November 2021 Parenta Magazine

Issue 84
NOVEMBER 2021
FREE
DR KATHRYN PECKHAM’S EXCLUSIVE CPD
BOOSTER COURSE GIVEAWAY
Industry
Experts
How to support
the reluctant eater
Problem-solving:
the foundation of
all learning?
Keeping children
safe in the early
years
+ lots more
Write for us
for a chance to win
£50
page 6
Celebrating Diwali,
Festival of Light in your setting
Diwali is a festival which you can celebrate in many ways in your setting. We thought it would
be fun to come up with some different ideas based on the Early Learning Goals.
ARE YOU WATCHING ME? • GAME-BASED LEARNING AND GAMIFICATION • ANTI-BULLYING WEEK

World Toilet Day
hello
welcome to our family
14
World Toilet Day is a United
Nation’s awareness day
which seeks to raise
awareness across the globe
of this issue and to find
some strategies, funds and a
groundswell of support.
Hello and welcome to the November edition of the Parenta magazine!
The month of November may bring darker evenings, but it also brings wonderful light. From 2nd to 6th November,
over a million Hindus in the UK will celebrate Diwali - a bright, colourful festival celebrating the triumph of the light
over the darkness, and knowledge over ignorance. We take a look at how it can be celebrated in your setting
throughout the whole month, using the Early Learning Goals, and have a beautiful rangoli suncatcher for the children
to make too!
Don’t miss Dr Kathryn Peckham’s CPD booster course giveaway this month. Turn to page 26 to read her article about how important the
Department for Education’s ‘five standards for teachers’ are - plus details on how you can enter this exclusive competition – good luck!
As always, we have such a fantastic selection of advice in the magazine from so many industry experts on topics that really resonate:
Katharine Tate helps us with something that we have all experienced at one time or another, in her article ‘How to support the reluctant
eater’ and treats us to her blueberry power punch smoothie recipe, and Joanna Grace gives us an insight into her world with her ‘little
egg’ – not to mention the benefit of her wealth of experience in working with people with profound disabilities and sensory differences.
Yvonne Sinclair recaps on her advice given at our last webinar and helps us with ‘Keeping children safe in early years provision’, Katie
White takes a closer look at anxiety, and asks ‘Are you taking well-being too seriously?’, Frances Turnbull uses her years of experience in
music for ‘Building successful literacy skills’ and Gina Bale gives some welcome advice for those practitioners who struggle with role play
in her article ‘Are you watching me?’ (PS. don’t forget to watch the video too!)
All the advice, guidance, crafts and recipes you read in our magazine are written to help you with the efficient running of your setting and
to promote the health, happiness and well-being of the children in your care. We hope you love reading it as much as we enjoy making it!
Please feel free to share the magazine with friends, parents and colleagues – they can sign up to receive their own copy here!
Please continue to stay safe, everyone.
Allan
Road Safety
Week
20
Road Safety Week is the
UK’s biggest road safety
campaign and each year
millions of us heed the call
and try to raise awareness
about the issues.
Keeping children safe
in early years
Safeguarding is not just about
protecting children from deliberate
harm and neglect.
22
NOVEMBER JUNE 20202021 ISSUE ISSUE 67 84
IN IN THIS EDITION EDITION
Regulars
6 Write for us for the chance to win £50!
6 Guest author winner announced
10 Blueberry power punch smoothie
11 Diwali rangoli suncatcher
News
4 Childcare news and views
5 Congratulations to our Parenta
learners!
Advice
14 World Toilet Day
20 Road Safety Week
24 Game-based learning and
gamification
34 Celebrating Diwali, Festival of Lights in
your setting
36 Anti-Bullying Week
Industry Experts
8 How to support the reluctant eater
12 Problem-solving: the foundation of all
learning?
16 Are you watching me?
18 Egg-cellent advice: Hand over hand
work
22 Keeping children safe in early years
provision
26 What should I look for when choosing
CPD courses that are worth investing
time and money in?
30 Are you taking well-being too seriously?
32 Building successful literacy skills in the
early years through music
38 How to help children to deal with big
emotions
What should I look for when choosing CPD courses
that are worth investing time and money in? 26
Are you taking well-being too seriously? 30
Building successful literacy skills in the early years
through music 32
Anti-Bullying Week 36

Childcare
news & views
Congratulations
to all our Parenta learners!
New report shows increasing
childcare funding rate would
give economic gains
A report by the Centre for Progressive
Policy, “Women in the Labour Market”
has revealed that lack of affordable
and accessible childcare is a barrier to
maternal employment, resulting in billions
in lost earnings.
Congratulations to all these Parenta learners who completed their apprenticeship
in August and September 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!
Its research revealed that almost half (46%)
of mothers had struggled to find suitable
childcare - and concluded the system was
failing because of inadequate government
investment which ultimately led to the
sector struggling to meet demand.
Purnima Tanuku OBE, Chief Executive of
NDNA, and a member of The Women in
the Labour Market Advisory Board for the
Centre for Progressive Policy said: “This
important and detailed report stresses the
economic importance of affordable and
accessible childcare, not just for maternal
employment but for the wider economy.
Research has repeatedly shown the
enormous benefits to children of accessing
high quality early education. This study
lays bare that failings in this policy area
are robbing our economy of billions in lost
earnings.
Access to childcare should not be a
barrier to work and yet almost half our
working mothers struggle to find suitable
childcare. We support recommendations
in the report to increase the funding rate
for childcare places and expanding the
capacity for provision. This Spending
Review period represents a chance for the
Government to get this right for parents
and providers.“
Read the full story on the Parenta website
here.
Sector returns to pre-pandemic
employment levels
A report by the Office for National Statistics
(ONS) released on 12 October shows the
numbers of employees in early years
returning to pre-pandemic levels, with
unemployment down and vacancies
growing. Its key points were:
• Number of payroll employees
returned to pre-pandemic levels of
29.2 million in September 2021
• Unemployment has decreased by 0.4
percentage points to 4.5%
• The number of job vacancies in July to
September 2021 was a record high of
1.1 million – this is 318,000 higher than
pre-pandemic levels
• Growth in average total pay was
7.2% - but this is compared to last
year when many more people were
furloughed and so on much lower
incomes
• The ONS has calculated - factoring in
the impact of furlough and depressed
earnings during COVID – that the uplift
in wages is between 3.2% and 4.4%
Read the full story on the Parenta website
here.
Petitions Committee calls for
independent review of childcare
funding
The Petitions Committee has asked for
an independent review to be carried out
into childcare funding and affordability,
as part of its review into support for new
parents and families 18 months after its
initial investigation into the impact of the
coronavirus pandemic.
As part of the report, the Committee
surveyed 8,700 parents about their
experiences, with 93% unable to access
baby and toddler groups in the last 12
months and three-quarters unable to find
affordable childcare. The Committee also
heard evidence from organisations, about
the continued impact of the pandemic on
the early years sector.
In its recommendations, the report calls on
the government to publish a new recovery
strategy for new parents and report on its
progress next summer. It says: “While not
a silver bullet, we hope this will go some
way to ensuring these issues receive the
profile and priority they deserve, but which
they have not received to date.”
Read the full story on the Parenta website
here.
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.
August and September’s wall of fame!
B. Parsa
D. Zaviera
J. Mortin
L. Cridland
M. Bowden
M.Hau
N. Weheliye
R. Thorne
S. Smith
S. Akehurst
S. Pocock
4 November 2021 | parenta.com
parenta.com | November 2021 5

Write for us!
Support Parenta Trust
When you shop at smile.amazon.co.uk,
Amazon donates
Dr Kathryn Peckham’s
exclusive CPD booster
course giveaway
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/
AmazonSmile is a website operated by Amazon
with the same products, prices, and shopping
features as Amazon.com.
The difference is that when you shop on
AmazonSmile and select Parenta Trust as your
chosen charity, the AmazonSmile Foundation will
donate 0.5% of the purchase price of what you’ve
bought to Parenta Trust.
Click here!
Visit www.parentatrust.com for more information
To be in with a chance
of winning a CPD Booster
of your choice visit Kathryn’s
website www.nurturing
childhoods.co.uk and click
here to enter the competition.
Don’t miss out - the
competition will end on
Friday 26th November!
Congratulations
Youngest Chef
Award
to our guest author competition winner, Sonia Mainstone-Cotton!
Congratulations to Sonia Mainstone-Cotton our
guest author of the month! Her article “Supporting
children with social, emotional and mental health
needs” was packed full of important information
about signs to look out for and what we can do to
help children with SEMH needs. Well done Sonia!
Sign up and receive:
Videos and Lesson Plans
Stickers
Posters
Books
Medals
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
A fun, practical, purposeful and engaging award that ensures curriculum
coverage and basic life skills to support long-term health and wellbeing for
children aged 3+. The award is a ‘Mini Muncher Challenge’, which includes
5 exciting stand-alone lessons and additional resources/activities.
Find out more at: youngchefoftheyear.com
info@thefoodteacher.co.uk 01582 620178
6 November 2021 | parenta.com
Winner need updating
parenta.com | November 2021 7

