June 2021 Parenta Magazine

Issue 79 

JUNE 2021 

FREE 

Industry 

Experts 

Music and understanding 

the world in the early 

years: the natural world 

Teaching children the 

true meaning of the 

word ‘sorry’ 

All you need to know 

about tantrums 

+ lots more 

Write for us 

for a chance to win 

£50 

page 8 

Meaningful connections, 

full of love 

If educators love the children in their care and understand how they prefer to be loved, they will better 

understand how to relate to them. Tamsin has written her book to encourage educators to adopt a loving 

pedagogy so that it underpins all policy and practice within their setting. 

CELEBRATING SUMMER SOLSTICE • DROWNING PREVENTION WEEK • REFUGEE AWARENESS WEEK

hello 

welcome to our family 

JUNE 2020 2021 ISSUE 79 67 

IN THIS EDITION 

Regulars 

Hello and welcome to the June edition of the Parenta magazine! 

We are in June already - which means we’re almost half-way through the year… and the end of this academic year 

is drawing closer by the week! What better time than now to start getting ready for September before the madness 

of the holiday season starts? Don’t panic if you’ve not even started thinking about this yet – help is at hand. Turn to 

page 12 for some top tips we’ve created to help you get organised so that you can be fully prepared for the new term. 

June is also the month when we expect to be enjoying some warm weather! The lighter evenings are a welcome 

return, and the Summer Solstice on 21st - also known as Midsummer’s Day - is the longest day of the year, officially marking the start 

of summer. Even if the sun doesn’t make an appearance, this is still the perfect time to celebrate everything warm and sunny with the 

children – and we have some fabulous ideas to help your little ones celebrate the beginning of what we hope will be a lovely summer for 

everyone. 

Inside this month’s issue, guest author, Tamsin Grimmer, gives her valuable advice on meaningful connections and explores a loving 

pedagogy in her new book, “Developing a Loving Pedagogy in the Early Years: How Love Fits with Professional Practice”. We are very 

lucky to have three copies of this insightful book to give away - turn to page 14 for details. Once again, we have a packed edition and our 

industry experts cover many hot topics, including tantrums, drowning prevention, dyslexia and dyscalculia, teaching children the meaning 

of ‘sorry’, and so much more! 

As always, all the advice and guidance in our magazine is 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 the magazine with friends, parents and colleagues – they can sign up to receive their own copy here! 

Please stay safe, everyone. 

Allan 

Getting ready 

for a new 

academic year 

12 

The new academic year 

brings changes and now is 

the time to be thinking about 

getting ready for September. 

18 

Music and 

understanding the 

world in the early 

years: the natural 

world 

Nature-themed songs and 

activities for your children. 

18 

SEN: dyslexia and 

dyscalculia 

20 

Two separate learning difficulties that 

can cause children to have problems 

with literacy, writing or numeracy, and 

are relatively common. 

8 Write for us for the chance to win £50! 

8 Guest author winner announced 

17 Congratulations to our learners 

24 Reveal pictures - part 2 

25 Lemony lemonade 

News 

4 Childcare news and views 

6 A round up of some news stories 

that have caught our eye over the 

month 

Advice 

12 Getting ready for a new academic 

year 

16 EYFS activity - physical development 

20 SEN: dyslexia and dyscalculia 

30 Celebrating Summer Solstice 

34 Drowning Prevention Week 

38 Refugee Awareness Week 

Industry Experts 

14 Meaningful connections, full of love 

18 Music and understanding the world in 

the early years: the natural world 

22 Celebrating difference and 

neurodivergence - part 3 

28 Violence against women: the role of 

the early years in preventing gender 

stereotypes - part 2 

32 Teaching children the true meaning of 

the word ‘sorry’ 

36 All you need to know about tantrums 

Celebrating difference and neurodivergence - part 3 22 

Violence against women: the role of the early years in 

preventing gender stereotypes - part 2 28 

Drowning Prevention Week 34 

Refugee Awareness Week 

38

Childcare 

news & views 

Free sports class for all children 

attending a nursery in England 

A £1 million ‘early years sports fund’ has 

been launched by the government to give 

every child attending nursery in England 

the chance to have a free sports and 

activity class. 

COVID funding crisis causes 

cut in services at state-funded 

nurseries 

A survey by leading unions and charities 

has revealed that government-funded 

nurseries are facing a survival-threatening 

crisis due to COVID funding. 

They are losing an average of £70,000 of 

income but have to spend an extra £8,000 

for additional COVID-related costs, the 

poll by Early Education, NAHT, NEU and 

UNISON says. 

A third of maintained nurseries, which 

are financed and controlled by local 

authorities, are cutting staff and services 

because of the impact of coronavirus, 

and uncertainty over the funding they will 

receive in the next school year, the survey 

found. 

Read the full story on the Parenta website 

here. 

Early years settings fear they 

will have to turn parents away 

due to staffing crisis 

A recent report from Nursery World shows 

that many early years settings fear they 

will need to turn parents away due to staff 

shortages, caused by an increased lack of 

qualified Level 3 child practitioners. 

The DfE temporarily disapplied some 

specific staffing requirements within the 

EYFS where COVID restrictions prevented 

providers from meeting them, which the 

Department for Education has confirmed 

will end in August. But early years 

settings wanting staff to work as room 

leaders and requiring them to have a 

Level 3 qualification, are finding staffing 

particularly hard. The DfE has launched 

Level 3 funding for those aged 24 and 

over, who do not already hold any Level 3 

qualification. 


here. 

Urgent funding review needed: 

Early Years Alliance 

Following the findings of a recent survey, 

the Early Years Alliance is urging the 

government to undertake an urgent review 

of early years funding in England. 

Its latest survey revealed that just one 

in ten parents believe that early years 

childcare providers (both nurseries and 

childminders) are properly funded. 91% 

of survey respondents agreed that early 

years professionals should be paid on a 

similar scale to school teachers. 

Only 12% of parents surveyed believed 

that the current offer was financially 

sustainable for the early years sector, with 

65% agreeing that it was not enough to 

sustain settings and professionals, placing 

early years providers under threat. 

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Alliance, 

commented: “While there is no doubt 

that the COVID-19 crisis has had a hugely 

detrimental impact on the early years 

sector, many of the financial difficulties that 

nurseries, pre-schools and childminders 

are currently facing existed long before the 

pandemic. 

“We in the sector have long argued that 

these challenges are a direct result of 

sustained government underfunding, and 

as these results show, parents are well 

aware of this too, with the vast majority 

recognising that the government’s support 

for early years providers is not enough for 

them to remain financially viable. 


here. 

Ministers urged to focus on 

pre-schools during COVID 

recovery 

Leading education charity, The Sutton Trust 

is urging the UK government to put early 

years at the forefront of the post-COVID 

education recovery programme; warning 

that schools in England “will pick up the 

pieces if early years are not prioritised”. 

It is calling for increased funding for 

the sector, and states: “The pandemic 

has reminded us how crucial the early 

years sector is for the functioning of our 

daily lives and our children’s futures. But 

it also laid bare the fragility of a sector 

which comprises many small and poorly 

funded private and voluntary providers, 

particularly those in less well-off areas.” 

In a YouGov poll commissioned by the 

Trust, 20% of the 570 parents of two to 

four-year-olds who took part said they felt 

the pandemic had had a negative impact 

on their child’s physical development. 25% 

said the same of their child’s language 

development, and 52% said their child’s 

social and emotional development had 

been negatively affected. 69% felt that not 

being able to play with other children had 

had an adverse effect on their child. 

The government is shortly due to 

announce its long-term plans for 

education recovery and funding postpandemic. 

It has already pledged £1.7bn 

for short-term catchup, including a £350m 

national tutoring programme providing 

one-to-one and small group tutoring 

for those most severely affected by the 

disruption to education. 


here. 

Specialist training available to 

help children falling behind in 

language and communication 

All state schools in England that have a 

Reception class are now able to apply for 

training and resources to help Receptionaged 

pupils who are struggling with 

language and communication skills, due 

to the pandemic. 

Government-funded early years catchup 

programme, Nuffield Early Language 

Intervention (NELI), has been developed 

by researchers from the Universities of 

Oxford, Sheffield and York. It gives specific 

language support to small groups of 

pupils offering catch-up language teaching 

sessions run by either a trained teaching 

assistant or early years professional. The 

government spent £9m on launching the 

first wave of the NELI programme and has 

now invested an extra £8m in the second 

wave of the programme. 


here. 

With many early years settings facing 

financial challenges during the pandemic, 

the £1 million early years sports fund has 

been created by Super Star Sport UK to 

provide every child who attends an early 

years setting in England an opportunity to 

take part in a sports and activity session. 

The aim is to impact as many children’s 

lives as possible through participation in 

sport - following multiple lockdowns over 

the past year or so. 

The class will follow the early years 

foundation stage guidelines and is 

specifically designed to ensure every child 

can participate - as well as to aid learning 

and development. 

The early years sports fund (EYSF) has 

committed to ensuring all of the costs 

involved are covered, ensuring the children 

at the nursery receive a 45-minute sports 

and activity lesson at no expense. 

Founder of Super Star Sport UK, Angelo 

Ciccarelli, said: “Following the COVID-19 

pandemic and multiple national 

lockdowns, we have seen many early 

years providers hit financially. We 

understand the strain they have been 

through and so wanted to launch a fund 

that can support them. 


here. 

4 June 2021 | parenta.com 

parenta.com | June 2021 5

A round up of some news stories that 

have caught our eye over the month 

Story source and image credits to: 

Day Nurseries, Nursery World, B31 Voices, Lancashire Post, 

Birmingham Mail, North Wales Chronicle, Children & Young 

People Now. 

Ofsted inspectors answer burning 

early years questions in Q&A session 

On 14th May, Parenta hosted a live Q&A 

session with Ofsted inspectors, 

Wendy Ratcliff HMI and Phill Minns HMI. 

The most popular questions were around 

Development Matters and the new Birth 

to 5 Matters, Inspections, COVID-19; and 

adapting to the new EYFS coming into effect 

in September. 

Boris Johnson paid for son’s 

childcare costs, confirmed by 

Downing Street 

At a press brIefing by the PM’s 

spokesperson, he was confronted with 

claims that Conservative donors were 

asked to help fund for a nanny. 

Watermead post tribute of the 

Duke of Edinburgh to the Queen 

After hearing the sad news about the 

late Prince Phillip a group of children 

and resident artist, Max, created the 

masterpiece pictured above, which is 

now with her Majesty the Queen. 

Peaky Blinders star, Charlotte 

Riley, aims to launch a nursery for 

film-working parents 

The star is aiming to launch the UK’s 

first mobile nursery on a double decker 

bus. It will be the first of its kind, and will 

travel to filming sites. 

Shenley Fields Daycare & Nursery 

have the Gold award by UNICEF 

The Gold award is the highest award by 

UNICEF UK and shows commitment to 

children’s rights. The Birmingham-based 

nursery is only the 4th early years provider 

to achieve Gold in the UK. 

Nursery Head teacher urges 

parents to enrol children after 

seeing effects of the pandemic 

Chorley-based Head teacher, Susan 

Conron, expresses concern of pandemic 

impact on language and other key skills, 

such as physical activities. 

The full session can be watched here. 

Click here to send in 

your stories to 

hello@parenta.com 

Busy Bees Ltd expand 

nurseries in Italy 

Using research from customers and 

staff, the Staffordshire based group have 

now started a nursery in Milan and also 

another setting in Como. 

Farah Kawal opens new nursery 

in Birmingham at 22 years old 

Despite a few parents questioning her 

age, Farah started working and gaining 

childcare qualifications at 18 and is proud 

to own Toddler’s Den, Bordeslet Green. 

