Parenta Magazine November 2019

Issue 60
NOVEMBER 2019
FREE
INDUSTRY
EXPERTS
Multisensory rooms:
myth busting
Should we force
children to say ‘please’
and ‘thank you’?
Exploring cultural
capital - the new buzz
words in education
WIN
A FREE
WEBSITE!
page 6
+ lots more
HOW STORIES CAN
HELP TACKLE BULLYING
Tonya Meers explains that the versatility of stories makes them a great tool for
practitioners to identify safeguarding issues and to help them assess situations
BLOG POSTING TIPS • ROAD SAFETY WEEK • TIPS FOR TEACHING PHONICS

Hello and welcome to the November edition of the Parenta magazine!
We are into the third month of the revised Education Inspection Framework – and since it was first published
in September, the words “cultural capital” have become the new buzz words in education, particularly
within early years. What do they really mean, and do we need to do anything differently within our settings?
Industry expert Tamsin Grimmer looks at the ways in which settings already take cultural capital into account
automatically - well before the phrase was coined. Turn to page 20 for her insightful article.
It’s time to get our singing voices in tune…in preparation for singing carols in a few weeks’ time; as we celebrate all
things “nursery rhymes” this month! World Nursery Rhyme Week runs from 18th to 22nd November and we have some great
ideas and activities for you to get involved in. More on that on the opposite page!
We wanted to say a big “thank you” to all those who took the time to participate in our recent early years settings survey. Your input is
invaluable in helping us better understand the business constraints you face within your settings and we are using these findings to be
able to help you with your childcare businesses even more!
We also want to show our appreciation to all our Parenta magazine readers – and are excited to announce that this month we are
giving away a FREE childcare website! Details of this amazing prize and how you can enter are on page 6.
On the subject of appreciation, as a society, we place a lot of importance on words such as ‘please’ and ‘thank you’. It goes without
saying that we want to raise our children to be polite and have good manners, but should we actually impose these words on them?
Industry expert Stacey Kelly takes a controversial look at this in her article “Should we force children to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’?”
Joanna Grace’s perceptive article “Sensory engagement” has got us really thinking about how sensory communication effects
everyone and wins her guest author of the month – congratulations once again, Joanna!
We really hope that you find this month’s news stories, advice articles and craft activities useful – 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.
Please feel free to share with friends, parents and colleagues!
Allan
MUSIC
hello
WELCOME TO OUR FAMILY
28
The third instalment of
Frances Turnbull’s four-part
series discusses musical
skills and behaviours that
can be seen in children in
their early years
NOVEMBER 2019 ISSUE 60
IN THIS EDITION
REGULARS
7 Write for us for a chance to win £50!
7 Guest author winner announced
14 Twinkle twinkle little star-ry night - craft
instructions
NEWS
4 Milton Hall Montessori Nursery School
celebrates Diwali
5 Not so mellow yellow – Cheshire childcare group
supports World Mental Health Day
ADVICE
8 Focus on Forest Schools
12 World Nursery Rhyme Week
23 Top tips for managing your workload as an
apprentice
26 Road Safety Week
30 Tips for teaching phonics
34 How to deal with bereavement
38 National Blog Posting Month
INDUSTRY EXPERTS
10 Encouraging mark-making in multisensory ways
16 Multisensory rooms – myth busting
Let’s fall in love with nursery rhymes… all over again!
Our theme of the month for November is…nursery rhymes!
If you ask people what they remember about their early
childhood, chances are they will mention “nursery rhymes”.
We listen to them as babies, learn them as infants and then, if
we have children ourselves, we are likely to pass on what we
learnt to them.
World Nursery Rhyme week runs from 18th to 22nd November
and has lots of information about
all the great ways children can
learn new nursery rhymes
and allows you to reminisce
about old ones too; from
learning a different one
each day of the week; to
even writing your own;
and downloading crafts
for them to take home!
Turn to page 14 for a
wonderful Vincent van
Gough-inspired craft
which will have you
and the children
singing and painting
“Twinkle Twinkle Little
Star-ry night” all week!
How you can help children in your care with bereavement 34
MARK-
MAKING
10
Gina Smith gives some
fantastic multisensory
tips for ways you can
encourage children in your
setting to mark-make
NURSERY RHYMES
Galina Zenin explains the importance
of nursery rhymes for children’s
development and details some of the
incredible benefits of nursery rhymes in
early childhood education
24
20 Exploring cultural capital – the new buzz words
in education
24 Let’s fall in love with nursery rhymes...again!
28 Starting a musical journey part 3: Changes in
your little one’s musical behaviour
32 Should we force children to say ‘please’ and
‘thank you’?
36 How stories can help tackle bullying
Forest Schools - the history, benefits and core principles 8

Milton Hall Montessori Nursery
School celebrates Diwali
Milton Hall Montessori Nursery School
celebrates
Diwali
Not Cheshire so mellow childcare yellow group – Cheshire supports
childcare
Mental
group supports
Health
World Mental
Health Day
Day
We all know it is very important to teach children about different cultures and traditions
and Milton Hall Montessori School love to celebrate special days and festivals. In October
they celebrated Diwali, the festival of lights.
Nursery managers and practitioners of Elmscot Group day nurseries, nursery schools and
out-of-school clubs across Cheshire have come together to show their support for World
Mental Health Day.
On 23rd October, Milton Hall
Montessori School celebrated Diwali,
the Hindu festival of light. The children
dressed up wearing bright and
colourful clothing, and learned all
about the joyous festival!
Sutindar Lal told the children the story
of Rama and Sita and why Hindus
celebrate the Festival of Lights.
Diwali is the five-day festival of lights,
celebrated by millions of Hindus, Sikhs
and Jains across the world.
The children learnt about dandiyas,
made their own diva lamps out of
clay and painted them, tried different
Indian savoury snacks and sweets and
had henna designs painted on their
hands.
Diwali, which for some also
coincides with harvest and new year
celebrations, is a festival of new
beginnings and the triumph of good
over evil, and light over darkness.
You can see from the photos that
the children had a wonderful time
celebrating Diwali and learning about
the festival.
Happy Diwali
from Milton
Hall Montessori
School!
#HelloYellow is a campaign launched
by YoungMinds, a UK charity that fights
for the future of children and young
people’s mental health. By wearing a
pop of yellow or even an entire yellow
outfit and making a donation, people
across the country have shown their
support for the cause.
ITV’s Britain Get Talking campaign has
also been supporting mental wellness
and is centred on bringing families
closer. Backed by the YoungMinds
charity, the campaign highlights
that anxiety and depression in
children has risen by 48% since 2004.
Through silencing popular television
programmes and advertising, families
are being encouraged to “tune back in
to the story in your living room”.
Elmscot Group understands that
good mental health and wellbeing is
important to enable children and young
people to reach their full potential, build
resilience and self-regulation – all vital
life skills to become a confident and
able adult.
Back in April 2019, managers and
practitioners across the childcare group
completed either a Level 2 course in
Understanding Children and Young
People’s Mental Health or a Level 2
course in Awareness of Mental Health
Problems. These courses focused
on support and early intervention
from early childhood, and on adult
and workplace health awareness,
respectively.
Most recently, seven of the managers
within Elmscot Group have successfully
trained in Mental Health First Aid
– showing the group’s continued
commitment to mental health support
and awareness.
Rachael Lyons, Elmscot Group
Operations manager said: “The
importance of good mental health
and support is a priority for us across
the group. We are gradually getting
closer to achieving the goal we set out
this year of becoming an emotionallyhealthy
childcare business.
“Being able to show our support for
such an incredible campaign means
a lot to us and we were delighted to
donate and raise awareness amongst
Elmscot Group families.”
4 Parenta.com November 2019 5

Write for us for a chance to win £50!
Write for us!
We’re always on the lookout for new authors to contribute insightful articles for our
monthly magazine.
worth
£599!
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 a £50 voucher to our “Guest Author of the Month”.
Here are the details:
••
Choose a topic that is relevant to early years childcare
••
Submit an article of between 800–1,000 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. 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? Get in touch via marketing@parenta.com
Guest author winner announced
Congratulations
Joanna Grace
We’re very excited to announce that we are
offering childcare settings the chance to win
a free website to the value of £599!
Enter now at:
parenta.com/website-competition
Congratulations to our guest author
competition winner, Joanna Grace!
Joanna Grace’s article in the September
edition of the Parenta magazine, “Sensory
engagement” was very popular with our
readers.
Well done, Joanna!
A massive thank you to all of our guest authors
for writing for us.
You can find all of the past articles from our
guest authors on our website: www.parenta.
com/parentablog/guest-authors
6 Parenta.com November 2019 7
Entries close on 29th November 2019. Terms and conditions apply.