How to support the
reluctant eater
Many children experience a level of reluctance around certain
foods at some point in their development. The transition to solid
foods is not always straightforward and new colours, textures and
tastes can challenge familiarity. This uncertainty can also provide
an opportunity for toddlers and children to assert a level of
independence. This can often be accompanied by inconsistencies
around what children will eat and where, so by understanding
more about why a child may be a reluctant eater, and having
strategies to improve mealtimes, parents and childcare
professionals can be better equipped to support this transition.
Reluctant eating can be based around
both an uneasiness to try new and
unfamiliar foods and rejection of foods
that have previously been accepted and
eaten. The reason behind these is a
basic fear response, which is a normal
stage of a child’s development. This
typically peaks around 2-3 years of age,
but for some, the behaviour can become
deep rooted. This initial fear around
food, known as neophobia, is believed
to be an evolutionary-rooted response.
It served as a protective mechanism to
ensure as hunters and gatherers, we
didn’t eat something poisonous which
would make us sick. Our ancestors
developed their diet around safe colours,
smells and textures and as some foods,
specifically vegetables, have a naturally
bitter taste, acceptance of these foods
was challenged. This natural uncertainty is
evident in modern children as they develop
and expand their food palette.
By understanding that this reluctance is
based around a fear of the unfamiliar,
it can be better understood as an
expression of an innate trait all humans
share. A basic approach to reducing this
level of fear is to make the unfamiliar feel
a lot more familiar. Research has shown
that repeatedly offering a child a new
food increases their readiness to touch,
taste, eat and eventually like the food.
Persistence is certainly key with this stage
of development. If this reluctance is not
addressed, children can grow up with a
hugely restrictive diet that can reduce their
exposure to essential nutrients. Use the
top tips below as strategies to implement
in your setting and share with parents who
are also struggling at home.
Top tips to support the
reluctant eater:
• Relax
Remain positive and don’t expect or
pressurise a child to eat as this can lead
to further problems. If a child will try a
small amount, praise and accept that as
progress.
• Exposure
To reduce the fear response you will need
to plan at least 15-20 exposures before
a child will willingly eat a particular food
and you may need to track progress from
happy to have on their plate, to touching,
tasting and eating and acknowledge small
steps.
• Playtime
Look for other opportunities to increase
exposure. Within childcare settings you
can also read stories about foods, sing
songs, visit a supermarket to look at the
fruit and vegetables, plant some seeds
and get children in the kitchen cutting and
preparing their own food.
• Be realistic
Consider portion size when encouraging
children to eat new foods. 2-3 strawberries
may be an ample portion size for a 2-3
year old.
• Home
Communicate with parents. If a child will
eat within your setting but is reluctant with
the same foods at home, talk to the parents
about your approach, how you serve it and
even share the recipe.
• Health
Use storytime, discussions and mealtimes
as an opportunity to talk about food as our
fuel to keep us growing to help children to
begin to establish a link.
• Support
If a child continues to be reluctant and has
developed a hugely restrictive diet, then
seeking additional support can sometimes
be necessary. This can be accessed
through a child’s GP.
As with any developmental stage, it’s
important to develop an approach and
remain consistent and if parents and
childcare professionals communicate
effectively, a child’s fear response around
food can be reduced and they can widen
their food choices with minimal upheaval.
Perhaps try my delicious smoothie recipe in
your setting. It’s packed full of nutrition and
bursting with colour and flavour.
For more food fun in your setting, sign up to
the Youngest Chef Award. This award is for
Early Years Foundation Stage pupils (ages
3-5) and is written by teachers for early
years practitioners/teachers. It is designed
around the popular children’s book “The
Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle
and has been developed and launched
by The Food Teacher. The award is a
‘Mini Muncher Challenge’, which can be
delivered across 5 sessions (every day over
a single week or once a week over a 5
week period) with 50 minutes of planned
teaching time each session. Find out more
at; https://youngest.youngchefoftheyear.
com/
Katharine Tate
The Food Teacher Founder and
Director, Katharine Tate, has worked
as a teacher and education consultant
internationally in primary and secondary
schools for over 20 years. Qualified as
an award-winning registered nutritional
therapist, Katharine, combines her unique
education and nutrition expertise to
offer schools, organisations and families
advice, education programmes, practical
workshops, and individual/family clinical
consultations. She has written and
published several books: “Heat-Free &
Healthy”, the award-winning
“No Kitchen Cookery for Primary Schools”
a series of mini-books and has also
co-authored the award-winning “Now
We’re Cooking!” Delivering the National
Curriculum through Food. She has also
launched a programme of Young Chef
awards for schools, which support delivery
of the curriculum and nutrition. In
2019, over 4,000 children completed the
awards across the UK.
LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
8 November 2021 | parenta.com
parenta.com | November 2021 9

Blueberry power
punch smoothie
By The Food Teacher
Diwali rangoli
suncatcher
Source and image credit: Maggy Woodley - Red Ted Art
A simple and delicious smoothie, packed full of spinach which is high in folate. This can be beneficial
for memory and concentration alongside the flavonoids in the blueberries, which may help to cleanse
the body, keeping the brain active and healthy.
Ingredients:
• Small handful of spinach
• 2 handfuls of frozen/fresh blueberries
What you will need:
• Black craft paper
• Coloured tissue paper (the more colours the better)
• Glue stick
• Pencil
• Scissors
• ½ banana
• ¼ avocado
• Cup of oat milk/coconut water
• Handful of ice cubes/water
depending on thickness
Method:
1. Put the ingredients into a blender/
Nutribullet and blend until smooth
and creamy
2. Pour into a glass
Method:
1. Cut out a large circular shape from the black craft paper -
the larger the circle, the bigger the suncatcher.
2. Fold the circle in half. Once folded, fold in half again. Repeat
this one more time so in total, you have folded the circle in
half three times.
3. Use a pencil to draw patterns on the black folded card, use
any shape you like! This is a great way for the children to
explore the different shapes.
4. Once you have finished drawing out the pattern, cut the
shapes out using your scissors.
5. Once you have cut out your pattern, open up your rangoli
suncatcher.
6. Use the glue stick to attach small square sections of
coloured tissue paper to the shapes on the rangoli.
7. Once you have filled the cut-out patterns with the tissue
paper you are done! You can then hang your rangolis to
make a lovely rangoli display to celebrate Diwali.
10 November 2021 | parenta.com
parenta.com | November 2021 11