Plant Parciau Nursery raise 

£3000 for Wales Air Ambulance 

90 nursery children between six months 

and 3 and a half all took part in various 

activities to fundraise. They also joined 

in educational indoor exercises including 

walking a mile a day. 

Queen announces that the 

Government are to ‘prioritise 

early years’ 

The Government announce the sector will 

be prioritised, as the UK recovers from 

the pandemic. The strategy for the sector 

is yet to be announced. 

Bertram Nursery Group changes 

branding with an outdoor 

learning focus 

The nursery group has now changed 

their name to Thrive Childcare and 

Education. They have also launched a 

sub-group, Nature Kindergartens. 



Write for us! 

We’re always on the lookout 

for new authors to contribute 

insightful articles for our 

monthly magazine. 

If you’ve got a topic you’d like to write about, 

why not send an article to us and be in with a 

chance of winning? Each month, we’ll be giving 

away Amazon vouchers to our “Guest Author of 

the Month”. You can find all the details here: 

https://www.parenta.com/sponsored-content/ 

Congratulations 

to our guest author competition winner, Gina Bale! 

WIN A COPY OF 

TAMSIN’S NEW BOOK, 

“DEVELOPING A 

LOVING PEDAGOGY” 

Congratulations to Gina Bale, our guest author 

of the month! Her article “Movement is for ALL 

children” encouraged us to consider how to 

introduce movement to children of all abilities and 

included some brilliant activities that could be used 

in nursery settings. Well done Gina! 

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 

We have three copies of Tamsin’s new 

book to give away. We want to hear from 

our readers who have adopted a loving 

pedagogy in their settings. Please send in 

your stories and anecdotes about how you 

demonstrate love to the children in your 

care. We will publish them in a future edition 

and three lucky readers picked at random 

will receive a free copy of her book! 

Even if you are not a lucky winner, you 

can still purchase Tamsin’s book here and 

enjoy 20% discount too! 

Discount code: SMA04 

Send to marketing@parenta.com 

by Friday 25th June 2021 



What our customers say 

I am writing today to express my thanks to Jeanette Arnold. 

She has been a fantastic support to our apprentice, Shani Brookman, and has given Shani more 

support in the last few months than any of the many previous assessors before her. 

My name is Erica Salé and 

I have recently passed my 

TQUK Level 3 Diploma for the 

Children’s Workplace (Early 

Years Educator) (RQF). I would 

like to express my sincere 

gratitude to Jeanette Arnold 

for her calm and relaxed 

manner in which she guided 

me through the course. I 

found it challenging during 

these extraordinary times, 

obviously during COVID-19, 

I was unable to learn or be 

taught face-to-face, but with 

the professionalism, clarity 

and well-laid-out tasks of 

Jeanette, I managed to get 

through. Whenever I spoke to 

Jeanette for either queries or 

professional discussion, I felt 

confident and at ease, which 

you will see from my feedback 

recordings, post discussions. 

Again, many thanks to 

Parenta, but especially 

Jeanette, who is a true asset 

to your company in these very 

unprecedented and difficult 

times. 

... 

Erica Salé 

I attended the “Supporting children with SEND” 

webinar today. I have to say it was utterly 

inspirational and would like you to pass on my 

gratitude to all ladies leading the sessions today, 

they were all brilliant! Sadly I had to leave the 

webinar early and just missed the end of it but I’m 

really looking forward to receiving all the info via 

email so I can match them up to my notes and pass 

on everything to my team. Great work guys, thank 

you again. 

... 

Sally Ward 

Jeanette is a pleasure to work in partnership with and is always transparent and honest. She 

gives praise and achievable targets that really filled Shani with the self-belief that she could 

complete and become an amazing practitioner. 

I am not confident Shani would be in the same position now if it wasn’t for Jeanette’s 

commitment and encouragement all the way. 

It seems very clear to me and I’m sure you would wholeheartedly agree, Jeanette is a complete 

asset to your team and every apprentice she works with. 

The only shame is that she doesn’t cover my area often or I would absolutely be requesting her 

for ALL our learners. 

... 

Amy 

My previous assessor, Pippa, was fantastic. 

Since doing my qualifications with Parenta and 

going through my apprenticeship with them, I’ve 

now gone on and have been given a place at 

university. 

I have been accepted at two universities with 

unconditional offers. Considering I had to retake 

my Maths and English with Parenta and retrain to 

get my qualification in childcare, whilst struggling 

with my dyslexia, to now be going to university is a 

really big change to my life. 

Pippa has changed my life completely and is the 

most inspirational person I’ve ever met. I will be 

eternally grateful for everything she has done. 

... 

Dawn Carter 



Getting ready for a new 

academic year 

It’s June, which means we’re already nearly halfway through the calendar year and are drawing 

to the end of the academic year, with all the changes, transitions, goodbyes, and hellos that that 

brings. In schools, children usually sit exams and look forward to the long summer holidays and 

the adventures that a new term will bring. In the early years sector, the new academic year brings 

changes and now is the time to be thinking about getting ready for September before the holiday 

season kicks in and it is too late to order that latest piece of furniture or recruit the best staff! 

Plan your year 

One thing that successful companies do 

is to put together a marketing plan for the 

year ahead, and you could think about 

doing this in your setting to maximise 

your time and budgets. Decide when 

things need to be ready, and then work 

backwards so that you are not running 

around at the last minute trying to create 

a Facebook post or a video guide on 

the day it needs to be published. You 

could consider outsourcing some of your 

marketing or check if your staff have 

hidden skills in this area that you can 

make use of and offer them some new 

career opportunities too. 

Get on top of recruitment 

If you are hoping to employ new staff in 

September, make sure you are advertising 

well in advance, especially if you are 

making use of the government-funded 

apprenticeship schemes. School leavers 

will be looking for jobs early in the year 

and you may have secured your new 

recruits then, but remember too that many 

school leavers are waiting for exam results 

that come out in August before deciding 

on their next move. Parenta can help you 

with all your recruitment needs. Just call us 

on 0800 002 9242 and leave yourself time 

for all the safer recruitment checks you 

need to do too. 

September when you are dealing with all 

manner of new people and challenges. 

Order your stock 

Everyone will be ordering for the new 

year at this time, so make sure you get 

your orders in early so that you are not 

disappointed and waiting for games/ 

chairs/tables when you need them most. 

Update your training 

Plan your CPD schedule for the forthcoming 

year – are there courses that you’d like to 

attend, or can you schedule in some CPD 

each month? Parenta have a number of 

CPD courses so you could diarise a few 

over the year to help you plan. See cpdelearning-courses.parenta.com 

for more 

information. 

Calendars 

Update your annual calendar and get 

yourself prepared – put in awareness 

days/weeks you want to follow, add your 

staff and statutory holidays and have 

curriculum items marked on such as 

religious festivals, days out, and special 

days like Halloween or St George’s Day, or 

even highlight the time you suspect Ofsted 

will be round! 

Top ten checklist 

1. Check all fire and first aid equipment 

making sure it is still in date and 

replace as necessary 

2. Clear your book corner and replace 

any lost or damaged books 

3. Check your stationery cupboard and 

order new items 

4. Organise your recycling centre – can 

you recycle anything else? 

5. Clear your outside space – how about 

creating a vegetable garden or a 

nature corner? 

6. Get your filing done and sort all your 

teaching resources so things are easy 

to find 

7. Set up any new computer/tablet 

software and train your staff on how 

to use it 

8. Revamp your display boards 

9. Update your social media accounts 

10. Rename or relabel pegs or lockers with 

new student names 

And remember, “Time flies when you’re 

having fun” so although it may only be June 

now, September will soon be here so follow 

our advice and get ahead of the game! 

Update your policies and admin 

files 

With so many changes happening this 

year (lockdown ending, social distancing 

easing, and the economy opening up 

again), it would be easy to miss some 

important things, so we’ve created an 

‘aide memoire’ to help get you organised 

and ahead of the game. 

All change in the EYFS and Early 

Learning Goals 

The new EYFS Framework and new Early 

Learning Goals become statutory in 

September. Hopefully, you will have been 

following our articles over the last few 

months and will already have begun to 

incorporate some of the new requirements 

into your settings. If not, look back through 

our last few magazines where we have 

explained the changes and what they 

mean for you. Remember to look through 

the new Development Matters and Birth to 

Five Matters advice documents too. 

Fill those spaces 

Each June/July, children leave nursery and 

prepare for the transition into the Reception 

year. This can leave gaps in your books 

(and in your income) come September if 

you have not thought ahead and been 

marketing your setting effectively. Many 

parents begin looking for nursery places 

early in the year, months or even years 

before they need them, so make sure your 

marketing and social media sites are up 

to date and that they show your nursery in 

the best possible light. You might consider 

advertising on different media to fill your 

places or ask parents to spread the word 

to potential new parents, family and 

friends. Think about making use of free 

‘advertising’ as well – such as sending 

in news stories and images to the local 

paper – they are often looking for local 

interest stories to fill their pages and a 

report of your setting’s summer fete might 

be just the one they need. 

The summer months are a good time 

to update and review your policies and 

protocols and update all admin files ready 

for the start of the term. There are usually 

updates to safeguarding advice each year 

and many councils also update their own 

policies at this time of year too. Look out 

for updated guidance and advice from 

children’s services, safeguarding partners, 

Ofsted, industry organisations and the 

Department for Education. 

Check your buildings/rooms 

Is it time to update your spaces? Do they 

need a lick of paint or is this the time to 

build that sensory corner you always 

wanted? Some settings don’t operate in 

the summer holidays giving them time to 

refurbish areas, and others sometimes see 

a drop in numbers during the holidays. By 

thinking ahead and getting any changes 

done now, you will save yourself stress in 



Meaningful connections, 

full of love 

I wonder why you began working with 

young children? For me, it was because 

of my connection and ability to bond with 

them. From an early age, I seemed to be a 

magnet for younger children, I remember 

looking after them during coffee time at 

church and my first job as a young teen 

was babysitting. I clearly remember my 

first-night babysitting because the parents 

of our charges were having dinner with my 

parents up the road, and my friend and I 

had been asked to look after their children 

to enable them to go out. There were 

four children all under about 5 and the 

youngest was a tiny baby - I remember 

holding him and feeling really honoured 

that their parents trusted me with their 

children. I enjoyed playing games with 

them all until their two-year-old decided 

to have a tantrum instead of going to 

bed and then I remember sitting behind 

their sofa with her at one point. I don’t 

know what I said or did, but I remember 

enjoying their company and thinking it 

was great because I was also earning 

some pocket money! 

I’m still really passionate about young 

children today – I love their company and 

can’t stop myself looking into a pram and 

cooing at every baby I see. Meaningful 

connections are full of love and, with 

this in mind, I’m really excited to share 

that my new book is now available, it’s 

called “Developing a Loving Pedagogy: 

How Love Fits with Professional Practice”. 

I strongly believe that if educators love 

the children in their care and understand 

how they prefer to be loved, they will 

better understand how to relate to them 

and will do so more appropriately, which 

in turn will enable the children to learn 

more effectively. I have written my book 

to encourage educators to adopt a loving 

pedagogy so that it underpins all policy 

and practice within their setting. 


Unfolding a loving pedagogy 

Defining love 

The Collins Online Dictionary defines the 

verb ‘to love’ as involving more than just 

emotions, “You say that you love someone 

when their happiness is very important 

to you, so that you behave in a kind and 

caring way towards them” (Collins Online 

Dictionary, 2020). So to love someone 

includes action – it is not a passive 

emotion, but an active set of behaviours. 