Focus on Forest Focus Schools on
Forest Schools
The curriculum is not pre-set but
child-led, although it can easily cover
aspects of the EYFS and often includes
making dens and campfires, working
in teams or with tools, whittling spoons
and learning about nature.
History of Forest Schools
How can you set up a
Forest School?
There are a few things you will
need to be able to run as an
official Forest School:
Many adults over a certain age (about 50, but shh, don’t tell anyone)….fondly remember
their childhood as one lived mostly outdoors - making mud pies, climbing trees and being
allowed to play in the woods for hours until they were called in for dinner when the sun
went down. They made dens, knew that dock leaves could relieve the pain from stinging
nettles and occasionally, yes, made a campfire.
It seems a distant cry from the
common perception of many of today’s
children, branded as unable to tear
themselves away from their electronic
devices long enough to even sit at a
table for a meal, and the term ‘Nature-
Deficit Disorder’ is now being applied
to many of today’s youngsters who
spend less and less time outdoors.
Perhaps this is why there has been an
explosion in Forest Schools in the UK
over the last few decades, since Forest
Schools could be seen as an antidote
to the electronic age – a place where
children are free again to be children
and to drive their own agendas; to
learn and explore in an environment
that is challenging, but risk-assessed
for safety; and about as far away from
a SATs test as you could possibly be!
But how much do you really know and
understand about what they are, and
why they are growing in popularity?
What is a Forest School?
Being a Forest School is not a
marketing gimmick – it is an ethos
around a way of learning that stems
from Scandinavia, with a focus on
outdoor learning that is child-centred,
play-based and delivered regularly
over a long period of time, rather than
as a one-off session in a woodland.
The main principles behind a Forest
School involve:

Encouraging
Encouraging mark-making in
multisensory mark-making ways
in multisensory ways
As you will already know, mark-making is one of the earliest
stages of writing. If children are to become confident
writers, they need to partake in as many mark-making
activities as possible, at as early an age as possible.
When mark-making, you are looking for children to make marks on both a large
scale and a small scale – thus working both their gross motor skills and their fine
motor skills. If a child can’t make a huge ‘s’ shape in the air, they are going to
struggle to make their fingers draw a small one on paper.
Here are some multisensory ways of encouraging mark-making. For any of the
options below, a child could use their finger to make marks, or they could hold a
paintbrush, stick, pen, pencil or piece of chalk – whatever they like! As long as they
are using the muscles in their hand and arm to make different shapes, then they
are on their way to becoming a writer.
• Draw in different mediums: e.g. mud, sand, snow, paint, shaving foam or flour
• Draw with scarves and ribbons in the air
• Fill a plastic wallet with paint, sequins and glitter and get them to mark-make
over the pattern
• Put on gloves and use a block of ice to make marks on the ground
• Use coloured chalks on black paper – perhaps draw fireworks
• Paint water onto walls and fences using large paint brushes
• Use highlighters to draw over the lines of an existing drawing
• Draw on whiteboards and chalkboards
• Free drawing on an interactive whiteboard or iPad
• Trace pictures, letters and/or numbers
• Use stencils
• Run their finger over multisensory letters such as sandpaper or felt
• Write on a Perspex sheet
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
When encouraging mark-making, think about how you feel when you use a pen –
how does your favourite pen feel? If you use a pen that is drying out, it doesn’t feel
good against the paper. A new pen on a whiteboard, however, feels lovely and
flows easily. A child is far more likely to want to mark-make if it feels good. Have
sharp pencils and good quality pens for children to use.
If a child is struggling to hold a pencil properly, get them to hold a much shorter
pencil or a broken off bit of chalk – this naturally encourages a proper grip since
they physically can’t manage the palmar grasp.
As always with young children, making things multisensory is the key to
engagement. Offer fun and interesting ways to mark-make and your children will be
on their way to mastering the physical side of writing.
10 Parenta.com November 2019 11

World Nursery Rhyme
Week
World Nursery
Rhyme Week
1. Who sat in the
corner and who
sat on a tuffet?
2. Who kissed the girls
and made them cry?
3. How many, and what kind
of birds were baked in a pie?
If there is anything that people remember about their early childhood, then it surely has
to be nursery rhymes. We hear them as babies, learn them as infants and then, if we have
children ourselves as adults, we pass them on by singing them to our children too.
4. What’s the French
name for Brother Jack?
5. What are the
animals doing
down in the jungle?
Nursery rhymes are comforting, they
bring back happy memories of dancing
round the mulberry bush or making
our hands ‘twinkle’ like stars. So this
November, why not celebrate these
much-loved rhymes during World
Nursery Rhyme Week and bring a little
magic into your setting?
What is World Nursery Rhyme
Week?
World Nursery Rhyme Week is an
annual, global initiative “to promote the
importance of nursery rhymes in early
childhood development and education.”
It was started in 2013 by Music Bugs
who provide weekly sensory, playbased
music and singing classes for
babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers.
Since then, over 3 million children from
over 70 countries have taken part in
the week which is open to anyone who
works with, or has children under the
age of 7.
This year, the week runs from the 18th
to 22nd November and everyone is
invited to join in, especially if you are
a child, nursery professional, teacher,
parent, carer, grandparent, aunt, uncle
or the neighbour’s dog!
Why nursery rhymes?
For a start, nursery rhymes are fun!
They help children with speech and
language development and serve as
an introduction to musical skills as
well. Many have associated physical
actions which can aid in motor skills
development, and some use counting
and numbers to develop numeracy
skills. Participating in singing nursery
rhymes with peers is also sociable and
enjoyable!
How can you join in?
You can do as much or as little as you
like. You might just want to sing a few
more nursery rhymes in your setting
than usual, or you could register your
involvement on the official website
and participate in the ‘Rhyme a Day’
challenge. Every year, there are 5
featured rhymes and children are
encouraged to sing one of the rhymes
each day and take part in some
supporting activities.
The 5 rhymes for 2019 are:
• Monday 18th November – “Baa Baa
Black Sheep”
• Tuesday 19th November – “Down in
the Jungle”
• Wednesday 20th November – “Incy
Wincy Spider/Itsy Bitsy Spider”
• Thursday 21st November – “Row,
Row, Row Your Boat”
• Friday 22nd November – “Two Little
Dickie Birds/Two Little Dicky Birds”
There are free videos to view on the
website which are perfect for singing
along to in your setting.
What other resources are
available?
If you register your interest on the World
Nursery Rhyme Week website, you
can download a free resource pack
with instant access to lots of fantastic
resources and suggested activity ideas
that you can do at home or in your
setting. These include:
• Song downloads for each of the 5
rhymes
• Videos of the rhymes
• Colouring sheets
• Craft activity suggestions
• Posters
• Certificates
• Quiz downloads and more!
You can also share your ideas and
activities on social media with other
practitioners using one of the links
below at:
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Pinterest
• Instagram
Why not expand your activities are try some of the following suggestions too?
1
2
3
4
5
Write your own nursery rhymes. Encourage the children to write a short poem of their own on a subject
of their choice. Depending on the age of the child, you could introduce the concept of rhyming to help them
create a short poem. You can even create a new tune if you are feeling musical.
Put on a nursery rhyme show. This will help to develop confidence and give the children a platform for
expressing themselves using drama. You can act out different rhymes and even invite the parents in to see
your performance.
Explore the emotions. One great thing about nursery rhymes is that they often cover many different
emotions and you use these to introduce a discussion on how the different characters are feeling to help
with emotional literacy. For example, you could discuss how Jack and Jill felt when they fell over, or how the
Incy Wincy Spider felt about trying to climb up the spout again. These are ideal opportunities to teach your
young students something other than just the words and actions to the song.
Dress up as your favourite nursery rhyme character. You could have a dressing-up day and welcome
Little Miss Muffet, spiders, black sheep and all manner of other creatures into your setting. It doesn’t take
much to transform children into different characters – all you need is a bit of imagination, and some tinfoil
can represent a star, an apron turns you into Old Mother Hubbard, and a cushion can transform anyone into
Humpty Dumpty!
Set up a nursery rhyme quiz. How well do you know your nursery rhymes? Why not test your colleagues
and children by writing a quiz based on nursery rhymes. We’ve given you a few questions around the edges
of this article to get you started, but we’re sure you’ll be able to think of plenty more to keep you going.
You can find lots of nursery rhymes on YouTube or a Google search
will bring up many different sites which include nursery rhymes
such as the one from Apple Music, here.
12 Parenta.com November 2019 13
1. Little Jack Horner and Little Miss Muffet 2. Georgie Porgie 3. 24 blackbirds 4. Frère Jacques 5. Washing their clothes

Twinkle twinkle
little star-ry night
craft instructions
Twinkle twinkle little star-ry
night - craft instructions
EYFS Learning
Journey Software
14 DAY
FREE
TRIAL
You will need:
• Paint, preferably finger paint or one that easily washes off in black, blue, white and
yellow
• Black craft paper (you can also use white)
Instructions:
1. Download and print the image of The Starry Night painting by Vincent Van Gogh
2. Prepare the paint by putting it on a paint mixing palette plate or just an ordinary plate
3. Find the nursery rhyme, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and play it
4. Show the children the image of The Starry Night and ask them to paint it with their
fingers while singing along to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star!
5. Once the children have finished the craft, you can introduce them to Vincent Van Gogh
and his other paintings.
Van Gogh was a Dutch
post-impressionist painter
who created about 2,100
artworks, including
around 860 oil paintings,
including landscapes, still
lives, portraits and selfportraits.
His most famous paintings
are The Starry Night,
Sunflowers, Self-Portrait
with Bandaged Ear,
Wheatfield with Cypresses,
The Potato Eaters and
Irises.
Footsteps 2 is the only EYFS tracking software that allows you to
blur children’s faces, helping to ensure you are GDPR compliant!
And guess what? It comes with a 14 day FREE trial.
GET YOUR 14 DAY
FREE TRIAL NOW AT
PARENTA.COM/EYFS
Footsteps 2 is designed to make EYFS
tracking easy in your busy setting!
Here are some of the great features:
Unlimited Users & Children
Photo Tagging & Blurring Technology
Group Observations
Characteristics Of Effective Learning
2 Year Check Assessment
Parent Portal With Newsfeed
Approval Process
Individual & Group Progress Report
Learning Journey Report
Flagging Overachievers & Underachievers
Suggested Next Steps
Next Steps Report
Report Emailing
NO HIDDEN COSTS
NO SET-UP FEES
EASY SYSTEM
CONFIGURATION
USE ON
MULTIPLE
DEVICES!
COMPLY WITH OFSTED
REQUIREMENTS
IMPROVE ESSENTIAL
SAFEGUARDING
FACIAL TAGGING AND
BLURRING TECHNOLOGY
TRY FOR
FREE
Here’s how our painting came out! We’d love to see the paintings that the children in your setting make!
Share them with us on social media or email us at marketing@parenta.com
+ so much more!
See the full list on our website:
parenta.com/eyfs
14 Parenta.com
November 2019 15
Start your free trial today at parenta.com/eyfs