Problem-solving : the
2. Highly appealing
collaborative projects
foundation of all learning?
Collaborative projects encourage possibility
thinking, making plans and solution
strategies.
From birth, children are wired to problem-solve. At every stage of their development we observe
them trying to find a way to solve a problem, whether it is by crossing the room or going down a slide,
building a tower out of bricks or building a friendship.
Problem-solving is as much a part of life as
breathing, and it is our job as practitioners
to a) co-regulate children so that they feel
ready to explore and problem-solve and b)
to encourage children to ever deeper levels
of possibility thinking and problem-solving.
Encouragement and support build up the
problem-solving part of the brain. Anxiety,
stress and fear will shut it down.
Problems can come thick and fast in life.
Recently I watched “Clarkson’s Farm,”
where Jeremy Clarkson wanted to put up
owl boxes using telegraph poles. It was
not a success! The first pole smashed
down onto a nearby fence and crushed it.
Undaunted, Jeremy worked out a way to
make it happen. He found a man whose
job it was to put up telegraph poles. Up
went several owl boxes within the space of
a couple of hours. Problem solved!
It is imperative that we encourage children
to see challenges through a positive lens.
Everything changes for the child when they
identify a challenge, create a solution and
execute the plan successfully. It opens up
a world full of possibility and promise.
Existing knowledge in
‘working theories’
When children come to pre-school, they
already have a profound knowledge
(working theories) of their world. Such
knowledge is accumulated as children
play, socialise, and gather information
about their world. It is only when we
fully understand children’s current
understanding that we can offer them
activities that match/challenge that
understanding. Children experience
frustration when adults are insensitive to
their existing knowledge. Too often we
offer generic, broad activities that children
overlook because they already ‘know’ it!
Their expertise is not being acknowledged,
and crucial problem-solving potential is
being lost. Our planning and provision
must match each child’s prior knowledge.
The problem-solving
environment
As children are wired for problem-solving,
then the environment we provide must
have plenty of problems to solve! A
problem-solving environment encourages
children to guess, speculate, consider,
go down ‘dead ends’, make mistakes
and adjust their thinking. A problemsolving
environment supports thinking,
rationalising, ideas and views. And the
earlier children start to face achievable
challenges, the more confident they get.
The problem-solving
environment needs to
provide:
1. Agency
Take time to sit back and let children work
things out for themselves. Too often we
leap in to help or assist a child facing a
problem. When we wait to see if a child
can solve the problem for themselves, we
give them agency, even during the first
year of life. Maybe they will ask for help
– this is also a solution to a problem. Our
role is to decide how much help we give,
always involving the child in the solution.
We want to build up their agency without
building up frustration - a fine line but an
important one to get right.
Support and extend the children’s possibility
thinking and vocabulary. What if we try
this…? We could…? How about…?
Talk about projects and make plans
together, “You want to make a castle out
of these boxes. How can we make it really
big?” “What about windows? Do we want
those?” “What shall we do with the boxes
we don’t use?”
Talk about solution strategies together. “We
need another chair to make this train fit four
people. Where shall we put it? “Shall we try
using another paint brush?” “Great idea,
how about putting the bridge here, away
from this table?”
3. Opportunities to
manipulate tools
Tools are clearly significant in developing
physical skills but they are also crucially
important for developing problem-solving
skills. Every time a child manipulates a tool,
‘planning of sequential acts that lead to
a goal’ are actively encouraged. Planning
and reaching goals are the central part of
problem-solving. And the good news is
that children’s errors and successes are
equally valuable. The negative feedback
that children receive when they cannot
achieve a goal (gripping a spoon the wrong
way means that they cannot get the food
in their mouths) spurs them on to be more
efficient the next time. They will find another
solution.
Offer a range of fun, varied, challenging
and open-ended tools, such as
construction, mud kitchen, water/sand tray,
woodwork, garden tools, loose parts with
tools (stones, shells, logs, planks, crates,
tyres, tubes, etc., along with relevant tools,
such as a trowel with stones and shells)
musical instruments, etc.
4. Opportunities to revisit
favourite activities over
and over
Revisiting favourite activities enables
children to become experts! They become
keen to initiate and solve problems as they
become ever more familiar with the activity.
They can test out new ideas and solutions,
widening and deepening their expertise.
Conclusion
Children are wired to be curious and
resourceful. They love to explore, and the
more space and freedom they are given,
supported by powerful interventions from
adults, the more they can plan, consider,
think, and investigate.
Confident problem-solvers are more likely
to approach problems independently,
rather than relying on an adult for the
answers. We need to present challenge
as a welcome part of our everyday life,
rather than a separate compartment
named ‘difficult’. When the environment is
inviting, engaging and supportive, we build
powerful problem-solvers for the future.
References
1. Keen R, The Development
of Problem Solving in
Young Children: A
Critical Cognitive
Skill Department of
Psychology, University
of Virginia 2011
2. Arc Pathway
Problem Solving
Strand of Learning
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 preschool
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 Workforce in the Early
Years”, 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.
12 November 2021 | parenta.com
parenta.com | November 2021 13

World Toilet Day
And children are often the most at risk.
According to the World Toilet Day website,
at least 2 billion people worldwide use a
drinking water source that is contaminated
with faeces, and over 700 children under
5 die every day from diarrhoea linked to
unsafe water, sanitation and poor hygiene.
In places where there are no toilets, many
girls often do not attend schools whilst
menstruating, meaning that each month,
they miss out on their education, seriously
affecting their future life chances.
What is a sustainable sanitation
system?
Sustainable sanitation starts with having a
toilet in a private, accessible and dignified
setting which effectively captures human
waste. This is usually stored in a tank
which can later be emptied by a collection
service or transported away by pipes,
such as the sewer system. Then comes the
treatment, reuse and safe disposal of the
waste. By doing this, we can not only save
water, but we can reduce greenhouse gas
emissions needed for energy production,
and provide a reliable source of water and
nutrients to agriculture as well. And if you
factor in the jobs within the water treatment
industry too, you get all the economic and
employment benefits that those bring. It all
starts with a toilet!
How to celebrate World Toilet
Day in your setting
Here are some ideas to help you get
involved.
4. Raise some money for a charity related
to water and sanitation such as Toilet
Twinning, Water Aid or The Water
Project – think about having sponsored
events or community sales.
5. Teach the children about the
importance of hand washing and run
a training session on how to wash
hands effectively – you could use music
to help the children remember the
message and a quick YouTube search
reveals a lot of catchy rhymes that will
have you happily singing along all day.
6. Revisit your toilet-training procedures or
train new staff on your nappy changing
practices and protocols.
7. Clean up your own act! Promote a
better understanding in your setting of
what can safely be put down toilets,
and what can’t. Many sewers become
unhygienic and blocked because of the
myriad of items that people try to flush
down the toilet every day. This includes
things like sanitary pads and tampons,
face or cleaning wipes, and disposable
nappies! Our sewage system is not
built to deal with these items, let alone
the U-bend(!) and they cause damage
by clogging the systems. The only
things that should be put down toilets
apart from our wee and poo, is toilet
paper. Even kitchen towel and tissues
can clog systems because they are
designed not to disintegrate on contact
with water, and so can cause havoc.
8. Look at your use of disposable
nappies. Whilst they may appear to
be a time-saving resource, think about
the impact that these nappies are
having on the planet. A disposable
nappy can take hundreds of years to
compost completely and dealing with
these items is problematic. An average
child will use 5,000 nappies before
being toilet trained, which is a lot of
non-biodegradable material. Why not
investigate or trial the use of reusable
nappies in your setting during World
Toilet Day?
Whatever you do on World Toilet Day,
remember to send us your stories and
pictures to hello@parenta.com.
For more information, see:
• https://www.worldtoiletday.info/
• https://www.who.int/news/item/01-
07-2021-billions-of-people-will-lackaccess-to-safe-water-sanitation-andhygiene-in-2030-unless-progressquadruples-warn-who-unicef
• https://www.teachearlyyears.com/
under-2s/view/toilet-training
• https://www.telegraph.co.uk/
recommended/kids/best-reusablenappies-tried-tested/
There are some statistics we read that
raise eyebrows, some that cause us to
look twice, and then there are the ones
that shock us into action – or they ought
to! At Parenta, we think that the following
fact is one of those statistics that we
should all sit up and take notice of, and it’s
this:
3.6 billion people living on planet
earth in 2021, do not have access to a
safely managed sanitation service –
i.e. a clean and hygienic toilet!
(WHO/UNICEF, 2021)
If you really look and understand, it says
just under half of the world’s population
cannot do what comes naturally, in a
secure, private and sanitary place. That
may be all very well if you are living in a
wilderness and need to answer nature’s
call occasionally in the bush, but we are
talking about half the people on the earth,
on a daily basis. Instead of having what
we all take for granted, they are living
with open sewers in the streets, fatal
diseases which should be and could be
preventable, and contaminated drinking
water systems. As the organisers of World
Toilet Day say, “Life without a toilet is dirty,
dangerous and undignified.” Somewhere,
something has gone very wrong.
World Toilet Day is a United Nation’s
awareness day which seeks to raise
awareness across the globe of this issue
and to find some strategies, funds and
a groundswell of support from everyone
from ordinary people to international
consortiums, to change things. The day
is celebrated on 19th November each
year and we all need to sit up and take
notice of it if we are to achieve the UN
Sustainable Development Goal number
6 of clean water and sanitation for all by
2030.
Why are toilets important?
The health of the general public depends
on having toilets and safe sanitation. We
know this from history. When communities
gain access to clean water, proper
sanitation via private and public toilets
and a sustainable waste management
infrastructure, it improves their health,
environment, education, gender equality
and economics. Clean water and hand
washing facilities have been vital during
the pandemic to maintain our health
security and to prevent the spread of
COVID-19. But there are also other deadly
diseases such as cholera and typhoid
which are still affecting millions of people
each year due to lack of proper sanitation.
1. Give your own toilets some
appreciation – decorate them with
‘thank you’ cards or little hearts to
show you love and appreciate them.
2. Teach the children about the water
cycle and how human waste
is managed in the UK, and the
differences that exist around the world.
3. Raise awareness and show your
support on your social media sites by
using the hashtag #WorldToiletDay and
by using some of the downloadable
pictures, fact swheets and posters
from the official website (available at
https://www.worldtoiletday.info/.) You
can download a fact sheet in several
different languages including Arabic,
Chinese, Hindi, French, Portuguese,
Russian, Swahili and Spanish.
14 November 2021 | parenta.com
parenta.com | November 2021 15

