hello and welcome to the July edition of the Parenta magazine!
July is upon us and we are already halfway through 2019 – how time flies!
We enjoyed meeting so many early years professionals at Childcare Expo Manchester in June, discussing
constraints in the industry and sharing the successes of our customers. Thank you to all of you who visited
our stand – we’ve received some really great feedback about our new EYFS learning journey software Footsteps
2. Turn to page 8 for more details about this FREE software!
As this magazine goes to print, the annual Parenta Trust Rally sets of from Kent! Turn to page 6 for photos of the teams embarking
on their epic adventure and look out for rally updates (#parentatrustrally) on our social media channels.
We have a jam-packed magazine for you this month with so much advice and fun activities – ranging from how to build a resilient
workforce, to how to avoid spreading disease in your setting; and in preparation for some (hopefully) warm weather, lots of fun
food and drink activities that the children can take part in all summer!
The summer is also the time of year when the oldest children in your setting are preparing for a major change in their lives - to
leave your care and begin the next stage of their education. This month, we take a different look at how to help children transition
into Foundation Stage (Reception) – this time from a reception teacher’s point of view. You can read more on this on page 16.
Congratulations to Stacey Kelly who is our guest author competition winner! Her article “Reflective Practice vs Reflexive Practice”
was very popular with our readers and gives us some really interesting food for thought. We’re always on the lookout for authors to
contribute insightful articles for our monthly magazine so 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 25 for details.
We really hope you enjoy this month’s news stories, advice articles and craft activities – please feel free to share with friends and
colleagues!
Allan
DRINKING
GAMES
Joanna Grace shares
some easy and fun ways
to encourage children to
drink more in the summer
STRESS
hello
WELCOME TO OUR FAMILY
30
Helen Garnett discusses
the stresses and
strains that early years
practitioners face and
offers advice on how
to build a resilient
workforce
10
SUPERHERO PLAY
Tamsin Grimmer concludes her
superhero play series by offering advice
on how to effectively manage superhero
play in your setting
14
JULY 2019 ISSUE 56
IN THIS EDITION
REGULARS
19 What our customers say
24 Sensory archaeology craft
25 Write for us for a chance to win £50
25 Guest author winner announced
NEWS
4 GECCO real nappy launch – reducing plastic
pollution
5 Reduction of fresh fruit and vegetables for
children in nurseries
6 Parenta Trust news - The Parenta Trust Rally sets
off!
8 Get Footsteps 2 for FREE!
ADVICE
12 International Friendship Day
16 The Importance of a well-considered transition
18 Nursery graduation
22 Festival of British Archaeology
28 How to avoid spreading disease in your setting
32 Fun summer food activities
34 Hygge in the early years - what’s it all about?
38 National Simplicity Day
INDUSTRY EXPERTS
10 Building a resilient workforce in the early years
14 Calling all superheroes: managing their play
26 The importance of personal development in
early years
30 Drinking games for children on summer days
36 Supporting children with sensory needs
Get into the spirit of history and archaeology – and
make ‘bones in the sand’!
Our theme of the month for July is…..archaeology!
The Festival of British Archaeology runs for 2 weeks from
Saturday 13th to Saturday 28th July and aims to bring the very
best of archaeology to everyone!
Special archaeological events and activities have been
organised across the whole of the UK, hosted by loads
of different museums, heritage organisations, Young
Archaeologist’s Clubs and youth groups – so there are lots of
things to get involved in and many opportunities to be handson!
There is a full list of events on the festival website.
Turn to page 22 to ‘unearth’ some really interesting facts
about the Festival and discover how you can get involved.
We also have our very own archaeological dig activity on
page 24, which you can do with
the children – hopefully
they will ‘dig’ making
‘bones in the
sand’!
Don’t forget to send
us your pictures
of the children
carrying out their mini
excavations – happy digging!
Hygge in the early years - what’s it all about? 34
The Parenta Trust Rally sets off! 6