Multisensory rooms
Multisensory rooms –
Myth busting
myth So many places have multisensory rooms, perhaps you have one? Recently we have seen
football stadiums, airports and even shopping centres installing multisensory rooms.
The DfE (2015) require all special schools to have a multisensory room in order that
they be considered adequate provision for children with special educational needs and
disabilities.
It seems that everyone is convinced that
multisensory rooms are a great idea for
children with special educational needs.
Presumably this conviction is backed by
hard evidence from research?
Sadly not.
It seems likely that the faith we
collectively have in multisensory
rooms is based more on marketing
materials for the rooms than from peer
reviewed research. Of course there
is also powerful personal testimony.
Without doubt, many people have
had wonderful experiences within
multisensory rooms, but the risk
of basing general provision on the
experiences of individuals, is that no
matter how powerful those experiences
have been, we do not know that they
will generalise. This is where research
steps in. Good research will look at the
amazing experiences of individuals to
see if those experiences were a oneoff
or if they are indicative of greater
application. At a time of reducing
budgets, we would hope that the
provisions dictated by the government
as being essential, all had a firm
evidence base within the research
archives. Presumably multisensory
rooms have a strong evidence base?
Sadly not.
Researchers report that there is “no
methodologically sound research”
that endorses the use of multisensory
rooms. Exploring the research
archives myself, I quickly spotted the
methodological weaknesses they are
referring to: some studies were so poor
as to be funny. I remember one study
that was seeking to find out whether
the multisensory room, newly installed
in a setting, was having a positive
effect. The researchers took people in
the setting to the multisensory room
to see how they got on in there. Some
people did not like the room and would
become distressed when asked to go
there. As they were not able to take
part in the research they were dropped
from the study. The study concluded
that multisensory rooms had a positive
impact on 100% of people!
Multisensory rooms used to cost a
few hundred pounds, a thousand, two
thousand at most. Nowadays they are
priced in the thousands and it is not
uncommon for me to hear of rooms
that cost over a million pounds! I think
far more important than the question
of whether they are having a positive
impact, is the question of whether, even
if that impact is real, they are worth the
price tags we are paying. What else
could that money be spent on?
I have just concluded an 18-month
research project that fed into my book
“Multiple Multisensory Rooms: Myth
Busting the Magic”. Part of my research
explored the features that affect the
impact of a multisensory room. It
identified 12 key factors that influence
how much benefit users of multisensory
rooms got from them.
Here are a couple of those factors, all
obvious when we think of them, but
very worth considering when seeking
to get the most out of our multisensory
room or indeed any other specialist
provision or equipment we have at our
disposal.
Timetabling – Many people I
interviewed in my research explained
that timetabling issues meant their
ability to reap the benefits of their
multisensory rooms were limited. For
example, people who had the session
at the end of the school day had to
interrupt it to sort out coats and bags;
those who had the session just before
lunch found engagement disrupted by
hungry tummies; others had so short
a slot on the timetable that by the time
they’d arrived and got comfortable, it
was time to go.
If you have an amazing piece of
equipment that you are sharing with
others, do not let sloppy timetabling
ruin it for everyone.
Interruptions – Many of the teachers I
interviewed as a part of my research
explained that it was not the features
of the multisensory room that made it
a powerful learning environment for
their students, it was simply that when
they were in the multisensory room,
they did not get interrupted. In their
classrooms, people popped in to give
them messages or borrow equipment,
specialists arrived to take children
to particular therapies. As well as
interruptions from outside, there were
also the interruptions from within: with
a class working in groups, a student
from one group would stray into
another and need redirecting. In the
sensory room, a group could work in
a focused and uninterrupted way and
that made learning powerful.
Rather than dream about installing a
dark room with a bubble tube, perhaps
consider whether a small cupboard
or room could be utilised as a ‘no
interruptions’ room in which small
groups could work in a focused way.
If you have a multisensory room,
celebrate it and ensure you are using
it effectively. The room, no matter how
wonderful or well-equipped, is not
magic: it cannot do the work alone, you
need to be informed, trained and have
access to creative ideas for how to use
that room.
If you have not got a multisensory
room, fear not. Watch out for next
month’s article to learn about
alternative sensory spaces!
Readers curious to know more may be
interested in Joanna’s book: “Multiple
Multisensory Rooms: Myth Busting the
Magic” published by Routledge
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
neurodivergent conditions and
time spent as a registered
foster carer for children with
profound disabilities.
Joanna has published three
practitioner books: “Sensory
Stories for Children and Teens”,
“Sensory-Being for Sensory
Beings” and “Sharing Sensory
Stories and Conversations with
People with Dementia”. and
two inclusive sensory story
children’s books: “Voyage to
Arghan” and “Ernest and I”.
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
16 Parenta.com November 2019 17

Rugby World Cup fever!
Here are a few ideas to help you celebrate the Rugby World Cup:
The Rugby World Cup is held once every four years and is seen as one of the highlights
of the international sporting calendar. This year, it is being hosted by Japan, and as
has been the case since 1995, twenty teams from all over the world will battle it out to
be named world champions.
The competition will run for 7 weeks
from the 20th September, with the final
match being played in Yokohama City,
Japan on the 2nd November.
How many times has England
won the cup or been close to
victory?
England has played in the Rugby
World Cup for decades – stretching
as far back as 1987, where the first
tournament was played in New
Zealand. However, in the 8 times that
England has competed in the World
Cup, they’ve achieved varying degrees
of success. They managed to reach the
finals on 3 occasions including 1991,
2003 and 2007.
It was in 2003 that England went
the whole way and won the cup,
after wrestling it out of the hands of
Australia. A nail-biting final saw the 2
teams battle it out in extra time, with
England grabbing those final points
with 26 seconds to spare.
Here’s hoping that this year will be
lucky for our team once again!
How is the winner of the Rugby
World Cup decided?
A total of 48 matches will be played by
teams throughout the competition and
these are split into stages. For the first
stage, there are 4 pools consisting of 5
teams, with 40 matches being played in
Important lingo to remember:
total. The most successful 2 teams from
each ‘pool’ will qualify for the knockout
stage and be in with a chance of
making it to the final.
What are the basic components
of a rugby game?
A rugby game is played with two teams
of 15 players and 8 substitutes on the
bench. The game is split into 2 halves,
consisting of 40 minutes each, with a
5-minute break in the middle. The aim
is to carry, pass or kick the ball to the
opposing end of the pitch (end zone) to
score as many points as possible in 80
minutes. However, the ball may only be
passed backwards from one player to
another.
Spread the word
Tell your parents, staff, friends and
colleagues about celebrating the Rugby
World Cup at your setting and ask
them to get involved with your planned
activities. Share this on your social
media pages, in your newsletter and on
your display boards.
Make colourful bunting
Get everyone’s creative juices flowing
and decorate “Come on England”
bunting to hang around your room. You
could also create bunting with flags of
all the countries participating in the Cup
this year. There are free templates for
craft activities with a Rugby World Cup
theme here if you don’t want to create
your own.
Choose a team to support
Ask the children to choose a country
they would like to support for the
duration of the Rugby World Cup. Then,
pick a day for everyone to come in
wearing a t-shirt with the colour(s) from
their country’s team kit. For example, a
child supporting England would wear
a white top. See our table below for
colour ideas listed by country.
Introduce children to the game
For the older children, you could
run short matches of tag
rugby with a sports coach
to introduce them to the
game. Younger children
may like to enjoy free
play or a game of catch
with small rugby balls.
Here are the team colours of the countries taking
part in the Rugby World Cup this year:
Learn the famous Haka
Show the children a video and explain
the meaning behind the Haka, the
famous routine performed by the New
Zealand rugby team before every match.
It was traditionally used as a Māori war
dance to display a tribe’s pride, strength
and unity. Taking things once step
further, why not let the children have a
go at learning the dance?
Here are some of the common terms you’ll hear thrown around when a rugby match is played, and what they mean in
layman’s terms:
Tackle
A tackle happens when the ball carrier is held by one or
more opponents and is pulled to ground. The ball carrier
must be released immediately after the tackle.
Knock-on
When a player drops the ball in front of him/her and loses
possession of it, this is called a knock-on. This may happen in
a high-pressure situation where the player doesn’t catch the
ball cleanly and will result in the referee calling for a scrum.
Try
A try is the rugby equivalent of scoring a goal. The player
must touch the ball to the ground in the try zone for this to
happen. It’s worth 5 points to the team.
Line-out
When the ball goes out of bounds, it’s thrown from the pitch
sideline between two rows of players from each team who
will jump up and try to take possession of it.
Forward pass
This is also called a throw forward in the laws of the game.
A forward pass happens when the ball fails to travel
backwards in a pass. If the ball was deliberately thrown
forwards, then this would be an infringement.
Scrum
A scrum occurs when the ball is put back into play after
an illegal move such as a knock-on. Specific players in
each team, called forwards, lock shoulders against one
another with their heads down. Each team tries to drive the
opposition back so that they can ‘hook’ the ball back and
gain possession for their team.
Conversion
After scoring a try, the team will be allowed to kick the ball
through the goal post (shaped like an H). The kick is taken
from a point in line with where the ball was grounded
for the try. The player has one minute from the time they
have teed their ball and if successful the kick is worth an
additional 2 points.
England
Shirt: white
Scotland
Shirt: dark blue
New Zealand
Shirt: black
Ireland
Shirt: green
Wales
Shirt: red
South Africa
Shirt: dark green
Argentina
Shirt: white & blue
France
Shirt: blue
Australia
Shirt: yellow
Samoa
Shirt: blue
Tonga
Shirt: red
Italy
Shirt: blue
Fiji
Shirt: white &
black
USA
Shirt: blue,
white & red
Georgia
Shirt: red
Russia
Shirt: red
For more information about the Rugby World Cup, visit the official site here.
Uruguay
Shirt: light blue
Japan
Shirt: red & white
Namibia
Shirt: light blue
Canada
Shirt: red
18 Parenta.com November 2019 19