Are you watching me?
If you answered YES to any of these
questions, then what are you worrying
about? This is a success, and you are
fabulous!
“Wave your hands in the air like you don’t care, glide by the people as they start to look and stare.” From
“Word up” by Cameo https://youtu.be/MZjAantupsA
Some strategies to help
Cameo said it like it is. Don’t worry about
anyone watching, just glide by, as it’s not
about them or you. All you are thinking
about is the children and what they are
asking you to do and be, at that moment
in time.
A couple of weeks ago, I had an
interesting conversation with Cathy (not
her real name), from a nursery in Wales,
and that conversation was the inspiration
for this article. We started to chat about
how new team members develop their
confidence with role-play and makebelieve
and how they initially respond to it
when they see it. Cathy then set the scene
for what had happened a few days before:
Cathy was lying on the floor snoring with
the children wandering around her going
“sshh” to each other.
Then the door opened and one of the new
team members popped their head around
the door to ask if she was OK and what
was happening.
Cathy’s response to the question was “I
am being a panther”.
That to me summed it up as she was
doing what the children wanted in their
make-believe world of fun and adventure
and the new team member was trying
to understand why she was on the floor.
To me and Cathy, it was the most normal
thing to do, lying on the floor being a
hungry panther snoring and growling
when the children came too close!
This started the conversation of how hard
it can be for some when they first start
working with young children.
When you are new to early years, playing
alongside the children using make-believe,
for the first time, don’t think about the
other adults in the room. Honestly, they
aren’t judging you or thinking about how
you look, they are worried about what they
need to do or wishing they could join in
and have fun as well!
Just focus on the children and their needs
and then you will be an amazing educator
and role model. Isn’t that what it’s all
about?
We all had to start
somewhere
Remember that everyone you think is
amazing at being creative and makes
it look so easy and fun, had to start
somewhere. They will have gone through
the same anxieties and insecurities as you.
It is so hard to do something outside your
comfort zone especially when you have
spent your teenage years trying to be an
adult suppressing your inner child.
The only critic is you!
You are your biggest critic, not the children
or any other adult in the room. This all
comes down to your negative ‘self-talk’
telling you that you are not good at this or
that.
To help yourself, just focus on what went
well. Ask yourself some questions, when
you are on the ground crawling and rolling
around, with the children, being a very
hungry green turtle:
Are the children smiling and happy?
Are the children engaging in the role-play?
Are the children starting to lead the roleplay?
Imposter syndrome
Some of the most amazing and creative
people still have feelings of inadequacy
and that is known as “imposter syndrome”
definitely worth reading the article
“Overcoming Imposter Syndrome” by Gill
Corkindale in the Harvard Business Review.
Remember this doesn’t equate to low selfesteem
or lack of confidence, it can in fact
be linked with perfectionism. I can relate
to this. I have run sessions and while I am
doing them, I feel they are awful, but the
children and team loved them. After the
session, I rack my brain with ways I could
have done it better. I haven’t yet found the
solution to my inner narrative but am still
working on it and trying to do better!
No one is perfect
We all get it wrong sometimes but that’s
how we learn. I have had some sessions
when I just wanted the ground to open
and swallow me up. We all go through
that at work, especially when working
with children. Remember that the most
successful people in the world make
mistakes and it is their failures that make
them who they are. It’s all about getting up
and dusting yourself off to start again.
Making a mistake or getting something
wrong doesn’t mean you are a failure as
everyone experiences this. It is about how
you overcome it and continue to learn.
Your take-away
Perfection is overrated. Accept that you
may not be able to achieve what you want
immediately, and it is totally OK. Don’t dwell
on things, be proactive, ask for help and
guidance.
Remember you were given your job
because of your unique skills and abilities
– be proud of what you have already
achieved. Remember your worth to the
team and don’t compare yourself to others.
If there is one message from this, it’s “don’t
worry about anyone else, just do it and
have fun” as we all bring something unique
to the setting and if we were all the same, it
would be really boring.
Yes, it can be hard forgetting about the
other adults in the room when your innernarrative
tells you they are judging you. It is
just you being your worst critic! Remember,
those who don’t play are, according to
Cameo, trying to “act real cool. But you
got to realise that you’re acting like fools.
If there’s music we can use it, we need to
dance”.
So, what do you say when you get the call
to role-play and dance?
“Ah, word up, everybody say when you
hear the call you got to get it underway”.
https://youtu.be/MZjAantupsA
Bibliography
• Word Up! Songwriters: Jenkins Thomas
Michael /Black Lawrence Ernest
• Word Up! lyrics © Universal Music
Publishing Int. B.v., Rueckbank, Edition
Tromo
Gina Bale
Gina’s background was originally
ballet, but she has spent the last 27
years teaching movement and dance
in mainstream, early years and SEND
settings as well as dance schools.
Whilst teaching, Gina found the time to
create the ‘Hi-5’ dance programme to
run alongside the Australian Children’s
TV series and the Angelina Ballerina
Dance Academy for Hit Entertainment.
Her proudest achievement to date is her
baby Littlemagictrain. She created this
specifically to help children learn through
make-believe, music and movement.
One of the highlights has been seeing
Littlemagictrain delivered by Butlin’s
famous Redcoats with the gorgeous
‘Bonnie Bear’ on the Skyline stage.
Gina has qualifications of teaching
movement and dance from the Royal
Ballet School, Trinity College and Royal
Academy of Dance.
Use the code ‘PARENTA’ for a 20%
discount on Littlemagictrain downloads
from ‘Special Editions’, ‘Speech and
Language Activities’, ‘Games’ and
‘Certificates’.
• G. Corkindale, “Overcoming imposter
syndrome”, Harvard Business Review,
2008, May
16 November 2021 | parenta.com
parenta.com | November 2021 17

Egg-cellent advice:
Hand over hand work
I do not know how he came to acquire the nick-name ‘Egg’ but ever since he came along, that’s
what my youngest son has been called. I run The Sensory Projects www.TheSensoryProjects.co.uk
(which should now really be called The Sensory Projects and Sons!) My work focuses on people
with profound disabilities and sensory differences, but my son’s advice will apply to your work too.
In this series of articles we are going to share his insights with you, if you are keen for
more, there is an ever growing collection on my Facebook profile: come and make friends.
www.Facebook.com/JoannaGraceTSP
This is article 1 out of a series of 10! The other articles will be released in the following
editions of the Parenta magazine.
When my first son went to nursery he
went to two different settings, one looked
like someone’s disorganised living room,
staffed by Grandmas who loved and
adored the children in their care. The other
was top ranked, clinically clean, displays
updated weekly, staff were always avidly
writing notes and observations when you
went in.
Upon picking him up from the pristine
nursery one day, the staff member doing
the hand over with me suddenly realised
that he did not attend on Fridays (he only
did a day, a week at the fancy place) and
rushed to get his picture for me. He’d
worked so hard on it she told me. I watched
as she took it down from the beautifully
presented display. It was a cotton wool
sheep, with stuck on black card legs and
hand drawn eyes. It looked exactly like all
the other cotton wool sheep on that display.
Exactly.
Little Egg
I took it, and she looked a little concerned
that I didn’t instantly gush over his work.
Holding it, felt ... eerie... the thought in my
head was “What did you do to my son
to make him do EXACTLY the same as
everyone else”. I want my son to learn, to
grow, to be able to express himself. That’s
what I expect from a nursery. I don’t want
him enrolled in a tiny little factory mass
producing cute items from Pinterest.
Egg and I recreated the experience (just
once, and just briefly). Here’s his wisdom:
My hands cannot perform the skills needed
to make these pictures. So my hands were
moved for me. The picture was made hand
over hand.
I did not like it.
I learned the skills I’ve worked so hard to
earn are not good enough.
I learned the hands “helping” me are better
than my hands.
Instead of being excited by the skills, my
hands have I learnt to be disappointed that
my hands cannot do more.
This happened because someone wanted
me to produce something that looked a
certain way. They valued that product more
than my self-esteem and well-being.
“My mummy only did this once and only to
show you. If she did this to me every day,
I would lose interest in my own hands. I
would stop thinking of them as things I use
and recognise them as other people’s tools.
I would become passive, I would feel sad.
Diminished.”
(These words first appeared on Jo’s
Facebook profile you are welcome to
send her a friend request to watch out
for more insight www.Facebook.com/
JoannaGraceTSP)
I work with people who have profound and
multiple learning disabilities, often their
ability to move their own hands is limited,
their ability to grip and hold items can
be unreliable. There can occasionally be
justification for very sensitive manipulation
of their hands, but more often than not,
hand over hand work just happens to
them. Kind people unintentionally do harm
by “helping” them in this way. Hand over
hand can be useful to guide a movement
for a skill that can be swiftly learned, or that
needs to be felt to be understood, the way
you might show someone how to shoot
pool. If you are supporting people with
limited movement, try using hand under
hand, to guide their hand to something you
are inviting them to explore. Think of your
own hand as like a little moving platform for
their hand to ride upon, bring their hand to
the item and allow it to slide off your hand
and onto the item for exploration. Do not
grab their hand and do it for them. That
takes them out of the equation, they are not
doing anything, you are, and you’re using
their body as a tool for doing it.
Egg starts nursery in a few weeks. (A
different nursery). I am hoping to be
bringing home a collection of paintings and
sculptures that are difficult to understand
and look nothing like any of the other
children’s!
Joanna provides online and in person
training relating to sensory engagement
and sensory differences, look up www.
TheSensoryProjects.co.uk/online-college
for more information. To view a list of her
books visit www.TheSensoryProjects.co.uk/
books Follow Jo on social media to pick up
new sensory insights, you’ll find her at:
@Jo3Grace on Twitter, Facebook and
LinkedIn.
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
18 November 2021 | parenta.com
parenta.com | November 2021 19