Love and loving are not words that we 

always use in relation to early childhood 

settings. They might be viewed as 

inappropriate or out-of-bounds in some 

way because of their connotations with 

sexual intimacy. Part of the problem lies 

within the English language where we use 

Type of Love 

Agápe 

Philia 

Storgē 

Xenia 

Pragma 

Holding in mind 

the same word to express our love for our 

family, our children, our friends, our lovers 

and even our food! In other languages 

and cultures there are a wealth of words 

that mean these different aspects of love. 

The ancient Greeks had many different 

words to describe love, for example, 

agápe, éros, philía, philautia, storgē, 

xenia, ludus and pragma. It is helpful to 

unpick some of these different terms when 

thinking about our settings. Agápe, philia, 

storgē, xenia and, to a certain extent, 

pragma are all types of love which may be 

relevant to us as educators. They describe 

different aspects of how we might love 

the children in our care and have been 

explored in the table. 

Example from practice 

Our love does not depend on the children’s behaviour, it is 

unconditional. We genuinely want the best or the greatest good 

for the children in our care. 

We build up attachments with children which are strengthened 

through shared interests and experiences. Our children depend 

on and trust us and we encourage them to build strong 

friendships with both educators and their peers. 

We are acting in loco parentis, protecting children and helping 

them to feel safe and secure. Many settings are described as an 

extended family, and many educators naturally feel love for the 

children in their care. 

We offer our children hospitality in our settings, by feeding 

them and providing a safe, stimulating and engaging learning 

environment. We ensure that we respect others and role model 

being kind with caring behaviours. 

We have a practical duty to safeguard children and protect 

them and ensure that our environment is safe and secure. Also, 

putting risk assessments in place is an example of pragma in 

action. 

The phrase that I have found most useful when defining what love means within settings 

is ‘holding children in mind’ (Read, 2014). This reminds me how important it is for us as 

educators to be attuned, respond sensitively to children and hold them and their individual 

circumstances in mind. In practice, it’s the little things that make the different, for example, 

asking about their recent visit to their grandparent’s house or noticing the dragon on their 

T-shirt. 

Ways that we can be attuned and hold 

children in mind include: 

• Supporting the child in the moment, 

responding sensitively 

• Observing and noticing things they are 

interested in 

• Genuinely listening and acting upon 

what we hear 

• Co-constructing ideas during play 

• Being fascinated by what our children 

are doing and wanting to find out more 

• Considering the 100 languages of 

children 

• Using a mosaic approach to better 

understand our children 

• Interacting sensitively, with our focus on 

the child, not our agenda 

• Planning interventions for particular 

children 

• Providing specific resources based on 

our knowledge of the children 

• Working out our children’s love 

languages (see The Language of Love 

Parenta article) 

• Adopting a loving pedagogy 

Actively listening to children 

When we hold children in mind we are 

actively listening to them, which helps us 

to truly appreciate what children want 

and need, plan for this and support them 

appropriately. Article 12 of the United Nations 

Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNICEF, 

1989) explains that children have the right to 

have their views taken seriously, particularly 

in all matters affecting them. Many educators 

endeavour to give their children a voice, 

however, occasionally we can be so used to 

hearing our children’s voices that we forget 

to actively listen to them. 

When we are actively listening we are able 

to not only tune into any words or sounds, 

but also to respond sensitively to the child’s 

body language and way of being. In this 

way, we are attempting to better understand 

our children. There are various ways we can 

demonstrate that we value the children we 

work with and actively listen to them. For 

example: 

• Try to see the world from their 

perspective 

• Listen to their words 

• Notice their behaviour and actions 

• Interpret their facial expressions and 

body language 

• Act upon things that they say 

• Take their views into consideration 

• Plan with their interests and 

fascinations in mind 

• Include them in the conversation 

• Never talk to other adults over their 

head 

• Get down to their level 

• Mirror their actions or body language 

• Comment or provide a commentary 

about what they are doing 

• Observe them whilst playing alongside 

• Act as a co-player when invited to join 

their play 

Meaningful connections with children need 

to be full of love: we must keep in mind that 

we need to actively listen to them; and be 

aware of their needs and interests at all 

times. This sums up what I consider a loving 

pedagogy to be about: a caring ethos and 

approach which underpins our practice; and 

allows the children to remain central to all 

we do. 

References 

• Read, V. (2014). Developing attachment 

in early years settings: Nurturing secure 

relationships from birth to five years. 

(Second edition) Abingdon, United 

Kingdom: Routledge. 

• UNICEF (1989). United Nations 

Convention on the Rights of the Child. 

Retrieved from http://www.unicef. 

org.uk/Documents/Publication-pdfs/ 

UNCRC_PRESS200910web.pdf 

WIN A COPY OF TAMSIN’S NEW BOOK 

“DEVELOPING A LOVING PEDAGOGY” 

We have three copies of Tamsin’s new book to 

give away. We want to hear from our readers who 

have adopted a loving pedagogy in their settings. 

Please send in your stories and anecdotes about 

how you demonstrate love to the children in your 

care. We will publish them in a future edition and 

three lucky readers picked at random will receive 

a free copy of her book! 

Tamsin Grimmer 

Tamsin Grimmer is an experienced early 

years consultant, author 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 loving. Tamsin particularly enjoys 

planning and delivering training and 

supporting early years practitioners and 

teachers to improve outcomes for young 

children. 

Tamsin has written four books – 

“Observing and Developing Schematic 

Behaviour in Young Children” , “School 

Readiness and the Characteristics 

of Effective Learning”, “Calling all 

Superheroes: Supporting and Developing 

Superhero Play in the Early Years”, 

and “Developing a Loving Pedagogy 

in the Early Years: How Love Fits with 

Professional Practice”. She is currently 

working on her next two, “Supporting 

Behaviour and Emotions” and “Self- 

Regulation in Early Childhood”. 

You can contact Tamsin via Twitter, 

her Facebook page, website or email 

tamsingrimmer@hotmail.co.uk 

Even if you are not a lucky 

winner, you can still purchase 

Tamsin’s book here and 

enjoy 20% discount too! 

Discount code: SMA04 

Send to marketing@parenta.com by Friday 25th June 2021 


EYFS activity – 

physical development 

Children undergo so much physical development from birth to age 5 that clearly, we are not able to 

cover all these changes in one article. We have therefore narrowed it down and focused on how you 

can work on an important physical attribute which we think may sometimes be under-estimated 

when it comes to looking out for physical development, and which, if not developed properly, can 

lead to lots of problems later in life. We’re talking about: 

Good posture is vital – the placement of 

the skeletal bones and the ability of the 

muscular system to support them, has 

an impact on our ability to move freely 

throughout life. A sedentary lifestyle and 

poor posture can contribute to problems 

with back pain or arthritis, so helping 

children develop a good posture in the 

early years is important. Obviously, 

children will develop their strength, core 

muscles, body control and balance as 

they get older, through general and 

specific play, practice, and by running, 

skipping, jumping etc. But how much 

attention are you paying to their posture? 

A lot of children nowadays spend 

many hours in front of a screen, which 

can exacerbate poor posture because 

children may slump forward over their 

devices or fail to sit in an upright position 

when using a keyboard (as do many 

adults). 

What is good posture? 

A child with good posture will have their 

weight placed evenly over both hips and 

feet when standing. Their back should 

be straight with their shoulders back and 

chin raised off their chest. Their head, 

shoulders, hips, knees and ankles should 

be in one straight line. This allows for 

the greatest freedom of movement with 

the least strain or compensation of one 

muscle group over another. 

When sitting, the child’s back should be 

straight with their shoulders back. Their 

buttocks should sit back in the chair 

allowing their spine to sit in a natural 

slight “S” position. Often children will shift 


POSTURE 

their hips forward in their chairs, allowing 

their pelvis to slide forward slightly, 

their back becomes rounded and their 

shoulders roll forward. This slouching 

position puts a strain on the lower back 

and also constricts their ability to breathe 

fully using their diaphragm. 

Fun ways to practice good 

posture 

1 

Remember the old debutante trick of 

walking with a book on their head? Well, 

rather that using a book, why not ask 

children to walk around keeping a bean 

bag on their head. You can mark out a 

flat ‘obstacle’ course on the floor using 

masking tape and get the children to 

walk along the lines, balancing the bean 

bag. Vary the direction so they have to 

turn at intervals, and you could have a 

spot where they have to turn 360˚ or even 

get them to walk backwards, slowly. You 

can develop this activity by changing the 

object – can they walk balancing a paper 

cup instead, or a plastic ruler? Can they 

do it to music, stopping when you stop 

the music? You can also bring in some 

cross-curricular links and tell some stories 

of people in other countries who carry 

water or goods on their heads to keep 

their hands free! 

2 

Another way to encourage children to 

develop a good posture is to use animals 

that they know to point out the differences 

between them so that the children start 

to learn and feel what is a good posture, 

and what is not. Asking them to walk 

around “as tall as a giraffe” or “as proudly 

as a lion” will generally help them to pull 

up out of their back, for example. 

3 

Practice rising up onto tip toes and walk 

around with arms out to the side and 

keeping their back straight. 

If you notice a child with poor posture, 

give a gentle reminder and praise children 

you see sitting up straight. If you suspect 

a child has a scoliosis of the spine, tell 

the parents and recommend they see a 

specialist. 

See also: 

• https://elht.nhs.uk/application/ 

files/6315/8860/9005/Good_posture_ 

V4.pdf 

• https://www.hss.edu/article_sittingposture-for-kids.asp 

• https://www.rehabmart.com/post/7- 

amazing-tips-to-help-improve-yourchilds-posture 

• https://morleyphysio.com.au/ 

uncategorized/how-to-teach-yourkids-good-posture/ 

Congratulations 

to all our Parenta learners! 

Congratulations to all these Parenta learners who completed their apprenticeship 

in April and have now gained their qualifications. 

These range from Childcare Level 2, Childcare Level 3 and Team Leading 

to Level 3 and Level 5 Management – that’s a huge achievement in the 

current climate. 

All that hard work has paid off – well done from all of us here at 

Parenta Training! 

Did you know?... Parenta has trained over 20,000 apprentices within the early years sector! 

Our Level 3 success rate overall is almost 10% higher than the national average. 

That’s down to great work from you, our lovely Parenta learners! 

If you have a learner with us who has recently completed their apprenticeship, please send in 

a picture to hello@parenta.com to be included in the magazine. 

M. Bowden 

M. Brightwell 

L. Brown 

S. Brown 

M. Cox 

S. Dispinseri 

J. Edwards 

K. Ellis 

D. Erazo Vasquez 

April’s wall of fame! 

M. Fonseca Da Silva 

A. Grantham 

E. Hearn 

D. Hyam 

C. Mackelden 

V. Martinez 

C. Meepegama 

A. Prickett 

A. Quarmby 

K. Rose 

S. Seager 

B. Smith 

I. Ucrainet 

L. Underwood 

E. Williams 

V. Yardley 


Music and understanding the world 

in the early years: the natural world 

Children are fascinated with the natural world and gladly spend hours watching (and trying to play 

with) the creatures and environments around them – usually when we least have time! By creating 

opportunities for children to explore insects, plants, and animals around them, we allow them to 

discover their own hidden interests and abilities. 

Over in the meadow in a hive near a door 

Lived an old honeybee and her little bees 

four 

“Buzz!” said the mother; “We buzz!” said 

the four 

So they buzzed and they buzzed in the hive 

near the door 

Over in the meadow in a warren so nice 

Lived an old mother rabbit and her little 

bunnies five 

“Hop!” said the mother; “We hop!” said the 

five 

So they hopped and they hopped in their 

warren so nice 

Over in the meadow in the stream near the 

bend 

Lived an old mother fishy and her school of 

fishes, ten 

“Swim!” said the mother; “We swim!” said 

the ten 

So they swam and they swam in the stream 

near the bend 

This song can be explored with younger 

children all acting out the actions and 

voices of the animals. Older children may 

have the patience to begin with one child 

and gradually add more children to their 

number as they act out each animal. 