Exploring cultural capital – the new
buzz words the new in buzz education
words in education
Exploring cultural capital
Since the revised Education Inspection Framework was first published, the words
‘cultural capital’ have become the new buzz words in education and within early
childhood, but what do they really mean and do we need to do anything differently
within our settings? In this article, I argue that, although they may not have used
the phrase, the most effective settings already take cultural capital into account
instinctively by trying to address any inequalities within their provision, so that
children are not limited by their social or economic circumstances.
According to Ofsted, “Cultural capital is
the essential knowledge that children
need to prepare them for their future
success.” This is about taking into
account that children will arrive in
our settings with differing amounts
of experience and trying to make life
a little more of an even playing field
for all children. In my view, effective
practitioners already do this. They
start with the child and ascertain what
they already know and can do before
planning next steps. This elicitation is
vital and can happen formally, through
gathering information from parents and
carers and talking to the children, and,
informally, through observation and
listening to the child.
The term cultural capital is not a new
phrase, it was coined by the French
sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, who
described economic and cultural
capital as something that is built up
over time and can be used, almost
in a bargaining way, in order to
enhance life. Different social groups
accumulate differing amounts of
capital and may be advantaged or
disadvantaged in life due to this. His
ideas are tied up in class and social
standing and it has been argued that
using the term cultural capital within
education is a backward step which
highlights differences and encourages
stereotypes rather than breaks down
these boundaries. When thinking about
cultural capital, we could make an
assumption that a family who live in a
high-rise block do not have access to
outdoor play, whilst in reality, they may
be a very ‘outdoorsy’ family who spend
most days in the city parks and green
spaces and play outdoors far more than
the child in our class who has a large
garden at home.
This was highlighted to me clearly
shortly after my first child was born. I
had attended some antenatal classes
and made friends with a couple of
mums-to-be, like myself. When our
children were about a month old, I
went for a pram walk in the park with
one of these new friends. She was an
Oxford graduate and had a very wide
vocabulary, sometimes making me feel
inadequate in my use of language, but
while we were walking, I was chatting
non-stop to my new baby Pippa about
everything. “Can you hear the birds
singing?” or “Brrr, it’s getting a bit cold
now, mummy’s going to tuck your
blanket in a bit more.” My friend noticed
this and said, “You talk to Pippa an
awful lot, perhaps I should start talking
to Dan.” She shared that she felt silly
talking to a baby who, in her opinion,
couldn’t respond. In discussion, I helped
her to see that he was indeed very
responsive to her, through the subtle
differences in Dan’s expression, in how
he held her gaze and kicked his legs
when she talked directly to him and I
helped her to understand that it was
really important to talk to him as much
as she could.
In relation to cultural capital, I would
have assumed that this little baby Dan
was very advantaged and had access
to a wide vocabulary, however, this
was not the case. So, we cannot make
assumptions about what children know
or their past experiences, but we can
start with the individual child. We talk
to them and their family and gather
information as a starting point. We then
use this knowledge and take it into
account when we plan effectively for our
future provision.
The idea of cultural capital is tied up
with the government’s social mobility
commitment, which aims to reduce
social inequalities and increase the life
chances of the most disadvantaged
children within society. So, take for
example, language. A US research study
found that by the age of 3, children
from poorer backgrounds have heard
30 million fewer words than those from
more affluent backgrounds. The Oxford
Language Report found that a word
gap also exists within the UK – with
on average, 49% of year-one-children
lacking the vocabulary that they need
to access the curriculum so that it
negatively affects their learning. So we
know that a child’s early years make a
difference to their future life chances and
thinking about cultural capital addresses
the fairness of these different starting
points and attempts to reduce any
inequalities.
Cultural capital is about widening
children’s experiences and offering them
opportunities that they would not have
if they were not attending our setting.
This is nothing new, we are always
using the EYFS curriculum to enhance
and extend opportunities available for
children, for example, encouraging them
to experience the awe and wonder of
the natural world in which we live. We
also tend to try and help to motivate and
interest children by starting with real-life,
first-hand activities and experiences. For
example, we might take the children to
the library or walk them to the post office
to post a letter or allow them to climb a
tree in the park. So this is not necessarily
about doing anything differently or
in addition to what we already do, it
is more about acknowledging what
we currently do in the light of cultural
capital.
So what does this look like in practice?
One nursery identified that several of
their children were wondering about the
origins of their food and drink. So they
made apple juice with the children - first
they chopped the apples, then they
mashed them, next they squeezed the
apples and finally they drank the juice.
Another setting regularly introduced
children to different music genres,
from classical to rap, widening their
appreciation of music. This is already
what effective practitioners do by
listening to the children, widening their
experiences and following up on their
interests, curiosities and fascinations.
However, in my view, what really makes
the difference for children in the long
term is encouraging them to develop
the dispositions and attitudes
that enable them to learn
effectively. If all children
have the opportunity to
become good at learning,
this will prepare them
for the future success
that Ofsted refer to in their definition
of cultural capital. Within the EYFS, we
refer to the characteristics of effective
learning as how young children learn
and, in my book, School Readiness and
The Characteristics Of Effective Learning,
I argue that these dispositions support
children to be life-ready. They learn how
to persevere if things do not go their
way and how to be resilient if they ever
receive a knockback. They learn how to
turn conflicts into problems to solve and
how to notice patterns and links in their
learning. For me, this also resonates
with encouraging a growth mindset
– the belief that we can achieve
anything we set our minds to
if we put in enough effort,
learning and time.
It is important not to view
cultural capital as a
deficit model where we
are constantly looking
for gaps in children’s
lives as this forgets that
children already arrive in
our settings as competent,
confident people with a
wealth of experiences.
Instead, we need to start with each child,
tap into their interests and build upon
their knowledge and skills, introducing
them to aspects of our wonderful world
that are new to them or they have yet
to experience. ‘Yet’ is a great word and
should always be part of our vocabulary
– when I was a child, if I ever stated,
“I can’t!” my father replied, “There’s no
such word as can’t!” At the time, I didn’t
know it, but this fostered in me a growth
mindset, that I might not be able to do it
yet, but if I work hard, learn well and put
in enough effort, I can do it.
We want to cultivate a love of learning
in our children and for them to believe
in themselves, believe that they are
competent and believe that nothing
can stop them, and in this so-called
“snowflake generation”, it is more
important than ever to teach them how
to be resilient, persevere and take risks.
This is about empowering and enabling
children to learn and achieve whatever
their circumstances. This is already what
we do. This is cultural capital.
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.com
Facebook:
facebook.com/earlyyears.
consultancy.5
Twitter:
@tamsingrimmer
Email:
info@tamsingrimmer.co.uk
For references,
please visit:
bit.ly/TG-Nov19
20 Parenta.com November 2019 21

Win a FREE copy
of Tamsin Grimmer’s new book
“Calling all Superheroes”!
Calling All Superheroes highlights the enormous potential of superhero play in supporting
learning and development in early childhood. Using examples from practice, it provides
guidance on how to effectively manage and implement superhero play and set appropriate
boundaries in early years settings and schools.
If you have enjoyed Tamsin’s
superhero series of articles in
Parenta magazine, then you
are in for a treat!
You can bag yourself a FREE
paperback copy of Tamsin’s
brand new book, Calling all
Superheroes.
Tamsin has generously given
us 3 copies of her book for an
exclusive Parenta giveaway!
So, what do
you need to do?
For the chance to win a FREE copy of
this super new book visit:
parenta.com/book-giveaway
and give us an example of how
the children in your setting have
engaged in superhero play. Tamsin is
very excited to read your examples!
Entries close on 22nd November and
the 3 winners will be announced in
our December magazine and on our
social media channels.
Top tips for managing Top tips for your workload
as an apprentice
managing your workload
1. Keep a diary to stay up-to-date with key dates
During your first meeting with your assessor, you’ll be taken
through the course units and target dates for getting your
coursework completed. It can be really useful to make note of
all the due dates of your assignments in a small diary, so you
know what needs to be completed and when. If you prefer,
you could also use the calendar on your phone.
2. Break down the workload sensibly
Rather than leaving all the month’s work to do in one go, it
will be much less stressful to tackle this in smaller chunks.
You could set a daily alarm reminder, on your phone if easier,
to complete your coursework. Try to spend at least one hour
per day, Monday to Thursday. This will then give you Friday,
Saturday and Sunday to relax and socialise!
Remember to drink plenty of water and to eat healthily whilst
studying. It’s also good practice to have a break from laptop
screens. Try to have a break for 5-10 minutes every hour.
3. Use your 20% allocated time during the week
As part of the funding rules, your employer must set aside
20% of your contracted work hours for “off-the-job” training.
This can involve undertaking study or assignments. If your
employer doesn’t have another form of training planned
for you, why not ask if you can use this time to do your
coursework? This poster will make your life so much easier
when deciding what to do for your off-the-job training!
as an apprentice
If you are reading this and have recently embarked on your apprenticeship, congratulations!
It may seem pretty daunting to begin with, juggling the demands of working in a busy setting
with your course…and you may well be wondering how you’ll fit it all in! However, doing an
apprenticeship is an exciting and rewarding opportunity. Make sure you give yourself the best
chance of succeeding by being prepared, getting organised and following these 7 top tips.
4. Use your assessor for support
Your assessor is your main source of guidance throughout
your training. If you’re not sure what you’re expected to do for
an assessment or have a general query, contact them. You
can speak to them directly over the phone or via email or text,
whichever method feels comfortable for you. No question is a
silly question! So please don’t worry about asking questions -
you’re not expected to know everything!
5. Don’t ignore feedback
Your assessor will be marking your work each month and
providing important feedback on your assignments. Listen to
any feedback they give, as it’s aimed to help you succeed in
your apprenticeship. If you don’t understand any comments
about your work from them, ask! Your assessor will be more
than happy to explain.
6. Use a social media barrier
In our social media-driven world, it’s easy to be distracted
by the alerts of what’s happening in your group chat or on
your newsfeed. To provide your full concentration to your
assignments, shut down any distractions. You can even use
handy apps to make sure you don’t access social media sites
whilst you’re trying to work.
7. Run your work through a proofing tool
Once you’re happy with your assignment, it’s always worth
having a second set of eyes to proof it for any obvious
mistakes. You can choose to run your work through a proofing
site such as Grammarly (choosing “British English” under your
profile settings) to pick up on spelling and grammar errors.
Alternatively, have someone you trust who can read over it.
If you have any queries or questions, remember that your assessor is there to help you every step of the way! Don’t forget
that there are lots of useful resources and top tips for you to help you throughout your learning journey on our blog too!
November 2019 23