Road Safety Week
“We want a world where everyone is free to move in a safe and healthy way, every day. We work
to stop road deaths and injuries, support people affected by road crashes and campaign for safe
and healthy mobility for all.” - Brake website
This is a vision of the world from Brake, the
national charity who promote road safety,
campaign for safer roads, and look after
those who have been adversely affected
by accidents on the road.
Every 20 minutes, someone is killed or
seriously injured on UK roads. Alarmingly,
road crashes are the leading cause of
the death of children and young people
worldwide, and in the UK, more than six
children under the age of 15 are killed
or seriously injured on roads every day,
mainly while walking or cycling. These
events are preventable with proper
education and a change in our behaviour
and attitude towards road safety. (Statistics
from Brake website).
Road Safety Week is the UK’s biggest
road safety campaign and each year,
millions of us heed the call and try
to raise awareness about the issues
and campaign for safer roads either
nationally or locally in our own areas. It is
coordinated annually by Brake, and this
year, the week runs from the 15th to the
21st November and actively encourages
schools, nurseries and childminders to get
involved in the events and educate our
children about road safety. The theme for
2021 is Road Safety Heroes, which aims to
celebrate the heroic work of all road safety
professionals, thanking them for their
efforts and acknowledging the important
part they play in keeping us all safe. There
are a lot of people involved in road safety
and it isn’t just the obvious ones such as
the police, fire and ambulance crews who
attend accidents. There are many unsung
heroes up and down the country who help
too: from the crossing guards who assist
near school crossings, the people who
design our roads in the first place, to those
who keep watch over us from traffic control
observation centres, and the people who
clear up and fix the roads in the event
of an accident. Each one is doing their
bit to keep us safer and helping us take
responsibility for own safety and that of
other people.
Road safety for early years
It’s never too early to start teaching
our children about road safety and the
organisers of Road Safety Week have
come up with some specific resources
and advice especially for early years
educators which help make the topic
fun and exciting. They are mindful that
when it comes to talking about road
safety for this age group, they need to
get the messages across without scaring
children, so the content has to be sensitive
and age-appropriate. To this end, they
have produced a short video about Road
Safety Heroes which is tailored towards
early years and KS1 children, and a
number of different resources which can
be downloaded from their website after
signing up. These include things like:
• A Road Safety Heroes card game with
simple matching and counting games
to introduce these heroes
• Fact sheets to help you talk about the
different people who are Road Safety
Heroes
• Lesson plans for English/PSHE/
Citizenship and Art
• An assembly presentation with
ideas of how to run a Road Safety
Heroes awards ceremony at your
school or setting (you can purchase
special stickers and certificates on the
website)
• Posters, colouring and activity sheets
• Postcards to colour and send home to
parents
• A recipe for traffic light biscuits
You can access these at a dedicated part
of the Brake website called Zebras so you
won’t be stuck for ideas or resources.
Brake has identified the key messages to
get across to early years children, which
are:
1. Always hold hands with a grown-up
when walking near roads
2. Always cross roads at safe places and
hold a grown-up’s hand
3. Always sit in a child seat when
travelling by car
The best way to teach these messages is
through play, modelling good behaviours
and using the 5 senses to help children
remember the messages, so using songs,
role-plays, rhymes, stories and actions
are all good kinaesthetic learning styles to
adopt at this age.
Remember to educate your staff
too
As early years practitioners, it is also vital
that you ensure your staff are fully aware of
their safeguarding responsibilities when it
comes to road safety and that you always
have adequate staff: children ratios when
walking outside of your setting. This is
where risk assessments come in and you
should make sure that you have conducted
robust risk assessments and planned your
routes carefully whenever you take children
out on the road. Being prepared and
leading by example is important and there
are a number of risk-reducing actions you
can take when walking or cycling including:
1. Wearing high visibility jackets
2. Wearing cycling helmets when on
scooters or bikes
3. Staying on footpaths and using the
safest routes even if they are longer
(e.g. underpasses and bridges)
4. Finding a safe place to cross (Pelican
crossing, zebra/pedestrian crossing)
5. Stopping and waiting until it is safe to
cross a road
6. Looking and listening out for traffic
each way before crossing
Other ways to get involved in
Road Safety Week
• Invite a road safety expert into your
setting to give a talk
• Hold a Road ‘Safe-Tea’ Day by inviting
people to your setting for tea and
cake or a coffee morning. You can
raise money for Brake or use it to raise
awareness of road safety issues in
your area
• Fundraise for Brake to help people
adversely affected by road traffic
accidents
• Hold a dressing up day encouraging
everyone to dress up as their favourite
Road Safety Superhero
• Campaign for better road safety in
your area by writing to your MP or local
councillor
Road safety matters, and by engaging
children and young people with key road
safety issues and working together in your
local communities to improve road safety,
we can create safer spaces and mobility
for all, be that walking, cycling, in a private
vehicle or a public bus; we can help create
safer, greener environments, encourage
active and healthier lifestyles, and prevent
road traffic tragedies to ultimately save lives.
https://www.brake.org.uk/road-safetyweek
20 November 2021 | parenta.com
parenta.com | November 2021 21