The ways that we can explore nature 

includes recognising the similarities and 

differences between the natural world 

and other environments. Natural changes 

include the colour changes of leaves 

from green to orange to brown, showing 

the change of seasons, as well as the 

changing states of matter, like ice to water 

to steam. Songs and musical games 

are great ways to remind children of the 

natural phenomenon that they find. 

Kellert (2002) found that despite 

occasional references by biologists 

and poets to the wonder that children 

experience in nature, actually, very little 

had been studied on the experience of 

children in nature. Instead, “ecology” 

referred to the immediate environment, 

e.g. Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) Ecology of 

Human Development, where ecology 

referred to the increasing influence of 

relationships on children. 

Kellert suggested that interactions with 

nature could affect children’s: 

• Emotional and feeling capacity 

• Thinking patterns and problemsolving 

skills, and 

• Development of values, beliefs and 

moral perspectives 

The extent of the impact that nature had 

on children depended on whether they 

learn: 

• Directly, though spontaneous physical 

contact and play 

• Indirectly through organised activities, 

like museums, farms and zoos, or 

• Symbolically/vicariously, through 

pictures, cartoons/films and books 

Preparing children for their encounters with 

nature helps to reinforce their experiences, 

from singing “rain, rain, go away, come 

again another day”, through to “Incy Wincy 

Spider”. Here are a few more ideas for 

songs about nature. 

Frosty Weather 

Frosty weather 

Windy weather 

When the wind blows we 

All stick together 

This lovely wintry song could be played as 

simply as walking in a circle for the first 

three lines and all coming together to the 

centre of the circle for the last line. Older 

children may like to stand opposite each 

other, and have one person walk around 

the other (do-si-do) for the first line, the 

other walks around the first for the second 

line, and then link arms, walking around 

each other in the last two lines. Lightweight, 

transparent scarves would be a 

nice touch! 

Over In The Meadow 

Over in the meadow in the sand, in the 

sun 

Lived an old mother tiger and her little tiger 

one 

“Roar!”, said the mother, “I roar,” said the 

one 

So they roared and they roared in the 

sand, in the sun 

Over in the meadow, where the stream 

runs so blue 

Lived an elephant mother and her little 

calves two 

“Stomp!” said the mother; “We stomp!” 

said the two, 

So they stomped and they stomped where 

the stream runs so blue 

Over in the meadow in the sky near a tree 

Flew an old mother bluebird and her little 

chicks three 

“Fly!” said the mother; “We fly!” said the 

three 

So they flew and were glad in the sky near 

the tree 

Over in the meadow in a shed near some 

sticks 

Lived an old mother cow and her little 

calves six 

“Moo!” said the mother; “We moo!” said 

the six 

So they moo’d and they moo’d in their shed 

near the sticks 

Over in the meadow, where the grass is so 

even 

Lived an old mother mouse and her little 

pups seven 

“Squeak!” said the mother; “We squeak!” 

said the seven 

So they squeaked and were glad in the 

grass soft and even 

Over in the meadow by the old mossy gate 

Lived a brown mother fox and her little cubs 

eight 

“Hunt!” said the mother; “We hunt!” said the 

eight 

So they crept and they hunted near the old 

mossy gate 

Over in the meadow where the quiet pools 

shine 

Lived a green mother frog and her little 

froggies nine 

“Croak!” said the mother; “We croak!” said 

the nine 

So they croaked and they splashed where 

the quiet pools shine 

Spontaneous experiences of nature 

continues to massively decline with 

each generation. This is because of the 

increase in population, buildings and 

infrastructure, as well as changes in family 

traditions and recreational activities. Kellert 

found that indirect and vicarious contact 

did not produce the same experience 

as direct contact. Forest Schools have 

come some way in returning children to 

natural environments, with varying levels 

of freedom, depending on the school 

context. Songs about nature not only help 

to reinforce learning but often stay with 

people well into adulthood, with fond 

memories. 

All songs found on Musicaliti’s account on 

Soundcloud and YouTube as part of the 

Learning With Music series. 

References: 

• Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology 

of human development: Experiments 

by nature and design. Harvard 

University Press. 

• Kellert, S. R. (2002). Experiencing 

Nature: Affective, Cognitive and 

Evaluative Development in Children. 

In Children and Nature: Psychological, 

Sociocultural and Evolutionary 

Investigations (pp. 117–151). MIT Press. 

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 “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 



SEN: dyslexia and 

dyscalculia 

Dyslexia and dyscalculia are two separate learning difficulties that can cause children to have 

problems with literacy and writing, or with numeracy, and are relatively common in children. It 

is estimated that 10% of people have some degree of dyslexia. Although these are not the same 

condition, they both come under the umbrella of neurodiverse conditions and there are similarities. 

Some dyslexic people also have dyscalculia and vice versa. 

There are a number of different types of 

dyslexia such as: 

• Phonological dyslexia (difficulty 

breaking speech into individual 

sounds) 

• Surface dyslexia (takes longer to 

process language) 

• Visual dyslexia (the brain does not 

receive the full picture of what is seen) 

• Primary dyslexia (an inherited 

condition) 

• Secondary dyslexia (occurs as a result 

of a brain problem in the womb) 

• Acquired or trauma dyslexia (occurs as 

a result of brain trauma or disease) 

Some children present with delayed 

speech and language and this would 

need further help. If you suspect a child 

may have dyslexia, it is important to tell 

the parents and your SENCo so that testing 

can be arranged. Extra help may then 

be given and if this is insufficient, then it 

may be possible to gain a more in-depth 

assessment from a specialist dyslexia 

teacher or an educational psychologist, 

either through the setting/school or directly 

through the British Psychological Society or 

via a voluntary organisation, such as a local 

branch of the British Dyslexia Association. 

These tests may examine a child’s: 

• Reading and writing abilities 

• Language development and 

vocabulary 

• Logical reasoning 

• Memory 

• Visual and auditory processing speeds 

• Organisational skills 

• Approaches to learning 

Although quite difficult to pick up in the 

early years, the earlier that a diagnosis is 

made, and help becomes available, the 

more effective help is likely to be. Strategies 

can be implemented so the child does not 

miss out on learning which can include 1-1 

teaching support and help with phonics, 

as well as technology such as the use of 

speech recognition software which can help 

children record their thoughts and answers 

instead of using traditional writing. Some 

people use coloured overlays over typed 

text which helps the words to stop ‘jumping 

around’ on the page. 

Dyscalculia 

Dyscalculia is a condition that affects a 

person’s ability to acquire arithmetical and 

mathematical skills. People with dyscalculia 

may have difficulty understanding simple 

number concepts and lack an intuitive 

grasp of numbers. They may struggle to 

learn number bonds to 10 and 20 and the 

mathematical things they are able to do are 

often done mechanically and without much 

confidence. In comparison to dyslexia, 

dyscalculia is less prevalent, occurring 

in 3% – 6% of the population. Dyslexia 

is sometimes missed in schools, but 

dyscalculia is often even more overlooked. 

In the early years, a child with dyscalculia 

may struggle to count and/or connect 

a number to an object such as knowing 

that the number “4” can be applied to the 

number of wheels on a car, or the number 

of legs a cat has, for example. They may 

also struggle to recognise patterns or 

shapes so they may not be able to 

re-arrange blocks in order of size. In 

Reception class, they may display difficulty 

in recalling basic number bonds and 

understanding the four basic maths 

functions (addition, subtraction, division, 

multiplication). Dyscalculia is not the same 

as maths anxiety, however many children 

with dyscalculia can develop maths anxiety 

too. 

How to help 

In an early years setting, it can sometimes 

be more difficult to recognise some of 

the symptoms and signs of dyslexia and 

dyscalculia because of the development 

stage of the children, and the basic nature 

of the maths and literacy taught at this 

stage. However, settings can look out 

for students who they feel may be falling 

behind their peers in simple literacy or 

number tasks, and alert parents to any 

concerns as soon as possible. There is a list 

of some simple signs to look out for on the 

BDA website, and practitioners should also 

be looking out for speech and language 

difficulties that can be a precursor for 

literacy problems later on. Looking out for 

children who have difficulty in counting or in 

recognising different values or patterns, is 

also important. 

What is vital though, is to remain patient 

with children and focus on the progress 

they are making with their effort rather than 

simply their attainment. Praise children 

for trying rather than just achieving an 

outcome (e.g. count to 10), and you will 

be developing a growth mindset in the 

children, rather than reinforcing a negative 

belief that they ‘just can’t do’ maths or 

reading. The biggest strategy you have 

at this age is to guard against imprinting 

children with a fixed mindset about a 

particular issue, which can lead to low selfesteem 

and cause further anxiety. 

For more information, see: 

• https://www.geniuswithin.co.uk/whatis-neurodiversity 

Dyslexia 

Dyslexia is a lifelong problem and 

although there is no ‘cure’, there are 

strategies that people can use to help 

overcome some of the difficulties they face. 

Having a diagnosis of dyslexia does not 

mean people cannot succeed, although 

many may not do as well as their peers at 

school, due to some of the problems they 

face with reading and writing. However, 

there are many very successful people 

who are dyslexic, such as Sir Richard 

Branson, Tom Cruise, Jamie Oliver, and 

Stephen Spielberg, and many people 

with dyslexia have skills and abilities in 

other areas such as creative thinking and 

problem-solving. 

Dyslexia often comes to light when 

children first begin to learn literacy or 

writing skills. They may confuse the 

order of letters in words and put letters 

the wrong way round such as writing 

“b” instead of “d” or “p” instead of “q”. 

However, many younger children also do 

this when they are first learning letters or 

mark-making, so identifying it can be tricky 

in the early years. Problems with phonics 

and spelling may come to light later, and 

as with other special educational needs, 

children with dyslexia may have problems 

following a set of instructions or may seem 

disorganised. 

• https://www.dyslexia.uk.net/ 

• https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/ 

dyslexia/ 

• https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/ 

• https://www.dyslexia.uk.net/specificlearning-difficulties/dyscalculia/thesigns-of-dyscalculia/ 

• https://www.parliament.uk/ 

documents/post/postpn226.pdf 



Celebrating difference and 

neurodivergence - part 3 

Other people are different on the inside 

This article is the third article in a series of six from Sensory Engagement and Inclusion Specialist, 

Joanna Grace, the activities described in each article build up to form a toolkit for celebrating 

difference and neurodivergence within your setting in a way that will benefit both the children and 

the adults. Joanna runs online training courses focused on strategies for supporting differently-abled 

children and promoting inclusive practice. Click here for more information. 

In articles one and two, we explored simple 

activities to get children thinking about 

their internal and external differences and 

we have repeatedly challenged ourselves 

to discuss these differences with children 

using non-judgemental language. A 

challenge, those of you who have taken 

it, I am sure will have discovered is harder 

that it first appears! The activity associated 

with this article is going to extend that 

thinking for the children even further, as 

they consider not just their own differences 

but the differences of others. But before we 

move on to that, it’s worth stopping to ask 

why we are doing this. 

Recognising and accepting difference 

allows everyone to be more authentically 

themselves. In addition to this, there 

are two big reasons why it is especially 

valuable for neurodivergent people, and 

especially so in the early years. 

Firstly 

When we publicly acknowledge that the 

internal workings of people’s brains are 

different, and we do this in an open and 

pragmatic manner, we protect against the 

misunderstandings that occur when people 

presume all brains work in the same way. 

I always like to draw the analogy between 

different types of computer software 

and hardware. Imagine you have two 

different computers: one Apple machine, 

one Windows. Both work. But they do 

so in different ways. When you try to run 

a Windows programme on the Apple 

computer, it doesn’t work. Not because 

the computer is broken, or the programme 

is wrong, but simply because of the 

mismatch. 