Let’s fall in Let’s love fall with in love nursery with
rhymes...again!
nursery rhymes ... again!
Teddy bear, Teddy bear, turn around,
Teddy bear, Teddy bear, touch the ground…
At first, we might think that every child and every adult who grew up speaking English
as their first language will know this adorable nursery rhyme. The tune is simple and
repetitive and the small range is perfect for little ones to pick up and sing easily. This
song is also excellent for incorporating simple actions to get little bodies moving and
stretching. You can even use this nursery rhyme as a tool for learning the musical
intervals So - Mi - La and Do!
But would children today know the
“Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear” nursery
rhyme? What nursery rhymes would
they know? Are nursery rhymes still
playing an important role in early
childhood education?
Looking back at my own childhood in
Russia, I grew up with lots of music and
singing around me but had no access
to English traditional tunes or nursery
rhymes. However, my love for nursery
rhymes, including “Teddy Bear, Teddy
Bear”, started 23 years ago when I had
my second child. And my love affair
with nursery rhymes has only continued
to grow stronger!
Importance of nursery rhymes
for children’s development
Nursery rhymes feature prominently in
cultures all over the world and their role
in language and literacy for children
should not be underestimated.
In fact, research indicates that exposure
to and familiarity with nursery rhymes
has a notably positive impact on
early literacy for children during early
childhood and beyond. Nursery rhyme
time can enhance children’s alphabet
knowledge, vocabulary, ability to
recognise words, awareness of different
letter sounds and story-telling skills.
These are vital learning experiences
that can be achieved through simply
making time to recite nursery rhymes
with children!
If you would
like to receive 5 of
our most popular rhymes
and transitional songs, visit
MusicEarlyChildhoodPresenter.com
With reading to children a key undertaking
to improve their overall education, nursery
rhymes in the form of books present a
great opportunity to promote reading with
the additional engaging element of rhyme.
Rhythm and beat competency have been
found to be instrumental when it comes to
children’s listening skills, reading ability and
even their performance in maths!
Incredible benefits of nursery
rhymes in early childhood
education
The beauty of nursery rhymes, I believe, is
in their simplicity. We all know a nursery
rhyme and can bring it into the room at any
moment! Let’s consider the benefits that
incorporating nursery rhymes into your day
can offer:
Discovery of language
Nursery rhymes are often the first
exploration of language children have.
They are short and engaging tales that
have simple words and concepts for
children to be introduced into the world
of literacy and language. From here they
begin almost immediately to improve
their word recognition, pronunciation and
through memorisation, children begin to
recognise words visually when reading
books of nursery rhymes too.
Building memory
It’s interesting to note that almost all adults
can recall a nursery rhyme or two from
their earliest years no matter how old they
get. The rhymes, repetition and rhythm are
the reason for this and part of what makes
nursery rhymes so powerful. Being able
to recall that ‘cat’ and ‘mat’ or ‘around’
and ‘ground’ rhyme, is an incredible tool
for children to call on as they continue to
enhance their literacy and language skills.
Speech development
Pronunciation can be made easier for
children through nursery rhymes thanks
to the rhyming of lines. Once a child can
recognise and say the parts of a word that
sound the same, they have the ability to
apply that same sound to other words. This
repetition of sounds really helps them to
grasp these sounds quickly too.
Physical development
Many nursery rhymes have actions that can
go with them. This enhances the learning
experience further by adding motor skills
development. Take it a step further by even
learning to identify body parts, as in ‘Head,
Shoulders, Knees and Toes’.
Love of language and
learning
If children can associate pleasure and
joy from an activity, it is more likely they
will continue to do more of it and enjoy it
for years to come. By helping children to
develop a love of nursery rhymes, reading,
books and language you are ensuring
they have a solid foundation from which to
develop a love of learning for life.
Power of bonding and
connecting
In the world of technology, we need to
remember that human connection and
relationship plays an even bigger role than
ever before. Children develop social and
emotional skills and an understanding of
the world around them through personal
relationships, communication and use of
gross and fine motor skills.
Nursery rhymes provide an incredible
opportunity for children to bond with adults
and enhance all areas of their development
in a holistic way.
Bring nursery rhymes into your
early childhood setting
Learning to read and developing reading
comprehension are essential skills for life.
If you can encourage a love of words and
language in children, you are giving them
one of the most valuable tools possible.
With so much to be gained, it’s impossible
to ignore the magic of nursery rhymes
and their potential in the early childhood
education spaces. As I mentioned, when we
think of our very own childhood, no doubt
most of us remember a nursery rhyme
fondly. Let’s pass this on to the children in
our services and, I’m sure, that one day,
they’ll be singing “Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear”
to their own children too!
Galina Zenin
Galina Zenin (B.Mus. Ed.,
Dip. Teach.) is a presenter,
early childhood educator and
qualified music and voice
training teacher, author,
composer and storyteller.
She writes her own music
and brings to her programs
a wealth of European and
Australian experience,
together with a high level of
professionalism.
Her Bonkers Beat® programs
are breakthrough, multiaward-winning
music and
wellbeing programs for early
years that enrich the lives of
young children and boost
settings’ occupancy at the
same time. They have been
introduced in many settings
across Australia, empowering
educators and enhancing
the wellbeing of hundreds of
children and families.
Galina is a recipient of the
2015 National Excellence in
Teaching Award by Australian
Scholarships Group (ASG)
and the creator of Bonkers
Beat Music & Bonkers Gym
Wellbeing Programs. From
keynote address to small
group workshops, she has
inspired audiences on 4
continents and has been
widely featured in the
national media.
You can follow Galina on
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
and LinkedIn.
Let’s inspire more educators to use
nursery rhymes with children
and share your favourites on
Bonkers Beat Facebook
page.
24 Parenta.com November 2019 25

Road Safety Week
Road Safety Week
Last month, the tragic death of teenager, Harry Dunn, made headlines because of the
involvement of the wife of a US diplomat in the incident. Whilst this fact alone elevated
the story to one of national interest, the startling statistics are, that every 20 minutes,
someone is killed or seriously injured on a British road. That’s 3 people an hour, 72
people a day, 504 a week and just over 26,000 per year. That’s too many lives which are
devastated or destroyed when each of these tragedies is fundamentally preventable. So,
isn’t it time we all stood up to do something to make our streets and roads safer?
The Road safety charity, Brake, has
the goal of “zero road deaths and
injuries”. It organises a Road Safety
Week annually and this year, the
week runs from the 18th to 24th
November. The aim is to “inspire
thousands of schools, organisations
and communities to take action
on road safety and promote lifesaving
messages during the week
and beyond.” The week also helps
road safety professionals boost
awareness of their work and gives
them a great opportunity to get out
into communities to involve local
people in their work too. As well as
organising Road Safety Week, Brake
also offers support to victims of road
accidents including bereavement
advice and a free national helpline
on 0808 8000 401.
The theme for 2019 is “Step up for
Safe Streets” focusing attention and
education on some of “the amazing
design-led solutions that will allow
us all to get around in safe and
healthy ways every day.”
What are safe and healthy
journeys and what can we
do to step up?
Safe journeys can happen when
we design our road networks so
that human error doesn’t result in
accidents and death and there are
systems already in place to promote
this, such as cycle lanes, speed limit
warnings and technology to make
vehicles safer.
Promoting healthy journeys
means finding ways to ensure that
walking, running or cycling to our
destination does not increase the risk
of injury or death, as well as making
sure that the air we breathe is free of
pollutants. This needs policymakers
to prioritise safer travel and vehicle
manufacturers to reduce emissions.
But on a simple level, even holding
hands with a young person while
out walking reduces risk.
Stepping up means celebrating and
promoting safe solutions so that
we can all enjoy a safer and
healthier future. It’s a call to
action for everyone to get
involved, including:
• Individuals
• Nurseries, schools and
educational establishments
• Organisations and workplaces
• Designers of road transport
infrastructures and related
industries
• Emergency service
professionals
• Policymakers
• Governments and NGOs
What can you do as a
nursery professional?
It’s never too early to teach road
safety to children. In fact, we would
be neglecting our duty if we didn’t.
Luckily, there are a lot of resources
out there to help you, including:
activity ideas, lesson plans,
downloadable posters, banners,
participation certificates, activity
ideas as well as films and stories
related to the topic. Quite frankly,
there’s something for everyone!
Introducing Zak the zebra
For nursery-aged children, Brake
have a new website which features
‘Zak’, a friendly zebra who can help
bring this topic to life for younger
students. You can access lots of free
resources at www.brakezebras.org
including information about holding
your own ‘Beep Beep! Day. There’s
also a bumper resource pack that
you can get for only £11.50 plus
VAT. You can register events and
activities and it’s not just restricted
to Road Safety Week – you can run
a Beep Beep! day any time of the
year.
Here are some of the things that
Brake suggest you teach your children
to get them started with road safety:
Be a good role model
Being a good model reinforces the
importance of road safety to young
children – if adults wear seatbelts
and cycle/motorbike helmets, then
the children will follow their example.
Other good habits to model are:
• Using crossings correctly
• Using cycle paths and footpaths
where available
• Knowing and using the Highway
Code
• Being trained in first aid
Talk about road safety
You can talk to everyone about road
safety; the children in your care are
obviously one main group, but have
you considered talking directly to
professionals in the field, or your
neighbours and friends in person
and via social media?
Become a campaigner
There will always be something that
needs improving in your local area
to do with road safety – it could be
a lower speed limit, safer crossings,
cleaner air or prioritising cycle paths
and footpaths. Think about what
needs to happen
in your own area
to make things safer and move
everyone towards the goal of zero
road traffic deaths and injuries.
Raise money for Brake
Brake works with bereaved families
when the unthinkable happens and
lives are lost. They help people
come to terms with their grief
and overcome their loss. As local
counselling services have declined
in the past few years due to budget
pressures, charities such as Brake
are more important than ever.
Other ways to get involved
Thousands of people take part in
Road Safety Week each year and
there are numerous ways that you
can get involved as an individual,
a nursery setting or a local
community. Here are a few ideas to
get you thinking:
• Create a road safety display in
your setting
• Make a giant banner for outside
• Hold a cake sale – you could
make some traffic-light cakes, or
some fairy cakes decorated like
road signs
• Encourage children to cycle,
scoot or walk to your session,
wearing the correct safety gear
of course
• Run a session about road safety.
You’ll find lots of ideas about
what to teach at www.brake.org.
uk/educators
• Dress up in stripes for the day
like Zak the zebra and share
your photos using the hashtag
#WearYourStripesDay
• Arrange a visit from a local road
safety professional
• Whatever you do, do it safely and
have fun!
For more information and
resources, see:
www.roadsafetyweek.org.uk/action-pack
www.brake.org.uk
www.brakezebras.org
www.think.gov.uk/education-resources
26 Parenta.com November 2019 27