Keeping children safe in
early years provision
• Criminal record and barred list
(including volunteers)
• Checks on people from overseas
• Qualifications
• Identity checks
• Right to work
• Appropriate references
• Disqualification under Childcare Act
2006
• Knowing what they are required to
disclose when applying for a role
• Understanding their disclosure rights
and responsibilities
• Having access to publicly available
guidance and support from
professional advisors
Staff induction
Last month, we were privileged to welcome Yvonne Sinclair to the Parenta family when she gave
us the benefit of her incredible safeguarding knowledge and took us through crucial statutory
information during our monthly webinar. If you missed it, you can watch it here.
Safeguarding is not just about protecting
children from deliberate harm and
neglect. It encompasses broader aspects
of care and education to provide a safe
environment for children to learn and
develop. For this to happen, a culture
of vigilance, welfare and appropriate
safeguarding actions must be promoted,
along with the fulfilment of statutory
requirements and best practice, all the
while exercising professional judgement in
keeping children safe. Underpinning this
is the need for correct and appropriate
recruitment procedures and checks. We
must ensure that those given responsibility
to look after children within early years
settings are suitable to effectively carry out
their roles.
A whole-setting safe
culture approach
As outlined in Keeping children safe in
education 2021 (KCSIE): “It is vital that
governing bodies and proprietors create a
culture that safeguards and promotes the
welfare of children. As part of this culture,
it is important that they adopt robust
recruitment procedures that deter and
prevent people who are unsuitable to work
with children from applying for or securing
employment, or volunteering opportunities
in schools.”
A whole-setting safe culture approach
is fundamental to ensure everyone
– regardless of their role and level –
understands what it means to keep
children safe. This includes ensuring
vigorous steps are consistently taken to
prevent, identify and reject unsuitable
individuals throughout each stage of the
recruitment process. Crucially, this also
extends to those recruited via third parties
and agencies.
To ensure a whole-setting safe culture
approach, early years settings must have
effective:
• Child protection arrangements
• Recruitment and selection
• Code of conduct
• Whistle blowing
• Safer working practices
• Induction and supervision
• Staff training to understand their
responsibilities towards keeping
children safe
Serious case review
failures and learnings
One example of serious failings, where
learnings around recruitment and a wholesetting
safe approach were developed, is
the review of ‘Nursery Z’ (2010). Exposed
failures included inadequate:
• Professional, reflective practice
• Whole-setting approach
• Professional code of conduct
• Assumptions in suitability and
competence
• Policies and procedures
• Recruitment and selection
• Training
As the nursery’s management and staff
had not been appropriately trained in
safeguarding, robust recruitment practices
were not adhered to. This, combined with
the other failings listed, meant unsuitable
adults were allowed access to children
and a culture of abuse towards them was
made possible.
Recruitment checks for
early years settings
Employers should ensure that employees
understand that they are expected to
disclose convictions, cautions, court
orders, reprimands, and warnings which
may have happened before and/or
during employment. Furthermore, the
following checks should be carried out as
a minimum by early years settings and in
line with the Statutory framework for the
early years foundation stage (EYFS) and
KCSIE.
All schools are required to have regard
to the government’s KCSIE statutory
guidance. However, other childcare
providers e.g. non-schools, may also
find it helpful to refer to part 3 of the
guidance, which details the recruitment
and selection process, pre-appointment
and vetting checks, and ongoing legal
reporting duties.
In addition, the following should be
recorded by early years settings. Ofsted
inspectors will check that the provider can
produce evidence of the suitability of all
relevant staff and adults.
• Staff qualifications
• Identity checks
• Vetting process has been completed
(including reference number, date a
check was obtained and details of
who obtained it)
• Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act
2006
• First aid
• Mandatory induction
• Effective supervision (including
support, coaching, and training)
Child protection is at the forefront of
ensuring settings are carrying out
their duties to safeguard and promote
the welfare of children. It underpins
relevant aspects of process and policy
development as identified in Ofsted’s
Inspecting Safeguarding in Early Years,
Education and Skills to promote a safer
culture for children.
Rehabilitation of
Offenders Act 1974 (ROA)
This act was designed to give people with
a criminal history a clean slate, as once
an offence is spent, the offender is not
required to inform potential employers.
After a number of updates, with the
latest being on 28th November 2020, the
latest changes cover new responsibilities
and requirements towards potential
employees, along with changes to
recruitment documentation. This includes:
The daily experience of children in early
years settings and the overall quality of
provision depends on all practitioners
promoting the interest of the child
and fostering a culture of support and
teamwork. They must also have the
following:
• Appropriate qualifications
• Understanding of safeguarding and
child protection responsibilities
• Training, skills, and knowledge
• Emergency evacuation and health and
safety procedures
• Effective supervision and support
It is imperative that employers support staff
to undertake appropriate training and give
them access to professional development
opportunities. This goes a long way to
ensuring staff offer quality and continually
improving learning and development
exercises for children.
Providers must also put appropriate
arrangements in place for the supervision
of staff who have contact with children
and families. Effective supervision provides
support that encourages the confidential
discussion of sensitive issues.
Having read this article, you may wish to
consider your priorities and what needs to
change to ensure safe recruitment in your
early years setting to prevent children being
failed by those given responsibility to care
for them.
Key documents
• KCSIE (2021)
• EYFS (2021)
• Staffing and Employment Advice for
Schools (2021)
• Working Together to Safeguard
Children (2020)
• Ofsted Inspecting Safeguarding in Early
Years, Education and Skills (2021)
• DBS Filtering Guide 2020
Yvonne Sinclair
Yvonne Sinclair is an award-winning
Independent Safeguarding Consultant,
Trainer and Presenter specialising in the
education and early years sectors and the
founder of Safeguarding Support Limited.
Yvonne has a wealth of safeguarding
and child protection experience,
having developed the role of National
Safeguarding Officer for a national
children’s charity. In that role she was
responsible for leading on and developing
safeguarding compliance, policy, and
training.
2015 saw Yvonne moving to an become
independent, supporting educational
providers and early years settings
with all aspects of their safeguarding
requirements to ensure organisational
confidence of safeguarding compliance.
Yvonne is AET qualified, trained in child
protection by the NSPCC, an accredited
trainer to deliver Safer Recruitment by the
Safer Recruitment Consortium, a member
of the Association of Child Protection
Professionals (formerly BASPCAN),
Child Protection in Education (CAPE) and
National Association of Designated
Safeguard Leads (NADSL).
Yvonne’s aim is to ensure that
‘safeguarding is simplified’. Find out
more about Yvonne, her team and the
support services they offer at www.
safeguardingsupport.com.
22 November 2021 | parenta.com
parenta.com | November 2021 23

Game-based learning
and gamification
What is game-based learning?
The clue here is in the title – it is a type of
active learning experience that happens
within a game framework. But it should
have very specific learning objectives with
measurable outcomes. Games often need
a high degree of child interaction within the
game, to access this content which is why
children find them engaging – there are
things to do, buttons to press and feedback
to get. The feedback that children get is key
because as they progress, they learn from
the experience and challenge themselves
to improve with greater complexity and/
or different levels. Games usually offer a
multi-sensory approach to learning, and
help children absorb the lesson through
visual, auditory and kinaesthetic systems.
An example might be a specific game or
app which helps children learn to spell or
a maths game that helps them recognise
numbers within the format of a car race or
shooting gallery.
What is gamification?
Gamification is related, but different. It is
the process of adding game elements
(such as competition or penalties/rewards)
to a learning experience with the aim of
increasing a person’s engagement or
enjoyment. Therefore, gamification may
have game elements, but they tend to
be separate from the learning content
and gamification does not necessarily
have any specific learning outcomes,
although the player can often learn things
through playing the game. Examples in the
classroom might be using a reward system
in which children earn points and go on a
leader board, or a game such as bingo or
Blockbusters used simply to test a pupil’s
knowledge.
Advantages of game-based
learning
Research has shown that playing video
games can lead to brain growth in the
pre-frontal cortex, the hippocampus and
the cerebellum as children try to beat
different levels and use problem-solving
skills. They shift into problem-solving ways
of thinking and are often more engaged
in their learning and video games can
help improve attention and spatial-motor
skills. Other research links game-based
learning to the development of a growth
mindset as there is often an initial ‘trial and
error’ approach which eventually leads to
success, and they begin to see ‘failing’ not
as an inevitable endpoint, but as something
that can be overcome with practice, skill
and effort.
Are there any disadvantages?
There are some cautionary tales around
gamification, especially if the games are
overly competitive and people do not deal
well with losing. Some students may be
reluctant even to try for fear of failing and
the games may demotivate children rather
that engage them. In addition, if students
are left alone in front of electronic devices
at the expense of quality adult or child
interactions, then problems can occur in
language and communication later on.
Does it have to involve
technology?
Game-based learning and gamification do
not have to be about technology. Chess has
been a way of teaching strategic thinking
for hundreds of years, and many teachers
remember playing board games such
as scrabble and ludo as children, which
can be just as helpful to teach spelling/
vocabulary and maths as the latest,
trending app.
What does this mean for early
years?
The market is full of games to help children
learn, and you have probably invested
in some electronic games to help your
students in different areas. There are plenty
of lists on the internet of the best games out
there for early years children, and you can
read reviews and recommendations from
other professionals too. Most children’s TV
channels have online games to support
their children’s programming which are
usually free and offer a degree of online
safety which it is important to consider. But
don’t forget the simplicity and educational
value of a board game and dice too.
Research on game-based learning is still
being collated, but perhaps we, as early
years educators, should remember the
teaching of Lev Vygotsky and his zone
of proximal development, which states
that children can increase their skills and
knowledge better with the help of a “more
knowledgeable other”, and he wasn’t
talking about a tablet or computer – but a
caring and supportive adult!
Education is evolving, and over the years
it has changed a great deal. Gone are
the days where the teacher stands and
dictates from a book whilst students
write down the information word for
word, and learn it by rote. Things have
changed. Researchers found that children
had different ways of learning and that a
teacher-led ‘chalk and talk’ method was
only really useful for a limited number of
students. They began to understand the
importance of play in a child’s education
(Froebel) and about different stages in
a child’s development (Piaget) and how
a child’s ability to learn and succeed
can be influenced by different factors
including social ones and the help of
others (Vygotsky). New buzzwords came
into education such as inclusion, crosscurricular
learning, fixed and growth
mindsets (Dweck) and all the time our
understanding of what works expanded
with each new theory. Straight lines of
front-facing desks were replaced with
smaller groups of children sat around
tables, encouraged to interact with one
another, to play and explore, and to ask
questions of themselves and the teacher.
We got playdough and messy play, Forest
Schools and digital classrooms, as passive
learning was replaced by child-led, active
learning.
Arguably, the biggest innovation in
education recently has been over the last
20 months or so, when many schools in
the UK and around the world were forced
to close their physical doors and take
lessons online into virtual classrooms
due to COVID-19. Forced to abandon
traditional routes, educationalists began
using technology more and more to help
facilitate the learning process. Teachers
learned Zoom, Teams and Google
Classroom, and suddenly, everyone was
trying to find innovative ways to engage a
class of students all studying at home!
This burgeoning of online and virtual
lessons and the ever-evolving technologies
we have in our arsenal, have brought with
it a greater interest in what we now call
“game-based learning” and “gamification”.
Although related, these two concepts are
different but have recently become almost
synonymous with how computers, tablets,
apps and other devices are now being
used to educate our children. But are they
all they are cracked up to be, and how are
they helping?
Research and references
• Challenging games help students
learn: An empirical study on
engagement, flow and immersion
in game-based learning
• Video gaming can increase
brain size and connectivity
• Gaming Mindsets: Implicit Theories
in Serious Game Learning
24 November 2021 | parenta.com
parenta.com | November 2021 25