A lot of neurodivergent people grow up 

in environments set up for neurotypical 

people, receiving instructions that work 

for neurotypical people. When those 

environments and teaching strategies do 

not work for them, they are labelled as 

broken or disabled, when in fact, what 

they are, is different. Think about how 

careful you have been being about talking 

about difference using non-judgemental 

language. As you reflect on the impact of 

the misunderstanding described above 

you can appreciate the value in your 

carefully chosen words. 

Secondly 

Tremendous damage is caused by 

the narratives that develop around 

neurodivergent people. I am a big 

research geek, if you follow me on 

Twitter (@Jo3Grace) you will know how 

much I value researched-based practice 

and how much research I consume. When 

you explore the long term outcomes for 

neurodivergent people, so many of the 

struggles they face in later life are not 

a consequence of their difference but 

a consequence of the narratives that 

surround their difference. 

Here is an example. A child is born with 

a neurodivergent condition. One aspect 

of this condition is that they have different 

sleep patterns (this is a common feature 

of many neurodivergent conditions). Of 

course they look externally like any other 

baby, and no one knows as yet that they 

are different on the inside. They struggle 

to sleep, they are described as a “fussy” 

baby. They get older, in their toddler 

years the way they process language 

is different to their neurotypical peers 

(again this is common for neurodivergent 

conditions) receiving instructions they 

struggle to follow they often do not do 

as they are told. The adults around them 

refer to them as “naughty” and they 

receive various punishments. They move 

on to primary school where their sensory 

processing differences (again common 

in neurodivergent communities) make it 

difficult for them to sit still and focus on 

their work. The adults around them refer to 

them as “difficult”. All the while the story is 

developing that the problem is them. “Of 

course he is a naughty child, he was such 

a fussy baby what did you expect?” “He’s 

being difficult again, he’s always been like 

this, even as a baby he was so fussy.” 

When they hit their teenage years, their 

understanding of self is made up out of 

these stories. They believe themselves 

to be wrong in some way, to be lesser, 

to be bad. Their self esteem is low. They 

notice their difference from their peers and 

interpret it in the same way that the adults 

they have experienced in their life have 

taught them to do so. They witness their 

peers achieving and themselves failing, 

and they blame themselves. 

It is no surprise that when I read the 

research surrounding these populations, 

I find increased rates of mental ill health, 

greater likelihood of self-harm or substance 

abuse, greater risk of dying by suicide, 

lower rates of employment, and so on. 

It starts small but the language we use 

around difference is the beginnings of these 

stories. It is the stories, not the conditions, 

that cause the low self esteem and the 

mental health difficulties; these stories are 

dangerous. 

For a wonderfully positive example, I 

remember a young man who showed me 

around the special school that I worked at 

when I was a newly qualified teacher. He 

was about 14 when I started at the school 

and as a member of the school council, he 

had been tasked with giving me, the new 

teacher, a tour of the school. He started 

out by smartly introducing himself, clearly 

proud of the responsibility he had been 

given. He then immediately said “I have a 

learning disability, it can take me longer to 

understand things, and it helps me if you 

show me anything you want to explain as 

well as tell me about it.” And in his next 

breath he went on to talk about how good 

he was at swimming. 

I was so impressed. Here was a child who 

had been openly talked to about their 

difference, in his first utterances to me, he 

had already given me strategies I could 

use to support his understanding, and he 

had celebrated his abilities. That young 

man will have faced struggles in his life as 

he attempted to learn new skills, but the 

confidence he had in himself, knowing who 

he was and how his brain worked will, I’m 

sure, have equipped him to meet those 

struggles and overcome them. Imagine 

who he would be if he had felt that his 

difficulties in learning were in some way his 

fault? Which leads me on to why this is so 

important in the early years: 

Early years 

Often times, in early years settings you are 

supporting children who may be diagnosed 

with a neurodivergent condition later on in 

their lives. The differences between children 

become more apparent with age. But 

the impression we make and the stories 

we tell when children are small are the 

foundations for the stories other people will 

tell. Do you describe the child as “bossy” 

or as having “leadership skills”? Do you 

say “Peter always fidgets” or “Peter’s body 

likes to move”? The differences are subtle 

but they set a direction now that points to 

where that child might end up. The nuances 

matter. 

Imagine a start point, and an arrow 

pointing out from that start point. We direct 

this arrow with our utterances. It points to 

where that child ends up. The difference 

between “Peter always fidgets” and “Peter’s 

body likes to move” is small but the nuance 

matters. “Peter always fidgets” blames 

Peter, it is something he does, and it always 

has a notion of value judgement. Add to 

that the tone in which it is said and the 

arrow points very definitely in one direction. 

“Peter’s body likes to move” is very different, 

it’s now not Peter himself, but his body, and 

the “likes to move” could be used positively 

in a different context; “Let’s choose Peter for 

this game because his body likes to move.” 

The arrow points in a different way. Your 

words set the direction. The child grows and 

moves in that direct, a difference of a few 

degrees now can make a huge difference 

between where that child ends up. 

So set yourself that challenge again, that 

I have set you in all three of these articles: 

How can you tweak how you talk about 

difference to remove the judgement? 

Explore different turns of phrase, which 

would be best? Where do they lead? 

The task for the children is to make a reveal 

picture as before, but this time, not of 

themselves but of someone else. It could be 

fun to do one for a child in a book so that 

everyone is thinking about the same child. 

The question the children are answering 

is “What do you think they are thinking?” It 

is a very hard question, and you can offer 

support by giving possible answers. You 

could pair them up with friends and ask 

them to draw their friend thinking about 

their favourite food. The children could 

then find out what each other’s favourite 

food is and draw that. What we are 

aiming for them to appreciate, is that the 

other person maybe thinking differently to 

themselves. And whilst they are doing that, 

we are going to support them by talking 

about difference using non-judgemental 

language: good luck! 

Jo provides in person and online training to 

settings looking to enhance their inclusive 

practice for more information visit www. 

TheSensoryProjects.co.uk where you can 

also find resources to help you include 

children of all abilities. Jo is active on social 

media and welcomes connection requests 

from people curious about inclusive 

practice. 

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 special school settings, 

connecting with pupils of all ages and 

abilities. To inform her work, Joanna 

draws on her own experience from her 

private and professional life as well as 

taking in all the information she can 

from the research archives. Joanna’s 

private life includes family members 

with disabilities and neurodiverse 

conditions and time spent as a 

registered foster carer for children with 

profound disabilities. 

Joanna has published four practitioner 

books: “Multiple Multisensory Rooms: 

Myth Busting the Magic”, “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”. There is 

new book coming out soon called ‘”The 

Subtle Spectrum” and her son has 

recently become the UK’s youngest 

published author with his book, “My 

Mummy is Autistic”. 

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 



Reveal Pictures - part 2 

Lemony lemonade 

This craft is in relation to the “Celebrating difference and neurodivergence - part 3” article by 

Joanna Grace, and was created with her son imagining what his baby brother might be thinking 

about. This is similar to the activity associated with the previous article. 

This recipe has been 

kindly supplied by 

Katherine Houghton, from 

her wonderful cookbook 

“Early Years Recipes for 

Children”, available to 

purchase here. 

You will need 

Instructions: 

• Paper 

• Pens/crayons/coloured 

pencils 

• Glue sticks 

• Optional: Cardboard (some 

packaging boxes that books 

or DVDs are delivered in 

are perfect for this as we 

discovered) 

1. Fold an A4 piece of paper 

so that the two end quatres 

meet in the middle of the 

length, hiding half of the 

page. 

2. Take a second piece of 

paper and attach it to the 

first so that it folds down 

covering the half page. 

3. You now have three layers: 

1) the folded outside, 2) the 

covering flap 3) the inside. 

4. Draw the outline of a head 

on the first and third layer. 

On the middle layer draw a 

brain or alternatively, print 

a brain drawing. We have 

a free template you could 

download here. 

5. Ask the children to draw 

their own face on the 

outside layer. 

6. Invite them to colour in the 

brain that is revealed when 

they look inside their heads: 

7. Ask them what their friend 

might be thinking and have 

them draw this below the 

flap. 

What do you need? 

• 10 x lemons 

• Sugar 

• Sparkling water 

Instructions 

1. Wash the lemons 

2. Cut the lemons into halves 

3. Squeeze the lemons, twist and turn until all the juice is out 

4. Add a cup of sugar and stir 

5. Pour in a bottle of sparkling water and mix 

6. Enjoy the best ever lemonade! 

24 June 2021 | parenta.com parenta.com | | June 2021 25

Paediatric First Aid Course 

CPD courses…. 

Parenta is always looking at new ways to support the Early Years Sector. We 

are pleased to announce that we now offer Paediatric First Aid training to all 

those who work in early years, in partnership with Co-operative Childcare. 

Whether you’re a manager looking to support your staff by enhancing 

their knowledge, or looking at developing your own career, when you 

study one of Parenta’s online CPD courses, you study in your own time 

and at your own pace – all from the comfort of your own home! 

3 

£ 

The course meets the requirements of 

Ofsted, under DfE’s guidance (April 2017), 

complying with the framework for the Early 

Years Foundation Stage 

The certificate is valid for 3 years from 

date of issue 

This course offers a blended approach 

(6 hours online + 6 hours face to face 

training) 

It costs only £120 per learner 

Nationwide training venues are 

available. Alternatively, we can 

deliver the training in your setting 

(minimum 6 students) 

Improve staff morale 

and motivation 

Maximise individual 

potential and promote 

development 

Allows you and your 

team to gain brand new 

qualifications in many 

different policies, 

procedures and 

practices 

Enables you to keep 

abreast of industry 

changes by constantly 

updating skill sets 

Support your staff by ensuring they 

have the right skill sets and training 

to maintain the safety of all children 

within your care. 

Book your Paediatric First Aid Training today 

For as little as £120 + VAT you can get the qualification you need to be Ofsted ready and 

maintain the highest level of safety within your setting. 

By ensuring your team undergoes relevant, regular refresher training, they’ll always be up-todate 

with the latest policies, procedures and practices – and it doesn’t need to be expensive! 

With CPD courses from Parenta costing as little as £7, 

what are you waiting for? 

Log on and learn today! 

0800 002 9242 hello@parenta.com 

0800 002 9242 hello@parenta.com

Violence against women: the role of the early 

years in preventing gender stereotypes - part 2 

‘Gender equality is a human fight, not a female fight.’ - Frieda Pinto 

Last month we looked at violence and how a collaborative effort in the early years can transform 

stereotypical attitudes and behaviour in boys, and help reduce violence against women and girls. 

This month we look at how we can best support girls to become women of purpose and resolve. 

A girl’s identity is informed by her 

genes, temperament, parents, home 

environment, friends, and the world 

around her. Early years providers have the 

opportunity to help girls become robust 

and confident individuals in their early 

years, impacting resilience for life. 

Social roles and norms are formed 

early and stick around for life unless 

challenged. ‘Boys will be boys,’ ‘Girls are 

sissies.’ Girls are often seen as ‘bossy’ 

or ‘interfering’ when displaying their 

confidence or assertion. Boys, on the other 

hand, are more likely to be praised for 

being assertive. What a contradiction! 