Starting a musical journey part 3:
Starting a musical journey part 3:
Changes in your little
Changes in your little one’s musical
one’s musical behaviour
behaviour
It’s 2006 and I have a new baby. I love music, so I look for a local baby music group. I’m not even sure
what to look for, and as a new mum, I cannot find a central directory of services. Finally, I google the
right keywords to find a local franchise, but it has a waiting list. (A waiting list? For baby music?!) I
look further afield. I find another franchise about an hour’s drive away, with free spaces. Chatting to
the teacher after the session, she suggests that because I live so far away, I sign up to the same low-cost
franchise and start delivering my own sessions – that way, my little one will definitely attend! Being fairly
musical (I had taught myself guitar as a child and sung in the school choir for a couple years), I did it.
Supporting skills: (Part 1)
♫♫
♫♫
♫♫
In a circle, children can:
(learning relationship)
In a line, children can:
(learning sequencing)
When leaving out the last
line of a song, children can:
(planning skills)
Supporting skills: (Part 2)
While I was studying my part-time psychology degree, I ended
my franchise license arrangement and started planning my own
curriculum. Having worked with children from birth (youngest
student ever was 6 days old!) to 7 years old, I had begun to
recognise patterns in both the children and the music education
styles. Children developed interests at different times (child
development studies), and since the music education styles had no
age-limited order, just a general progression, they worked perfectly
for everybody. The more children I was around, the more I could see
that their engagement with stories lasted longer than incidental
skills training (memory skills from psychology training), so I wove
child-appropriate themes into initial skills. To understand it better
for myself, I created a table of musical skills/ages and a table of
child development skills/stages and then combined them. This
turned into a table of musical skills progression, starting with the
ideas from the August musical article: Music ABC’s for Littlies, on
“being natural”, “getting moving” and “experimenting with sound”.
Researching the music education approaches, I noticed a clear
progression in 12 skills, loosely divided into supporting skills and
musical skills, and all easily introduced using easy-to-learn singing
games. This article is part three of a four-part series describing the
musical behaviours that we can see and encourage from birth to 7
years old.
♫♫
♫♫
♫♫
Children use language by:
(language skills)
Weekly sessions:
(concentration skills)
Children can learn: (memory
skills)
Musical skills: (Part 3)
♫♫
♫♫
♫♫
Children keep the pulse
through: (pulse skills)
Children recognise: (rhythm
skills)
Children can use:
(percussion skills)
Musical skills: (Part 4)
Children keep the pulse through:
(pulse skills)
The pulse is the foundation of rhythm, or keeping a beat, and is
developed through experience. Although the regularity of clapping
or walking to a beat comes relatively naturally to adults, this is not
true of children. Sometimes it is due to a lack of experience (they
have not had other adults keep a beat with them), lack of attention
(they may match their own heartbeat instead of an external beat),
or lack of understanding (they may not understand the purpose
of the exercise), but research has shown that the skills of under
5s tend to only match the pulse approximately 50% of the time.
Little ones start recognising external beats by tapping or clapping.
As they start walking, keeping a beat progresses to stamping.
As they get better at controlling their limbs, they are able to click
or flick their fingers, hop on one foot, and progress to skipping –
interestingly, it becomes easier to keep a beat with longer heavier
limbs, like our legs, than our (lighter) arms! Older children will
begin to gain control in activities like patsching (tapping knees),
and then be able to use a combination of skills. To date, research
does not show whether keeping a pulse is a predictor of future
musical ability, but is almost certainly a sign of past experience.
From swaying to clapping, stamping to tapping, matching
movement to the pulse seems to indicate the ability to
internalise music. And when we can internalise music,
or hear it in our heads, we can start to invent or create
our own music.
♫♫
♫♫
♫♫
Listening to music, children
can: (listening skills)
Children match the pitch by:
(pitch skills)
Children recognise: (interval
skills)
Children recognise:
(rhythm skills)
Music is often compared to maths because of
its additive qualities, and fractions is one part of
maths that is said to come easier to children who
formally learn music theory. Before children even
begin school, the ability to learn successfully in
the future depends on providing a wide variety
of learning experiences early on. The same is
true in music. Foundational music skills begin
with rhythm, keeping a beat, and little ones are
already used to their own and their mother’s
regular, ongoing heartbeat. The crotchet or
quarter note beat is the first step that little ones
take after matching their internal heart beat
when tapping instruments, because it is regular,
called the “pulse” in musical terms. As little
ones master this skill, they can be introduced
to doubling that speed as the quaver or eighth
note. We introduce these ideas naturally through
starting with bouncing or clapping to the beat/
pulse, and as they get older, walking to the beat.
As they become more confident at changing
from jogging to walking and back to jogging,
we can show how that sounds musically, that
jogging is twice as quick as walking (it is helpful
to use the term “jogging” first, as quavers/
eighth notes, as soon we introduce semiquavers/
sixteenth notes which are twice as fast again
as the jogging quavers/eighth notes!). Once
confident in walk/jog changes, skipping can be
introduced as an experience of the dotted rhythm
(e.g. Girls And Boys Go Out To Play). “Slow walk”,
or the minim/half note, introduces even more
self-control through taking twice as long as a
crotchet/quarter note. Games involving walking
and changing to jogging at a signal, and then
changing back to walking, not
only reinforce musical notes,
but develop listening, selfcontrol
(inhibition/excitation)
as well as physically
introducing them to maths
skills like fractions and physics
skills like frequency.
Age in
years
0-1
1-2
2-3
3-4
4-5
5-6
Children keep the pulse
through
clapping
stamping
flicking or clicking fingers
jumping to hop on 1 foot
skipping
patsching (knee tapping)
Children can use:
(percussion skills)
Accessible instruments depend on size (i.e. can
the child hold the instrument comfortably?); and
purpose (can the child play it/perform clearly/
appropriately?). If the purpose of the session is
exploration, it will not matter how it is held or
played, but whether the child remains engaged
(sounds exploration will be different for most
children) and careful with the instrument.
However, if the purpose of the session is to
develop musical skill, the child will need to
hold and play the instrument conventionally for
activities including basic accompaniment, playing
together, or maintaining a rhythm by keeping a
beat. Starting simply is a good rule of thumb but
following the child’s interest is a more important
priority, as musical skill and technique can be built
from literally any of these interests. And whether
with adults or children, it is useful to remember
that people are not inanimate, unchanging
objects, but constantly interactive. So while it is
helpful to have goals in early years sessions, it
is always necessary to be aware and respect
that every child or learner comes
equipped with skills and abilities
from previous experience, so be
prepared for surprises and
changes!
Children recognise
sit and sway
sit and tap knees
hold hands and walk
play circle games
step forward and step back
create inner and outer
circles
Children can use
shaking instruments
tapping instruments
drum and beater
triangle and beater
cymbal and beater
glockenspiel (2 notes)
Frances Turnbull
Musician, researcher and
author, Frances Turnbull, is
a self-taught guitarist who
has played contemporary
and community music from
the age of 12. She delivers
music sessions to the early
years and KS1. Trained in the
music education techniques
of Kodály (specialist
singing), Dalcroze (specialist
movement) and Orff (specialist
percussion instruments), she
has a Bachelor’s degree in
Psychology (Open University)
and a Master’s degree in
Education (University of
Cambridge). She runs a local
community choir, the Bolton
Warblers, and delivers the
Sound Sense initiative aiming
for “A choir in every care
home” within local care and
residential homes, supporting
health and wellbeing through
her community interest
company.
She has represented the
early years music community
at the House of Commons,
advocating for recognition for
early years music educators,
and her table of progressive
music skills for under 7s
features in her curriculum
books.
Frances is the author of
“Learning with Music:
Games and Activities for the
Early Years“, published by
Routledge, August 2017.
www.musicaliti.co.uk
6-7
pulse combinations
dance with the inner circle
ukulele (2 strings)
28 Parenta.com November 2019 29