What should I look for
when choosing CPD
courses that are worth
investing time and
money in?
Research shows that one of the biggest concerns a setting has
when purchasing CPD is the practical realities of their staff being
The EYFS tells us that staff “must
undertake appropriate training and
professional development that continually
improves’’ (2021; 3.21). To secure an
“outstanding” judgement, a setting needs
to demonstrate that focused and highly
effective professional development is in
place.
However, there is rarely the luxury of time
or money for all staff to do all the training
they would benefit from. And when you do
make that purchase, how can you be sure
that it is going to be advice you can trust
– or have any impact on practice going
forward?
I was a nursery manager for many years,
utilising various styles and approaches to
training.
• I was good at identifying the training
my staff needed, always sure to pick
CPD-certified providers
• I was great at selecting the staff that
would get the most out of it
• We met before hand, and spoke on
their return, identifying the support
they needed
• And most of the time I was pretty
good at organising numbers so that
they could even attend
But the same pattern would frequently
seem to emerge; tremendously
enthusiastic staff returning from their day
out, but weeks later I would see little in the
way of tangible change. While they had
able to do it.
been inspired and captivated, once back
in the realities of a busy nursery, it was like
they had never been. So, what was going
wrong?
It wasn’t until I left practice and became a
consultant myself that I appreciated what it
means to be a CPD-certified provider. And
the little bearing this can have on realised
improvements.
If you want to affect real change, anything
you invest in needs to have direct and
continued impact on the experiences of
your children. And within a busy nursery,
this is rarely going to happen as a direct
result of sitting in a training room for a day.
• Training needs to be delivered by
people who really understand what
it means to work in a busy school
or setting, with the knowledge and
experience of what children need,
and how to go about offering it
• It needs to be realistic advice that you
can trust and believe in
• And there needs to be some
continuation, with ideas you can
reflect on, and revisit. Maybe even
weeks later
It is for these reasons that all the training
I write follows the Department for
Education’s five standards for teachers’
CPD. Working in the early years, we are
less familiar with these standards – but no
less deserving of them. So, let us look at
what they are.
Standard One - professional
development should focus on
improving and evaluating pupil
outcomes
Training should be clear about its expected
impact. Reflecting on knowledge,
experience and goals, and with tools to
help change practice and evaluate impact.
Reflective practice is something we are
very familiar with in the early years. But
without a clear focus, reflections will
have little impact on the outcomes or
experiences of the children.
Standard Two - professional
development should be
underpinned by robust evidence
and expertise
Training should be explicit about the
evidence underpinning the practices it
advocates. Clearly explaining how and
why its messages are intended to work.
Without underpinning knowledge and
understanding, any advice you receive is
unlikely to gain much traction. How many
times have you asked someone to do
something? Without understanding why,
they are unlikely to continue when you are
not around.
Standard Three - professional
development should include
collaboration and expert challenge
Training should include opportunities to
discuss and ask questions. To consider
the impact of methods being trialled and
to challenge expectations.
Training that overlooks opportunities
to discuss current practice or desired
outcomes with colleagues is likely to
simply wash over you. It may sound
hugely inspirational in the moment, but
with little impact down the line.
Standard Four - professional
development should be sustained
over time
Sustained change takes commitment.
For any new practice to embed, the team
needs to be aware of this commitment
and supported in making the changes
required.
Training often feels deeply inspiring on
the day - even days after – but how many
ideas did you carry through? Unless
messages are revisited and supported
after the demands of the day return, they
will be soon forgotten.
Standard Five - professional
development must be prioritised
by school leadership
To support development, leadership teams
need to see its requirement and their role
within the process, along with tools and
resources to support it.
CPD needs to be a priority and supported
by those managing everyone’s time and
budgets. But this can be tough, so anything
that can simplify the process is going to
help make it a reality.
The Nurturing Childhoods Ethos is to offer
the key adults within every child’s life the
knowledge, understanding and support
required to nurture and develop every
child’s full potential.
By embracing these standards, all CPD
is personalised by the teams within each
setting. Progress is driven by the reflections
it prompts, and precise strengths and
areas for improvement are used to target
what will be highly effective professional
development.
The longer Nurturing Childhoods
Accreditation continues to maintain these
standards by following a setting-based
action-research model, so you will be sure
to see deep and sustainable development
taking root throughout your setting.
And with accompanying courses and
materials available for your parents, you
are in a perfect position to work together in
establishing the knowledge, understanding
and support they need too.
Don’t just take my word for it, visit www.
nurturingchildhoods.co.uk where you can
even take a free course.
Kathryn Peckham
As Founder of Nurturing Childhoods,
Dr Kathryn Peckham is a passionate
advocate for children’s access to rich and
meaningful experiences throughout their
foundational early years. Delivering
online courses, training and seminars, she
works with families and settings to identify
and celebrate the impact of effective
childhood experiences as preparation for
all of life’s learning. An active campaigner
for children, she consults on projects,
conducts research for government bodies
and contributes to papers launched in
parliament. Through her consultancy
and research she guides local councils,
practitioners, teachers and parents all
over the world in enhancing children’s
experiences through the experiences
they offer. A highly acclaimed author and
member of parliamentary groups, Kathryn
also teaches a Masters at the Centre for
Research in Early Years.
Get in contact with Kathryn by emailing
info@kathrynpeckham.co.uk
Dr Kathryn Peckham’s exclusive
CPD booster course giveaway
To be in with a chance of winning a CPD Booster
of your choice visit Kathryn’s website
www.nurturing childhoods.co.uk and
click here to enter the competition.
Don’t miss out - the competition will end on
Friday 26th November!
26 November 2021 | parenta.com
parenta.com | November 2021 27