In a recent meeting with several early 

years, primary and secondary teachers, 

the conversation turned towards girls’ 

Age in 

months 

Outcome 

12 She laughs and interacts with people she loves 

18 

She engages with her parent/carer in her daily 

routine 

24 She enjoys showing some independence 

30 

36 

She is confident enough to deliberately seek and 

keep an adult’s attention 

She has the confidence to state her own preferences 

and interests, even if different from others 

42 She enjoys carrying out small acts of responsibility 

48 

54 

60 

She shows confidence by talking freely to familiar/ 

unfamiliar girls or boys when playing 

She has the confidence to independently choose an 

activity and then gather and use all the materials 

needed 

She has the confidence to talk positively about herself 

and others 

60+ 

She shows confidence in speaking out, trying out 

new activities, asking for help, and sharing ideas 

confidence throughout school. It was every 

teacher’s experience that girls speak up 

less and ‘let the boys do the talking.’ In 

short, boys dominated. Even in a gender 

equality lesson, it was observed that the 

boys answered the questions or debated 

the point. The girls were silent. Why 

were girls less likely to speak out? The 

teachers’ collaborative view was that girls’ 

confidence gradually weakened as the 

girls got older, with a pronounced dip in 

secondary school. 

Building skills that counter 

violence 

Young girls need to know that that they 

can thrive not only irrespective of, but 

because of their gender. 

Not yet 

reached 

Nearly 

reached 

Reached 

Providers need to ensure that girls have a 

keen awareness that they are true equals 

in every aspect of their development. 

This begins with the skill of confidence. 

Confidence grows with support and 

flourishes when encouraged. It is vital that 

we start this process right at the start of a 

child’s life. 

Gauge the confidence levels of every girl in 

your setting. This is a crucial starting point, 

as the self-reliance that accompanies 

a strong sense of self is key to creating 

women who feel empowered. 

Start the process by completing 

the confidence outcomes below for 

each girl. (1) 

Suggested support 

Provide daily one-to-one interactions, filled 

with warmth and laughter 

Have a predictable and deeply enjoyable 

daily routine 

Always be warmly and lovingly responsive to 

her social and emotional cues 

Continue building a special and warm 

relationship 

Always be alert to her facial and postural 

cues by interpreting and labelling them 

Provide plenty of genuinely enjoyable 

opportunities for her to help with 

Encourage enjoyable and exciting 

collaboration with some highly appealing 

group activities 

Provide highly appealing activities and 

events that follow her keen interests 

Create a responsive environment, full of 

praise and encouragement, always following 

her effortful attempts with positive feedback 

Create plenty of opportunities for group 

activities where she can enjoy collaborative 

work with others 

How did they do? Have you noticed a 

pattern? If each girl’s confidence levels 

are strong, keep doing what you are 

doing. If there are gaps, then follow the 

activities, and then re-assess the girls 

after a few weeks. 

Choice and voice 

Empowerment is the expansion of choice 

and the strengthening of voice through 

the transformation of power relations, so 

women and girls have more control over 

their lives and futures. (Eerdewijk et al 

2017) 

Girls’ habits and practices around choice 

and voice are key to their identity. For girls 

to be truly empowered, we need to ask 

ourselves the following questions: 

Does the provision: 

• Support girls in making choices and 

having control over their actions? 

• Empower girls to act and realise 

aspirations right from the start, 

regardless of social norms, so that 

they have achievable hopes and 

desires? 

• Encourage girls to express 

themselves? 

• Encourage girls to negotiate? 

A new social norm 

Social norms are subtle, insidious, and 

potentially toxic. They are the breeding 

ground for shaping rules about behaviour 

and habits that may well be harmful 

to both boys and girls. They potentially 

devalue the potential of girls across 

many areas of learning, particularly later 

on in school, where girls may perceive 

themselves as not ‘smart’ enough for 

science or maths choices. 

We need to embrace a mindset where 

we are keenly sensitive to all gender and 

social norms, ensuring that they never 

impact the learning of girls or the future 

potential of women. Awareness must 

be planted deep within the framework 

of what is taught and shared with our 

youngest citizens. 

Attitudes around girls or women being 

weak, or in need of protection, or striving 

harder to get ahead are myths based on 

the social and gender norms that have 

shaped our society for centuries. Such 

stereotypical assumptions based on 

‘shared’ traits should have no place in our 

education system. 

Helen Garnett 

Helen Garnett is a mother of 4, and 

a committed and experienced early 

years consultant. She has a wealth 

of experience in teaching, both in 

the primary and early years sectors. 

She co-founded a pre-school in 2005 

where she developed a keen interest 

in early intervention, leading her into 

international work for the early years 

sector. Helen cares passionately 

about young children and connection. 

As a result, she wrote her first book, 

“Developing Empathy in the Early Years: 

a guide for practitioners” for which she 

won the Professional Books category 

at the 2018 Nursery World Awards, 

and “Building a Resilient Early Years 

Workforce”, published by Early Years 

Alliance in June 2019. She also writes 

articles for early years magazines, such 

as Nursery World, Early Years Teacher 

Organisation, QA Education, Teach Early 

Years, and Early Years Educator. 

Helen is the co-founder and Education 

Director at Arc Pathway, an early years 

platform for teachers and parents. 

Helen can be contacted via LinkedIn. 

Everyone is different. Everyone is diverse. 

Everyone is an individual. Our shared 

traits are to be celebrated, not conformed 

to. This is our new social norm! 

References 

1. Arc Pathway 



Celebrating Summer Solstice 

June is the month of the year when we all look forward to enjoying some warm weather, lighter 

evenings, and a long-awaited summer holiday. It is also the month of the Summer Solstice – the 

longest day of the year which officially marks the start of summer. 

A little bit of astronomy 

Our earth revolves around the sun once 

every 365.25 days, which we know as 

a year. However, as well as orbiting the 

sun, the earth also spins on its own axis 

(the imaginary line running from the 

North to the South Pole), taking 24 hours 

to complete a full rotation and creating 

hours of daylight and darkness, which 

we call day and night. But that doesn’t 

explain why we get seasons (spring, 

summer, autumn, and winter), or why we 

have some days that have more daylight 

(in summer) and some days that have 

less daylight (in winter). 

This happens because the earth is not 

in an upright position relative to the 

sun, but is tilted at an angle of 23.5 

degrees from the vertical. As the earth 

revolves around the sun, the tilt of the 

axis remains the same. So, when it is 

summer in the northern hemisphere, the 

northern hemisphere is tilted towards 

the sun, whilst the southern hemisphere 

is tilted away from the sun, thereby 

experiencing winter. When the earth gets 

to the opposite side of the sun in its orbit, 

the situation is reversed, and it is winter 

in the northern hemisphere and summer 

in the southern hemisphere. That’s why 

the Australians can enjoy their Christmas 

lunch on the beach, while we build 

snowmen and snuggle up with a hot 

cocoa! The earth’s tilt also explains why 

we have seasons and why the amount 

of daylight we get varies throughout the 

year. There’s a good video for children 

which explains the movement of the 

earth and why we have seasons here. 

So, what is the Summer 

Solstice? 

The Summer Solstice marks the point 

in the year where the earth reaches 

its closest inclination to the sun (which 

is not the same as its closest distance 

from the sun, however). In the northern 

hemisphere, this will be on Monday, June 

21, 2021. This will be the Winter Solstice 

in the southern hemisphere. It is also 

the day that the UK receives the most 

hours of daylight during the year, but the 

exact amount of daylight we get varies 

according to location. The North Pole 

has constant daylight at this time of year 

as it is angled towards the sun, whilst 

the South Pole experiences continual 

darkness. Daylight at the equator is 

constant throughout the year with equal 

amounts of daylight and darkness. 

At Stonehenge in Salisbury, thought by 

some to be an ancient astronomical 

calendar, Midsummer’s Day will see the 

first rays of sun at 04:52 and say goodbye 

to them at 21:26 giving almost 17 hours 

of daylight. Although, as we well know 

in the UK, daylight hours are not the 

same as sunshine hours, as our weather, 

clouds, and rain can get in the way of 

that, but even if this happens, the sun is 

still out there….somewhere! 

How to celebrate Summer 

Solstice in your setting 

Summer Solstice is the perfect time to 

celebrate everything warm and sunny 

with your children, so here are 17 different 

ideas to help your little ones celebrate 

– one for each hour (or part hour) of 

daylight on Midsummer’s Day! 

1. Make a sun and earth mobile using 

pom-poms or simple circles of 

coloured card 

2. Plant some seeds – cosmos, dianthus 

and nasturtiums are easy to grow, 

and should do well if planted at this 

time of year 

3. Make some sunshine headdresses 

or masks or use some face paint to 

create representations of the sun and 

the earth – then create a dance or act 

out the earth moving around the sun 

and spinning on its axis 

4. Listen to some classical music – 

Vivaldi’s “Summer” from his “Four 

Seasons” is calming and evokes long 

summer days 

5. Celebrate with a Midsummer fete or 

festival – make sure you serve the 

quintessential British summer treat of 

strawberries and cream 

6. Press some summer flowers and 

make them into a solstice greeting 

card 

7. Create some sunrise or sunset 

pictures – you can use different 

shades of paper cut out in increasing 

sized semi-circles to create the 

sunrise/sunset 

8. Watch the sunrise live at Stonehenge 

via a live link on Facebook here (if you 

are up early enough) or watch it in 

your setting later on YouTube (so you 

can have some extra time in bed!) 

9. Make some fairy peg dolls and 

have the children create a dance 

on Midsummer’s Day – in folklore, 

Midsummer is traditionally a day 

when magic is strongest, and fairies 

and pixies can get up to mischief! 

10. Make a simple sundial by using a 

long stick and some coloured or 

painted stones. Push the stick into the 

ground outside in the full sun and use 

the stones to mark where the shadow 

falls each hour. You can find some 

instructions here 

11. Make some summer-inspired treats 

such as lemon fairy cakes, butterfly 

cakes or decorate some pancakes 

with sunny faces using bananas, 

strawberries, grapes, and raisins 

12. Learn some English country dances 

based on the idea of circles and 

rotation 

13. Tell a simplified version of 

Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s 

Dream” in storytime or read some 

educational books based on summer 

such as “What can you see in 

summer?” by Sian Smith, or “A Perfect 

Day” by Lane Smith 

14. Make a daisy or dandelion chain, 

or a flower headdress to mark the 

occasion 

15. Meditate with your children, giving 

thanks for the day, and incorporate 

some simple yoga poses to 

strengthen balance and body 

awareness 

16. Sing some songs that celebrate 

summer – a YouTube search using 

“summer songs for kids” brings up 

many favourite songs as well as 

some new ones you might like to try 

17. And finally, sit around a small bonfire 

(following all safety precautions, 

of course) and toast some 

marshmallows – the perfect end to a 

perfect summer’s day! 

And if all that fails, and it does rain…. 

make a colourful fake fire inside and 

eat the marshmallows anyway! 



Teaching children the true 

meaning of the word ‘sorry’ 

After a few stand-offs with my toddler, trying to force him to say ‘sorry’ (for walloping his sister 

around the head with a toy and calling her ‘poopy head’), I decided to take a step back and 

actually question my approach. 

Through my business, Early Years 

Story Box, I deliver training in the 

childcare sector about how the mind 

is programmed in early childhood and 

how this silently guides us through life. 

Quite often our intention as a parent 

and practitioner versus the message we 

are delivering is inadvertently different. 

We can also often get caught up in 

subconsciously repeating parenting 

patterns and approaches of the 

generations before us. 

Knowing this, I often analyse my own 

actions and question if there is a better 

approach than the one I am using and 

when I actually sat back and thought 

about it, I realised that what I was 

teaching my son by forcing an apology 

was actually the opposite of my intention. 

I wanted to teach him to take 

responsibility and to understand the 

impact of his actions. However, I realised 

that by forcing him to say ‘sorry’ (when 

he clearly showed no remorse at all) was 

doing the exact opposite. Really it was 

just teaching him that ‘sorry’ was a magic 

word that can be said in order to avoid 

consequences. 