Tips for teaching Tips phonics for
teaching phonics
The early years foundation stage (EYFS) sets standards for the learning, development
and care of all children from birth to 5 years old to try to give them the best start in life.
All English schools and Ofsted-registered early years providers must follow the EYFS,
including childminders, preschools, nurseries and school reception classes. There are
different early years standards in Scotland and Wales, but that said, all the provisions
include the need to develop good communication and language skills. Teaching in the
early years is mostly achieved through games and play but there will be opportunities for
sessions to learn numbers and letters for example, including phonics.
What is phonics?
Phonics is a way of matching sounds
with letters, to help build up words
and subsequently, reading. It is a
proven system and many children
using phonics are able to read letters
and short words before they enter a
formal education in their reception year.
Phonics can also help children to write
and spell words too. But what is the
best way of teaching phonics? Here are
some tips to help you.
There are different forms of phonics
with a slightly different teaching
emphasis. These include:
Synthetic phonics
Analytical
phonics
Analogy phonics
Embedded
phonics
the most widely
used - breaks
down each
syllable e.g. c-a-t
examines how
words are
similar/different
e.g. pat/pail/park
looks at rhymes
in words e.g.
cake/make
taught
opportunistically
in the course of
reading
There are different stages of phonics
teaching.
Phase 1 – early years
Way before children start learning letter
names, they begin their development of
language skills through listening. They
need to learn to listen first, enabling
them to differentiate between different
noises, and then tune in to the different
sounds in words. You can help children
become successful readers later by
helping them with these listening skills.
1. Start by asking the children to listen
for different sounds in the room
or outside. You could use different
instruments to see if they can identify
different pitches or tones.
2. Get them to use their bodies and
voices to copy sounds. They can be
percussive sounds, or just noises,
but the emphasis is on copying the
things they hear.
3. You can play games like “I spy” to
help identify sounds at the start of
words, or repeat the consonant at the
start of a word several times, e.g. c, c,
c, cat to emphasise the ‘c’ sound.
4. Ask them what kind of noises
different things make, e.g. a dog, a
car, a train etc.
5. Ask them to identify different sounds
that rhyme such as in nursery
rhymes, or alliterative beginnings,
e.g. rotten rain.
6. Split different words up into their
component sounds, such as D-O-G
or C-A-T.
7. Use words from topics that the
children are interested in.
Phase 2
At this stage, children start to learn to
correspond letters (graphemes) with
sounds (phonemes). There are 44
phonemes in the main phonics set,
varying slightly depending on the type
of phonics used. It is usual to start with
the most common, simple, single-letter
sounds. There are 19 of these, such a
‘s’, ‘a’ and ‘t’. Nurseries often start this
but it’s definitely taught in reception.
Phase 2 tips:
1. Start simply – teach a few letters at a
time, e.g. s, t, i, a, m, p, n.
2. You can build simple words with only a
few letters, e.g. with the 7 letters listed
above, you can create the words ‘sat’,
‘sit’, ‘mat’, ‘pin’, ‘pat’ etc. This is known
as ‘blending’. Simple words like these
are known as CVC words because
they include a consonant, vowel and
another consonant.
3. Once children know a few letters,
use games and as many everyday
opportunities as possible to point
out letters in things around them. For
example use road signs, adverts or
magazines.
4. Ask students to think of things that
begin with a letter: “Tell me 3 things
that start with the letter c” (cat, cake,
candle).
5. Stick labels on objects to identify
them and use posters showing
images and simple words. Label
the ‘door’ or the ‘wall’ for example.
Remember to use lower-case letters
at this stage.
6. Use cut-out letters, letter blocks or
magnetic letters and let children
start making words, experimenting
with blending different sounds.
7. Some systems use actions to help
children learn the letters too and
there are a myriad of phonics
systems games and apps too.
Phase 3
In this phase, children learn the
remaining 25 sounds, which are more
complex two-letter sounds, such as
‘au’, ‘ar’ and ‘ee’. This phase (and
higher phases), are usually taught
from year 1 and in combination with
reading simple books as part of a
formal reading curriculum.
In nursery settings, focusing on phases
1 and 2 will provide a solid foundation
for more formal approaches when they
go to school.
Teaching phonics is just like teaching
any other skill that the child is
developing, so remember:
• Each child is different and will
learn at different rates
• Children have different preferred
learning styles; some learn better
by visual methods, some are more
kinaesthetic and some, more
auditory. Try to include different
styles in your phonics teaching
using sounds, images, pictures
and tangible items such as letter
blocks to cover most styles.
• Reading and recognising letters
is not the same as understanding
what is read. We may be able to
read a sentence in French, but
if we don’t understand what the
words actually mean in English,
then the activity has little effect
in helping us communicate.
Therefore, help children
understand the words they read
and build their vocabulary too.
This way, they will not only be able
to read the word ‘mat’ but will also
understand what a mat is, what it
is used for, and where they might
find one.
And finally…
• Make it fun
• Keep sessions short to aid
concentration
• Don’t teach phonics when
children are tired
• Keep reading to children
• Give them lots of praise!
For more information, see:
www.literacytrust.org.uk/
information/what-is-literacy/
what-phonics
www.readingbyphonics.
com/about-phonics/types-ofphonics.html
www.theschoolrun.com/whatare-phonics-phases
30 Parenta.com November 2019 31

Should we force children to
say ‘please’ and
‘thank you’?
Should we force children
to say ‘please’ and
‘thank you’?
As a society we place importance on words such as ‘please’
and ‘thank you’. Of course, we want to raise polite children
and it is important to teach them good manners, but
should we force them to use these words?
I think it’s important to hold
children to the same standards
that we ourselves can live up to.
Do we truly ALWAYS say ‘please’
and ‘thank you’? I say these words
a lot, but I know myself, there are
times when I am excited about
something or in a big rush and I’ll
ask for something without saying
them. Nobody would ever think I
was being rude because my tone is
always kind and polite, so why is it
so different for children?
How would I then feel if someone
refused to help me until I said
the ‘magic word’? To start with,
nobody would ever say this to an
adult because it would actually
be seen as THEM being rude!
However, if someone did say it, it
would instantly dim any excitement
I had and make me feel quite
degraded. I’d also feel like it was
unfair because I know I am a polite
person.
When you look up the definition of
manners it says:
“The treatment of other people
with courtesy and politeness, and
showing correct public behaviour”.
Nowhere does it mention the use
of the words ‘please’ and ‘thank
you’. This is because these words
are not the most important part
of being polite. Using kind words,
conducting yourself in a nice way
and being thoughtful of others are
more important than empty words.
Would we rather our children act
politely or for them to use these
phrases without any understanding
of what they truly mean? You can
say the word ‘please’ and still be
rude. Surely a person’s tone and
intention are more important?
Now I’m not saying that we
shouldn’t reinforce these words
or that they are not important,
because they are! I’m simply saying
that when children don’t say them,
we should ask ourselves if they are
actually being rude. If not, then
what are we achieving by forcing
them to say ‘please’ and ‘thank
you’? Children are human, like the
rest of us. They are not perfect and
never will be. If they forget to say
‘please’ or ‘thank you’ simply say it
for them, rather than pulling them
up on it. However, if their tone is
a bit abrupt, this then gives you
the opportunity to teach them the
importance of how they use their
words and the impact that they
have on others.
There have been a few times when
my own children have asked for
something in quite a brash way
and my focus has always been
on their tone not that they haven’t
said ‘please’. I remind them that it’s
important to ask nicely because it
doesn’t feel very nice being spoken
to like that and quite often as soon
as I say that, they automatically
use the word ‘please’ themselves
and ask again in a softer way. If
I feel that they should have said
‘please’, I’ll simply model the word
and tell them that of course they
can have what they asked for.
Children learn by what they see, so
the best way to teach them about
polite behaviour is by being polite
ourselves. By saying ‘please’ and
‘thank you’ consistently to children,
they will automatically copy and
start using these words. In the
times that they don’t, we can ask
ourselves if they are being polite
and if not, use it as an opportunity
to teach them about the impact
of their words and how they say
them.
I absolutely do think that saying
‘please’ and ‘thank you’ is
important and that we need
to model this as often as we
can. However, I do feel that
forcing children to say them
isn’t necessary. Children will
automatically mimic what they
see, so if we focus on how we are
around children and hold them
to the same standards that we
hold ourselves, the rest should
eventually fall into place.
Stacey Kelly
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 November 2019 33

How to deal How with to bereavement
deal with
bereavement
The only thing we know that is certain about life, is death. We are all going to die, we just
don’t know when. Different people and cultures have different attitudes towards death;
some see it as a transition, some see it as a finite end, and for others, they freely admit, they
just don’t know. In the UK, 1 in 29 school-aged children has been bereaved of a parent or a
sibling, that’s one in virtually every form in every school. It is estimated that 24,000 parents
die each year leaving dependent children. So how do you help the children and young
people in your care when they experience the death of a parent, sibling or close relative?
Obviously, it is important to deal with things on an individual basis as and
when they come up. However, here are some of the things that bereaved
children have said that adults can do to help them in times of need:
1. acknowledge that a death has occurred and be honest when talking
about it
2. talk to children in an age-appropriate way and give them ageappropriate
material to help them understand
3. allow children to express their emotions and share their feelings
4. set aside time for children to remember their loved one
5. allow them to attend funerals
6. ensure children have opportunities to talk to others who have
experienced bereavement too
7. help children understand that they are not to blame for any deaths
How death impacts young
children
Even as an adult, when we are
more likely to understand the
reasons behind it, death has an
enormous impact on our emotional,
psychological and sometimes,
financial state. For children (who
are often still trying to define what
their emotions are), the impact of
death can have lasting, unseen
consequences in terms of selfesteem,
guilt or behaviour.
The concept of death from a child’s
perspective is very different from that
of an adult. When adults are talking
to children about death, they need to
understand how children conceptualise
and make sense of death at different
ages. If they understand this, then
they can talk about death and respond
in an appropriate manner, one
which takes into account the child’s
developmental age.
The following is a guide to how children
relate to death in the early years:
• For birth to 2 years, children are
not usually able to conceptualise
death and their capacity to
remember specific personal
relationships is limited, although
infants do feel loss and
separation. They may react to the
death of a primary caregiver by
becoming angry or anxious. They
may also internalise the grief
shown by adults around them in
some way.
• From 3 to 5, children will begin to
understand that something serious
has occurred, although they may
not be able to comprehend that
death is a permanent thing. If
a child is bereaved at this age,
they will show their fear and
confusion through their behaviour,
not through words, and may
therefore display more challenging
behaviours or have difficulty with
everyday functions such as eating,
sleeping and using the toilet. You
may also witness them displaying
separation anxiety, or they may
even appear unconcerned at
times. At this age, language is
usually very literal, so avoid using
euphemisms such as telling a
child that their parent is ‘sleeping’
which can result in them believing
that one day they will return,
causing further confusion.
As children get older, their
understanding of death and its
permanence increases, so adults
should adjust their language in
accordance with the developmental
age of the child.
What issues do children
face?
Some of the main issues that children
face when coming to terms with
bereavement include:
• difficulty in recognising or
accepting the loss
• problems talking about the
person who has died
• an inability to understand the
permanence of the situation
• social exclusion or isolation
• life changes such as a house
move or a change of school
• financial difficulties for the family
As a result, children may begin to
feel anxious about their future but
may not have the words or emotional
literacy to describe how they feel,
especially pre-school children
who are still coming to terms with
everyday emotions. That’s when
the adults around them need to be
particularly patient, understanding
and honest.
How to help children who
are bereaved
Luckily, there’s a lot of guidance and
support available nowadays to help
children (and adults) dealing with
bereavement. You can find advice
from bereavement charities, medical
associations, citizens advice centres
and the NHS to name a few.
Children’s Grief Awareness
Week UK
The child bereavement charity, the
Childhood Bereavement Network,
and other, similar organisations are
trying to help children (and grown-ups)
navigate a path through their grief.
Each year, it organises an awareness
week, and in 2019, this runs from the
15th to 21st November. The aim is
to highlight the issues that children
face and try to provide some practical
solutions.
The theme for 2019 is ‘Remember
When’, encouraging everyone to share
their memories of a loved-one either
online or on a social media channel
using the hashtag #RememberWhen.
You can find out more at
childrensgriefawarenessweek.com.
They are particularly interested in
helping children remember something
about the people who have died, and
you could use some of these questions
in your setting to talk about loved ones,
then link it in to talking about the fact
that some children have unfortunately
experienced the death of a loved one.
• #RememberWhen everyday
memories: e.g. What did they like
for breakfast? What was their
favourite song?
• #RememberWhen special times:
e.g. a birthday, a wedding, some
special time together, favourite
places
• #RememberWhen find out more:
collect memories of the person
who died from people who knew
them well – ask them to share a
memory with you
• #RememberWhen help through
tough times: memories of
a time when someone
supported you in your
bereavement
Above all, be patient,
understanding and
compassionate and you
will be able to help
children through this
traumatic time.
For more
information and
advice, see:
• Child
Bereavement UK
• Grief Encounter
• Hope Again from Cruse
Bereavement Care
• Winston’s Wish
• Childline
• Get Connected
Grief Encounter
helpline:
0808 802 0111
34 Parenta.com November 2019 35

How stories can
How stories can help tackle bullying
help tackle bullying
The 11th – 15th November might be Anti-Bullying Week but there’s never a wrong time to
talk about bullying or to find ways to deal with it.
Stories are a versatile and powerful way of helping children (and all of us come to that)
learn. It was through our work with early years practitioners that it became apparent that
stories would be a great way to help practitioners identify safeguarding issues and to help
them assess whether they might need to raise a concern sheet and bullying definitely falls
into that category.
Why use stories?
Children will naturally use stories
and play to help them make sense
of things or to help them solve their
problems. Psychologist Gopnik,
Meltzoff and Kuhl explained how we
all use stories in their 1999 work “The
Scientist in The Crib”.
“Our brains were designed
by evolution to develop story
representations from sensory input
that accurately approximate real
things and experiences in the world.
Those programs…let us predict what
the world will be like and so act on it
effectively. They are nature’s way of
solving the problem of knowledge.”
Stories help us to build empathy
by giving us the opportunity to
put ourselves into the character’s
shoes. It helps children to either
identify how their behaviour affects
others, or to help them identify
what is happening to them and
how they can deal with it.
What are the signs to
look for?
Storytime is a great opportunity
to help you understand what
might be going on in a child’s
inner world. So when children
are playing and telling stories, watch
how they interact with others and
listen to the stories they make up;
it might give you some clues as to
what they are trying to deal with.
Take note if:
• A child who would normally join
in seems withdrawn
• They are reluctant speakers
• They are being deliberately
naughty. Children will sometimes
be naughty to get attention even
though it’s the wrong attention.
They could also be copying
behaviour they think is normal
• A child is showing signs of
frustration
Other signs children are being
bullied are eating problems, sleeping
problems or complaining of tummy
aches and are reluctant to come to
the setting.
So how can you use stories
to help tackle bullying?
Creative storytelling
(no article from me would be
complete without it!)
This is where the children make up
puppets of the characters in a story
or something linked to the story that
helps them retell the story with you.
This is useful in a number of ways:
• You can watch how they interact
with others
• You can listen to the stories
that the children tell with their
puppets – often once they have
retold the story with you, they
will go off and make up their
own stories which should be
actively encouraged. This gives
you an opportunity to observe;
are they mimicking behaviours
they’ve seen elsewhere?
• You can talk to them about the
story they are acting out with you
and ask them relevant questions.
Children will often open up when
they are using a puppet because
it’s not about them. In addition
for any child who is bullying
they need to understand the
repercussions and consequences
of their actions as our role is
help these children grow into
responsible and compassionate
adults, and as we all know, our
childhood can shape the person
we become. By discussing how
and why a character has acted
in a certain way, this can be
explored.
• It’s also a great way to build
teamwork and sharing, so
it helps them to develop
friendships.
Fairy tales
We like to use fairy tales proactively
to discuss topics and they are an
ideal way to introduce the subject of
bullying. Stories are rich in metaphor
and children use metaphor quite
naturally so it’s a great way for them
to learn right from wrong.
Identify what’s happening in the
story and talk about it. Listen
closely to what they tell you in their
responses and how they interpret the
story.
For instance, with “The Ugly Duckling”
story, get the children to make two
duck puppets and they can take turns
being the one being bullied and the
one doing the bullying.
Making up stories
Use feelings and emotions cards
which have a picture of a scene on
one side and prompts and questions
you can use on the back. They are
a great way to start a discussion
and something that early years
practitioners have found useful as a
way to broach a subject.
With small groups if you are trying to
find out whether there is a problem,
then why not get the children to tell
you a story entitled ‘If I could make
something disappear in my life, what
would it be and why?’
So these are just a few ideas of how
you can use stories to help deal
with the bullying or to help children
understand more about bullying and
the effects it can have.
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.
We also run practical interactive workshops on how to use stories to keep children safe as well as
how to record stories with children, so for more information go to www.littlecreativedays.co.uk or
contact us on 01488 468901. Why not join us on the 27th January, 2020 when we are running two
workshops, Recording children’s stories and Tales around the world for EYR in Manchester.
36 Parenta.com November 2019 37

National Blog Posting Month
National blog
posting month
November is National Blog Posting Month – and to celebrate this, we are giving you our
top tips on how having a blog can boost your ranking on search engines and ultimately
increase your occupancy levels!
What is a blog?
A blog is an online page, usually connected to your website, which you regularly update with news, advice or information.
Having a blog allows you to share knowledge and generate interest, with the aim of giving parents a good reason to keep
returning to your website.
Why is it important to have a blog?
Having a blog for your nursery or pre-school plays such a large part in increasing awareness of your setting and
attracting prospective parents. The term ‘blogging’ simply means adding and updating regular content to your website
which brings a huge range of benefits for not only your current parents, but those actively looking at childcare options.
Improve online visibility and occupancy
Posting content on your blog is the single best way
to attract new visitors to your website, increasing
your online visibility to parents who are looking
for childcare providers using search engines like
Google.
Every update you make to your website affects the
way search engines interact with and rank your site.
Frequent updates with fresh, original content will
help your site rank much higher on Google, helping
parents find you more easily and keep visitors
coming back. This same content can be used for
your social media channels too!
Show your personality!
Provide content parents will find useful
The content you write for your blog should reflect
your business’ tone of voice, which should be both
friendly and professional. Either way, every blog
post you produce is an opportunity for you to draw
your target audience to your nursery website with
relevant information. If you’re writing for parents, be
sure to generate posts based on topics that would
interest them. It can relate to a specific area of
the EYFS and how parents can support their child’s
learning at home. Whatever it is, use your own
experience, make it informative and ensure it is
appropriate for the audience. The more relevant it is,
the more it will drive visitors to your website.
Blogging allows you to connect with your target audience and share information about your nursery. It’s also
great for showcasing your personality and showing your ‘human side’ - something that will appeal to existing and
prospective parents. Your professional image will also be enhanced if you write about and comment on interesting
and thought-provoking articles that focus on industry topics. Not only will this keep you and your readers up-todate,
it’ll also show parents that you’re a knowledgeable business and you take a real interest in what’s going on
in your sector, helping you to build a strong relationship with them. The great thing about blogging is that it actually
enables you to be your own marketing department – people can easily read all your stories and successes - past
and present - 24/7! If a prospective parent reads your blog, likes what you have done and the way you present
yourself, then they are far more likely to enquire about enrolling their child at your setting.
Top Tip: Google favours
websites that are updated
often – try to post 200-300
words fortnightly.
Create Opportunities
Blogging on your website is certain to convert
visitors into leads and ultimately these leads into
customers. It’s been said that 60% of businesses
who blog acquire more business than those who
don’t, so content is key!
Each blog post you write should generate or
encourage a response, whether it be a parent leaving
a comment, a prospective parent enquiring about
your nursery or simply gaining a new following of
return visitors. Either way, the aim is that your posts
need to achieve something, so make sure that
they follow a clear idea and end with a question,
statement or a ‘call to action’ which prompts visitors
to do something, such as booking a show-round at
your setting, or asking for more information.
Not sure where to
start? Check out our
handy guide - Blogging for
Beginners!
Keep the content updated and promote it as much as
you can. The more new content you have, the greater the
possibility of increasing your visibility and reaching more
prospective parents. Also, utilise this content on your
social media channels as much as you can. It will definitely
improve engagement and send more traffic to your website
– win/win for you!
Creating and maintaining a blog for your setting is the
perfect opportunity to show parents that you run a
professional and knowledgeable business and are in touch
with recent developments in childcare. All of these things
are desirable in a childcare provider, and will provide
parents with reassurance that you’re doing your best to
provide great care for their child.
Would you like an up-to-date website to go alongside your
blog? Our friendly team are on hand to help you with your
childcare website and blog needs, so, get in touch today!
websites@parenta.com
38 Parenta.com November 2019 39

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need your help too!
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receiving a hand-written letter from the child many miles away!
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