After this realisation, I decided to ditch 

the forced apologies and take a different 

approach that I have now broken down 

into 4 steps: 

Step 1 - Calmly ask what 

has happened and LISTEN 

Behaviour is communication, therefore 

there is always a reason or trigger for 

children to act a certain way. When I 

asked my son why he had smacked his 

sister and called her ‘poopy head’, it 

turned out that she had been winding 

him up. Now this does not justify his 

actions, however, by knowing this it 

gave me a chance to teach him how 

to manage his feelings in a more 

appropriate way. By simply forcing an 

apology, this would have skipped this 

whole process. 

Step 2 – Acknowledge 

EVERYBODY’s feelings 

Quite often in this situation we would 

naturally focus on the child who has been 

hit. However, by also acknowledging my 

son’s frustration with his sister winding 

him up, it made him feel heard and 

opened the lines of communication. 

You rarely get the best out of people 

when they feel attacked or backed in a 

corner and children are no different. By 

acknowledging that his actions hurt his 

sister (which wasn’t okay), as well as 

saying that I understood that his reaction 

was caused by frustration, my son felt 

understood and therefore was more open 

to hear what I had to say. 

Step 3 – Identify people’s 

feelings 

Once I had my son’s attention and he was 

calm, I then asked him how he thought his 

sister might have felt when he hit her and 

called her names. At first, he struggled to 

answer this question so I turned it around 

and asked him how he would feel if his 

sister hit him every time she felt frustrated 

with him. He immediately said that it 

would make him feel sad so I asked him 

if he could see that this would have made 

his sister feel the same way. He agreed. 

In this moment he realised that his actions 

had an impact on others. I also asked 

my daughter the same question about 

winding her brother up so that she knew 

this wasn’t okay either. 

Step 4 – Find an 

alternative/solution 

After going through this whole process 

I asked my little boy if he could think of 

things he could have done instead of 

hitting and name-calling when he felt 

frustrated. He said that he could have told 

Mummy, which I agreed would have been 

better. I then asked him what he could do 

to make things right. His response was “I 

know, Mummy, I could call her ‘Unicorn 

Girl’ instead”. His sister’s eyes lit up and 

we all laughed and agreed that this was a 

far nicer name than ‘poopy head’. 

Step 5 - Model the apology 

I then asked my little boy if he wanted to 

say sorry for hitting and calling his sister 

names. Most of the time this leads to an 

apology, but on the odd occasion that 

it doesn’t, I say sorry on his behalf and 

model the apology by saying something 

like “I’m sorry your brother hit you and 

called you names because I know he is 

kind and wouldn’t want to hurt you”. 

At the end of the day ‘sorry’ means 

nothing without action. I used to put so 

emphasis on this word, when in reality 

it is the smallest part of an apology. This 

process has not only helped to teach my 

children about the true meaning of the 

word ‘sorry’ but has also developed their 

ability to take responsibility, empathise, 

and have compassion. I too have regained 

my sanity by avoiding the tireless ‘say 

sorry’ stand-offs, that let’s face it, we rarely 

win! 

SORRY! 

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. 

Email: stacey@earlyyearsstorybox.com or 

Telephone: 07765785595 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ 

earlyyearsstorybox 

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/ 

eystorybox 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ 

earlyyearsstorybox 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ 

stacey-kelly-a84534b2/ 



Drowning Prevention Week 

Death has been in the headlines continually in the last year. However, one statistic you might not 

have heard, is that on average, 402 UK and Irish citizens die each year of accidental drowning, 

deaths which the Royal Life Saving Society (RLSS) argue are completely preventable, stating that 

“Even one drowning is one too many”. And they are on a mission to change it. 

From the 19th to the 26th June, the 

RLSS is organising Drowning Prevention 

Week as part of their mission to help 

everybody enjoy water safely. The 

campaign encourages schools, parents, 

leisure centres, water sports providers, 

and the wider community to use water 

resources safely and to take the time 

to teach people the skills they need to 

enjoy a “lifetime of fun in the water”. The 

campaign is needed more than ever this 

year because a lot of time and education 

has been lost during the pandemic with 

swimming pools closed and swimming 

lessons cancelled, revealing a large 

education gap in water safety. 

What is even more worrying is that in 

some communities, where engagement 

with water safety activities and swimming 

has been traditionally low, this gap 

seems to have increased and there needs 

to be a large and more focused effort to 

reach out to these communities and get 

the messages across. 

Some of these under-represented 

communities include the Black community 

where 80% of children and 95% of adults 

do not swim. Other groups where the 

society is keen to get safety messages 

across are in younger people, particularly 

males since over 80% of those who 

drown accidentally are male and 23% are 

aged between 16-30, with a massive 46% 

reported as never intending to go in the 

water. 

Sharing is caring! 

On July 31 last year, a ten-year-old boy, 

Ravi Saini survived for more than an hour 

using floating advice he had remembered 

seeing on a BBC TV documentary, after 

being swept out to sea whilst enjoying 

a day out at a beach near Scarborough. 

His RNLI rescuers praised him when they 

found him floating on his back, with his 

arms and legs spread, shouting for help, 

and were convinced that his ‘Float to live’ 

technique (see below) had saved his life. 


One of the best things you can do to help 

the campaign, therefore, is to spread the 

simple water safety messages, and to 

raise awareness of the issue among your 

staff, parents and friends. 

Last year, the RLSS educated nearly 

two million people with essential water 

safety advice, and this year, they are 

hoping to reach many more. You can 

show your support by downloading and 

sharing images, templates and banners 

from their website to add to your social 

media accounts, and use the following 

hashtags and Twitter tags with messages 

of support: 

• #drowningpreventionweek 

• #enjoywatersafely 

• @RLSSUK 

The society is also producing a range of 

educational materials and a toolkit to use 

in your settings and there are resources 

aimed especially at pre-schoolers, 

primary, and secondary schools too. The 

toolkit includes suggested social media 

posts, example emails, and blogs to 

advise parents about the week, so a lot 

of the work has been done for you. It is 

just a matter of getting the message out 

to the people you know. And there’s a 

prize draw for everyone who uses the 

hashtags/tags, giving them the chance to 

win a Dryrobe changing robe, so there’s 

an extra incentive to get the message out. 

What are the main messages? 

This year, there are 3 main messages: 

1. Throughout 2020 and 2021, young 

people have vitally missed out on 

the opportunity to swim, leaving a 

dramatic gap in school swimming 

and water safety education 

2. Drowning is preventable – even one 

drowning is one too many 

3. Through free, accessible education 

and training, everyone can enjoy 

water safely 

Follow the Water Safety Code 

The Water Safety Code is a simple code 

to follow whenever you are near water 

and is the backbone of all water safety 

education. Its messages are simple and 

aimed at helping people make the right, 

early critical decisions around water, 

as well as telling them what to do in an 

emergency. 

However, water safety is not just about 

going swimming and their advice extends 

to keeping people safe at home, using the 

bath, paddling pools, swimming pools and 

aquaparks, and whilst walking near water 

in winter too. Check out the website for lots 

of helpful advice for families and people 

of all ages, and you can even learn how to 

gain lifesaving qualifications or participate 

in lifesaving competitions. 

Below are some of the main messages 

and advice to follow. 

OPEN WATER SAFETY 

• Check water sites for hazards, and the safest places to swim, 

and always read the signs 

• Take time to check the depth and water flow of open water 

sites 

• Swim with any children in your care – it’s more fun and you 

can keep them close and safe 

• On beaches, check the high/low tides and ensure you will not 

be cut off by the rising tide 

• Learn to identify and stay away from dangerous rip-currents 

• Do not use inflatable dinghies or lilos in open water 

• Do not swim near to, or dive from rocks, piers, breakwater or 

coral 

• Always swim parallel to the beach and close to the shore 

‘Float to live’ advice from 

the Royal National Lifeboat 

Institution (RNLI) 

People are urged to follow this potentially 

lifesaving advice if they find themselves in 

trouble after falling into cold water. 

ALWAYS FOLLOW THE 

WATER SAFETY CODE 

Whenever you are around water: 

STOP AND THINK 

STAY TOGETHER 

In an emergency: 

CALL 999 OR 112 

FLOAT 

1. Fight your instinct, not the water 

– meaning don’t try to swim hard 

or thrash about as this can lead to 

breathing in water and drowning, 

especially if people are suffering from 

cold water shock 

Look for the dangers. 

Always read the signs. 

Never swim alone. Always 

go with friends or family. 

Shout for help and phone 

999 or 112. 

If you fall in, float or swim on 

your back. Throw something 

that floats to anyone who 

has fallen in. 

WATER SAFETY AT HOME 

• Empty paddling pools as soon as they have been used 

• Always turn paddling pools upside down once empty 

• Always supervise your children around water, including bath 

time 

• Never leave children unattended near water, even for a 

moment 

• Always use gates, fences and locks to prevent children from 

gaining access to pools of water 

• Securely cover all water storage tanks and drains 

2. Instead, relax and float on your back, 

spreading your arms and legs out 

like a starfish until you have regained 

control of your breathing 

You can find more advice on the RNLI’s 

website including videos on how to teach 

children to float. 


All you need to know about tantrums 

If there’s one simple word that strikes fear into the heart of both parents and carers, it has to be the 

word “tantrum”. After all, they are almost impossible to avoid, difficult to understand, and in the heat of 

the moment, can be hard to handle. 

place where others are not watching and 

where you can deal with it more calmly – 

out of the public gaze. 

Stay close and be calm. Remain nearby 

but don’t try and reason with the child 

initially. 

At what point are toddler 

tantrums a worry? 

Seek some professional help if the 

tantrums are becoming regularly very 

numerous. 

Here Tanith Carey, author of “What’s My Child Thinking? Practical Child Psychology for Modern Parent”, 

with clinical child psychologist Dr. Angharad Rudkin, shares research from the book. 

Are tantrums normal? How 

common are they? 

Yes, they are a normal and necessary part 

of a child’s development. 

In that moment, the child is handling the 

situation the only way they know how, 

which is using their bodies and crying. 

Tantrums are usually caused by feelings of 

overwhelm, powerlessness, or frustration. 

All these feelings are common for a small 

child, who doesn’t yet have the words to 

express how they feel and gets told what 

to do all day by adults at a time when they 

want to explore the world and become 

more independent. 

Are tantrums a sign of bad 

parenting or childcare? 

No, tantrums are not a sign of bad 

parenting. 

But parents can sometimes react - with the 

best intentions – in ways that make them 

more serious and last longer! 

For one thing, I think the shame that 

parents often feel when other people see 

their child having a tantrum can make 

things worse. 

This is because the parent’s brain also 

goes into fight-or-flight mode – or they try 

to ‘showboat’ firm parenting in a bid to 

show ‘who’s in charge.’ 

This often makes it harder to respond in a 

more calm way, which is what your child 

needs now. 

So I’d say to any parents, be kinder to 

yourself and reframe how you think of 

tantrums. 

Avoid seeing them as a sign of defiance, 

or naughtiness, designed to make your life 

harder. 

Toddler tantrums and the terrible 

twos – when do they start? 

Why are children at this age 

particularly prone to throwing 

tantrums, is there any science 

behind this? 

You are likely to start seeing tantrums 

between the age of 18 months and two 

years. 

At this age, they are also starting to master 

control of their bodies and becoming more 

independent. However, the fast pace of 

this physical development is racing ahead 

of their emotional development – hence 

the fireworks. 

Throughout our lives, our reasoning and 

emotions are governed by the frontal 

lobes, which also put the brakes on 

emotional, impulsive behaviour. But at 

this age, this part of the brain is only just 

getting wired up. So toddlers can’t slow 

themselves down, without help. 

What exactly causes tantrums? 

Are they caused by the child’s 

brain/external factors? 

Children at this age want to be the boss 

but they’re also learning that the world 

is a place where not everyone does their 

bidding and that’s why tantrums start to 

happen now. 

At two, they also understand far more 

than they can say at this age, which adds 

to their frustration. At the start of this year, 

they usually have a bank of between 50 to 

200 words. 

As their vocabulary lags behind what they 

want to express, this leads to irritation - 

they are not being understood, which can 

manifest as tantrums. 

Are some children just ‘better 

behaved’ than others? 

Some children are more reactive or more 

‘wired’ to react and some find it more 

difficult to communicate than others. These 

children need more help from grownups to 

notice their triggers and work out what to do 

to handle them. 

So it’s not really about being ‘badly 

behaved.’ 

Is there anything you can do, as an 

adult, to avoid tantrums? 

As a parent, you can reduce the number of 

tantrums and how long they last by staying 

calm, providing reassurance, and helping a 

child to feel heard. 

Look for flashpoints like transition times – 

when they are switching from one activity to 

another – like going from playing with their 

toys to having to have a bath. 

These can be difficult - and feel like a real 

wrench to a toddler engrossed in a play 

- so give them lots of warnings. Say you 

understand they are sad to have to do 

something new, so they won’t feel the need 

to protest as much. Also, give them some 

time to finish what they are doing and 

prepare them for the next step by giving 

gentle and firm warnings like: “One more 

turn making a Lego tower and then it’s bathtime.” 

As a child gets older, get them to notice the 

signs they are about to blow. 

Help them imagine their anger as a volcano 

or something outside themselves so they 

find it easier to talk about. 

Give them some words to express 

themselves. Suggest when they feel like they 

are going to get angry, that again he tells 

you first: ‘I’m tired, ‘I’m hungry’, ‘I need some 

quiet time’ or ‘I want you to listen’. 

What are some of the most 

effective ways to handle a tantrum? 

First, make sure the child won’t get hurt. 

In public, try to gently take them to a quiet 

When the worst has passed, and the child 

starts to settle, get down on their level, use 

a soft voice and a gentle touch to soothe 

and encourage them to respond more 

calmly. 

How can I head off a tantrum 

before it happens? 

You will never be able to avoid tantrums 

completely, but you can reduce how often 

they happen and how long they last. 

To head off tantrums, also give a child 

more ‘safe’ power so they feel less of the 

need to exercise their will via a tantrum. 

For example, if a child is refusing to wear 

their coat to go outside tell them: “I can see 

this is hard for you today. I can help you 

decide what to wear outside if you like”. 

By allowing them to say what they want, 

they are more likely to relax. Or offer them 

the choice of two coats so they feel they 

have some input. After a tantrum, don’t 

shame or tell a child they have been 

naughty. 

Chat to your child about what you both 

could have done differently – and let them 

try to express, even if only in basic words, 

how they felt then and how they feel now. 

What are some phrases to avoid 

and use during a tantrum? 

Don’t tell a child to “Stop this now” and 

“You’re OK. Say things instead like’ I’m 

here”. 

Use short simple sentences “Big breaths” 

– to remind them to breathe deeply and 

calm themselves - and offer a cuddle 

when they are starting to calm down. 

Is it ever okay to ‘give in’ to a 

tantrum? 

I don’t think ‘give in’ is a helpful way of 

looking at it. It frames the tantrum as a 

battle of wills between parent and adult. 

Hold onto reasonable limits and manage 

the situation and use distraction instead 

which still works well at this age. 

So five to ten tantrums are a sign of a bad 

day. But if these bad days are the norm, 

then it might be time to seek some outside 

help. 

Researchers have found the average 

tantrum lasts about 11 minutes though 

it probably seems longer than that. But 

when a child’s typical tantrums last more 

than 25 minutes – and they are regularly 

deliberately hurting themselves, then it’s 

wise to get the situation looked at. 

Is there any advice for keeping 

calmer yourself when a child has 

a tantrum? 

It will be a lot easier to remain calm if you 

see tantrums as a necessary phase of 

development - a sign that a child’s physical 

development has raced ahead of their 

emotional development. 

It’s not a sign of ‘naughtiness’ or ‘bad 

behaviour’. It’s a sign a child is becoming 

more independent and learning through, 

trial and error, how to manage their 

emotions. 

Understand instead that at this age their 

higher brains just aren’t developed enough 

yet to deal with the powerful feelings they 

are experiencing. While it’s happening, 

take some deep breaths and view it as 

like a cloud flying overhead. It will soon 

pass. Remember that a child doesn’t enjoy 

having a tantrum. What they want most is 

to feel safe and back in control. 

With your help and time, these outbursts 

will get less and less. See it is a necessary 

phase that a toddler will pass through. 

Tanith Carey 

Tanith Carey writes books which offer 

a lucid analysis of the most pressing 

challenges facing today’s parents and 

childcarers – by looking at the latest 

research and presenting achievable 

strategies for how to tackle them. Her 

books have been translated into 15 

languages, including German, French, 

Arabic, Chinese and Turkish. Her 2019 

publications are “What’s My Child Thinking? 

Practical Child Psychology for Modern 

Parents” and “The Friendship Maze: How 

to help your child navigate their way to 

positive and happier friendships”. 

An award-winning journalist, Tanith also 

writes on parenting for the Daily Telegraph, 

The Times, the Guardian and the Daily 

Mail, in which she also serialises and 

promotes her books. She is also a regular 

presence on TV and radio programmes, 

including the NBC Today Show in the US 

and Radio Four Woman’s Hour and You 

and Yours. 

Her full bio can be found on her website at 

www.cliomedia.co.uk and you can follow 

her on social media channels @tanithcarey. 

From “What’s my child thinking? 

Practical Child Psychology 

for Modern Parents” with Dr. 

Angharad Rudkin, published by 

DK. 



Refugee 

Awareness Week 

Most of us have suffered during the pandemic in one way or 

another: we’ve been in lockdown, perhaps lost some income 

and have been prevented, temporarily, from seeing friends, and 

family. But what if that was a permanent change? What if we 

had lost everything we ever owned, had travelled thousands of 

miles to find a safe place for ourselves and our children, and 

had left behind all our family and everything we knew, with little 

or no prospect of ever seeing them again? Understanding this 

dilemma is going some way to understanding the challenges 

faced by the tens of thousands of people who become refugees 

each year through no fault of their own. 

It would be easy to think that the life 

of these refugees is one of misery and 

suffering, and there is no doubt that 

many people suffer as a result of being 

a refugee. But refugees often have 

incredible strength, resilience, and 

fortitude and can use their experiences 

to help others through telling their stories, 

finding their voices, and expressing their 

creativity. 

Refugee Awareness Week is a weeklong, 

UK-wide festival, coordinated by 

Counterpoint Arts, which seeks to go 

beyond the stereotype and celebrate the 

“contributions, creativity and resilience of 

refugees and people seeking sanctuary.” 

It was founded in 1998 and is held every 

year around the 20th June, which is World 

Refugee Day. This year in the UK, the 

week runs from the 14th – 20th June with 

the theme “We cannot walk alone”. This 

is a reference to a line from Martin Luther 

King’s iconic “I have a dream” speech, 

which describes the interconnectedness 

and interdependence of all humans. 

During the pandemic, we have heard the 

line “no one is safe until we are all safe”, 

which also underlines a fundamental fact 

of human life – that we must all ultimately, 

rely on each other to thrive; for by making 

the world a better place for our fellow 

humans, we also make it a better place 

for us. 

The organisers understand that we are 

also not all the same; that there are still 

differences in experience and access to 

power and resources that exist, but that 

these different experiences are part of 

a ‘bigger us’ which we can use to our 

advantage. Refugee Awareness Week 

is, therefore, as much about celebrating 

the stories of refugees through the arts, 

culture, sporting, and education events, 

as it is about raising awareness of their 

plight, fighting negative stereotypes, and 

educating people about the reasons why 

people become refugees in the first place. 

As the website states: 

“Refugee Week is a platform for people 

who have sought safety in the UK to 

share their experiences, perspectives, and 

creative work on their own terms.” 

It is a partnership project coordinated and 

managed by Counterpoint Arts, working 

with many national organisations such as 

the British Red Cross, the NEU teaching 

union, UNHCR, Refugee Action, various 

national refugee organisations, and 

Amnesty International, to name but a few. 

How to get involved in your 

setting 

There are many ways to get involved in 

Refugee Week, and you do not have to 

have refugees in your setting in order to 

take part. The idea is that you are making 

people aware of the refugee issue and 

celebrating their contribution; this could 

be locally, nationally, or internationally. 

As lockdown eases, it is becoming easier 

to hold events again so you might want 

to organise something or plan to visit 

another event. You can find out what’s on 

in your locality by looking on the website 

at the events calendar or you can upload 

your own event as well. There are also 

lots of promotional posters, postcards 

and downloadable resources you can 

use on the official website which can be 

downloaded here. 

Simple acts 

One of the things that the organisers want 

people to promote are some ‘simple acts’ 

that everyone can do, such as starting a 

conversation or reading a story. These are 

things that could easily be adapted for 

an early years setting by simply doing the 

things you normally do, but focusing on 

refugee stories or the theme of “We cannot 

walk alone”. We’ve listed these acts below 

and adapted some of them for pre-school 

children. 

The simple acts are: 

1. Sing a song - learn and share a song 

related to togetherness such as “The 

More We Get Together” which you can 

find on YouTube here or a song about 

saying “Hello” in different languages, 

which you can find here 

2. Watch a film – you can hold a film 

event for adults and watch some of the 

films recommended on the website or 

find some younger age-appropriate 

animations that introduce children to 

the plight of refugees 

3. Have a chat - start a positive 

conversation about some of the things 

that refugees can bring to a new 

country – think of things like food, art, 

clothes and culture and stress the 

benefits for everyone of cross-cultural 

collaboration 

4. Read a book – use your storytime to 

read some related stories such as “Lily 

and the Polar Bears” by Jion Sheibani 

or “My Name is Not Refugee” by Kate 

Milner 

5. Say it loud – create a message 

board with messages of support 

and welcome – it could be a physical 

board in your setting for people you 

know, or it could be an online version 

that can reach everyone 

6. Play a game/learn something new – 

play some games which encourage 

everyone to join in or are ice-breakers 

– it could be a circle game (see here 

for a list), or you could learn a new 

dance from another country 

7. Walk together – on 20th June, one of 

the events is the ‘Great Walk Together’ 

where you can join others celebrating 

inclusion and togetherness either as a 

setting or as different families 

8. Join the movement – extend the week 

to last all year by planning other 

events at different times and make 

sure that you are promoting tolerance, 

understanding and inclusion 

throughout the whole year 

Remember, ‘refugees’ is a collective term 

but each person is different and their 

experiences are unique, and as such, 

each will have a unique insight and 

different gifts to offer, so celebrate those. 

And whatever you decide to do, remember 

to tell us your news and send us your 

stories and pictures to hello@parenta.com. 



The cheapest all-in-one, 

easy-to-use, cloud-based 

early years software 

package you can buy! 

No setup fee – save a massive £2395! | No hidden costs! 

All inclusive | Limited time offer | Unlimited support 

For only £99 

per month 

(paid annually) 

with a MASSIVE 

saving of £2395 

(No setup fee) 

Book a Demo Today! 

What’s included? 

• Cloud-based Nursery Management 

Software for easy and quick invoicing, 

reporting & ratios 

• User-friendly EYFS development 

tracking software 

• Daily Diary to record activities, naps, 

meals and nappies 

• Parent engagement app – 

maintaining social distancing 

guidelines 

• Go paperless and limit the spread 

of germs 

• Accurately record baseline 

observations 

• Photo Editing, Tagging & Blurring 

Technology (GDPR compliant) 

• Easy Ofsted reporting 

• Unlimited phone & email support 

plus videos and help files 

Monthly direct debit option available on request 

0800 002 9242 hello@parenta.com

June 2021 Parenta Magazine

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?