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Are you taking
well-being too
seriously?
Yes you probably are, and for good reason! With the effects
of the pandemic still ringing in our ears, teachers, carers and
parents have a big job on their hands. Not only do we have a
responsibility to support children through the chaos, but we’re
also witnessing poor mental health in our friends, family and
colleagues. Anxiety levels have increased, attendance has
dropped, workload has intensified, the pressures have become
insurmountable.
Anxiety breeds anxiety; If we’re running
around like headless chickens, worrying
or ruminating, it’s likely that the children
we’re supporting will also feel uneasy.
As the old phrase goes ‘you can’t pour
from an empty cup’; when it comes to
supporting anxious children, we ourselves
need to feel well.
If we feel calm, our children will feel calm,
it’s not rocket science! Yet sometimes
this piece of the puzzle is overlooked.
Maybe you work in a school and have
been tasked with supporting a nurture
group, you feel under-qualified, have no
idea where to start and enter the space
flustered and unsure. Maybe you bombard
the children with activities, but are met
with disengagement or resistance. Maybe
you’re so concerned over a child’s
well-being that you lay awake at night
worrying about them.
Of course some children do require
specialist support from counsellors,
psychologists or social workers, but
I believe that for children who are
experiencing low levels of anxiety, play
may be the answer.
That’s why I decided to develop a
well-being program where play is at
the foundation of the learning. The
Superpower Boot Camp Well-being
Program is a series of pre-recorded
lessons that can be used directly with
groups of primary aged children. Using
interactive group games and playful
exercises; Superpower Boot Camp
introduces six natural inbuilt superpowers
to the children. These are breath, noticing
the senses, movement, kindness, laughter
and gratitude.
The superpowers are explored and
strengthened in the lessons, with
challenges set in between classes to help
solidify the learning. Below I have listed
three activities which introduce some of
the well-being techniques I cover on the
program.
Balance game
This game explains the difference between
our natural breath and our superpower
breath. The aim is to get the children to
play the game, then after a couple of
rounds instigate a pause, where you
all take three deep breaths into your
belly. Encourage the children to lengthen
their breath, focus on their feet and play
the game again using their Breathing
Superpower. They should find that they
feel stronger and more grounded when
instigating their Breathing Superpower in
comparison to their natural breath.
Instructions
• In pairs, stand facing your partner
• Placing both your feet together and
bringing your palms up to meet your
partners palms in the gap between
you
• The aim of the game is to try and
gently push your partner so they step
off their perch
• If you or your partner step off of your
perch you have lost that round
Elbow link
This game harnesses the children’s
Gratitude Superpower by focusing on the
things that make them smile. I find that
this activity unites a group as they each
respond and connect to their experiences.
Instructions
• Have one person stand up and share
something that makes them smile,
this could be “Going to the beach”
• If this statement resonates with
another child in the group, and they
agree it makes them smile too, have
them stand up and link elbows with
that person
• Then they share something else
that makes them smile, for example
“Playing tag with my friends”
• Whoever agrees that this also makes
them smile, links elbows with that
child, until everyone in the group is
standing with their elbows connected
Secret mission
Challenge the children to do a random
act of kindness for someone without them
noticing! This could be over the course of a
few hours, a day or a whole week. Using
their Kindness Superpower, the aim of this
challenge is to secretly spread kindness
to the people around them. They could
give someone a gift, send an anonymous
Katie White
Katie Rose White is a Laughter Facilitator
and founder of The Best Medicine.
She works predominantly with carers,
teachers and healthcare professionals -
teaching playful strategies for boosting
mood, strengthening resilience and
improving well-being. She provides
practical workshops, interactive talks
and training days - fusing therapeutic
laughter techniques, playful games
and activities, and mindfulness-based
practices. The techniques are not only
designed to equip participants with tools
for managing their stress, but can also
be used and adapted to the needs of the
people that they are supporting.
Email: thebestmedicine@outlook.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/bestmedicine1
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/
thebestmedicinecornwall
letter or even do a task like the washing up
without getting caught.
Taking a playful spin on well-being doesn’t
water down the learning. Yes supporting
a child’s well-being should be taken
seriously, but don’t forget the fun!
For more information checkout https://
the-best-medicine.teachable.com/p/
superpower-bootcamp-intermediate
30 November 2021 | parenta.com
parenta.com | November 2021 31

Building successful literacy skills
in the early years through music
Literacy skills are fundamental to higher level skills like planning, critical thinking, problemsolving
and socio-emotional development. It all begins with fine motor skills like holding a
pencil effectively, listening to stories and being able to retell them while anticipating events and
consequences, recognising sounds and word shapes, and finally, forming letters and/or words
that can be recognised by others. Music can be used in all of these, whether introducing shapes by
walking in lines and circles, playing instruments accurately to the beat like drumming, or singing
songs with developing storylines.
Research shows that the best environment for developing these skills is a positive one, where adults read together with children (Wirth
et al., 2021), and where children can express joy in the books and stories that they share (Nordström et al., 2021). Role-models are
important in childhood (Herrmann et al., 2021), whether inside or outside of the home, and have the potential to influence future mindsets
and behaviours. We hope that by using these songs, adults will feel empowered to play these games, knowing the thinking and
developmental planning behind them.
Fine motor: Aiken Drum
There was a man lived in the moon
Lived in the moon, lived in the moon
There was a man lived in the moon
And his name was Aiken Drum
And he played upon a ladle
A ladle, a ladle
And he played upon a ladle
And his name was Aiken Drum
And his coat was made of smelly cheese
Smelly cheese, smelly cheese
And his coat was made of smelly cheese
And his name was Aiken Drum
And his shoes were made of pineapples
This song can be used with children taking
turns to sit in a group and play drums or
triangles (instruments with beaters) while
the rest walk around them in a circle, like
the moon going around the earth. Use
children’s suggestions to develop the story.
Literacy: Green Grass
Adult:
There was a hole
Down in the ground
The prettiest hole
That you ever did see
Children:
There was a hole
Down in the ground
The prettiest hole
That you ever did see
Altogether:
And the hole in the ground
And the green grass grew all around and
around
And the green grass grew all around
Adult:
Now in that hole
There was a tree
The prettiest tree
That you ever did see
Children:
Now in that hole
There was a tree
The prettiest tree
That you ever did see
Altogether:
And the tree in the hole
And the hole in the ground
And the green grass grew all around and
around
And the green grass grew all around
Adult:
Now in that tree
There was a nest
The prettiest nest
That you ever did see
Children:
Now in that tree
There was a nest
The prettiest nest
That you ever did see
Altogether:
And the nest in the tree
And the tree in the hole
And the hole in the ground
And the green grass grew all around and
around
And the green grass grew all around
Adult:
Now in that nest
There was a egg
The prettiest egg
That you ever did see
Children:
Now in that nest
There was a egg
The prettiest egg
That you ever did see
Altogether:
And the egg in the nest
And the nest in the tree
And the tree in the hole
And the hole in the ground
And the green grass grew all around and
around
And the green grass grew all around
Adult:
Now in that egg
There was a bird
The prettiest bird
That you ever did see
Children:
Now in that egg
There was a bird
The prettiest bird
That you ever did see
Altogether:
And the bird in the egg
And the egg in the nest
And the nest in the tree
And the tree in the hole
And the hole in the ground
And the green grass grew all around and
around
And the green grass grew all around
This song introduces sequencing,
vocabulary and anticipation. The call-andresponse
format supports the children in
retelling the story within the song – pictures
can be helpful!
Writing: Mulberry Bush
(circle)
Here we go ‘round the mulberry bush
The Mulberry Bush, the mulberry bush
Here we go ‘round the mulberry bush
So early in the morning
This is the way we brush our teeth
Brush our teeth, brush our teeth
This is the way we brush our teeth
So early in the morning
This is the way we put on our shoes
Put on our shoes, put on our shoes
This is the way we put on our shoes
So early in the morning
These songs help the experience of
creating shapes. Lines and circles are used
so often that we introduce them first.
Writing: How many
miles? (line)
How many miles to Babylon?
Three score and ten
Will I get back before you do?
Yes, and back again
Open the gates and let us through!
Not without a beck and bow!
Here’s the beck, here’s the bow
Open the gates and let us through
This fun call-and-response song has
children standing in two lines across from
and facing each other. The first group asks
the question, and the second group replies
until in the end, the second group holds
hands and raises them (‘gates’) for the
other group to walk under – and the groups
swap places. Then the second group has
a turn to ask the questions and go through
the ‘gates’.
These non-competitive games are
fantastic learning tools because they are
self-correcting and rely on participants
concentrating in order for the game to work.
They are improving their literacy without
realising it, until or unless the adult reminds
them of the shapes they were making
during the song/game. And whether
children catch on immediately or learn from
each other makes no difference – they all
get to play, all together.
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
32 November 2021 | parenta.com
parenta.com | November 2021 33

Celebrating Diwali, Festival
of Lights in your setting
The Hindu Festival of Lights, known as Diwali or “Deepavali”, meaning ‘rows of lighted lamps’, is a
bright, colourful festival celebrating the triumph of the light over the darkness, and knowledge over
ignorance. Hindu is the third most practiced religion in the world behind Christianity and Islam, and
is considered to be the world’s oldest religion, dating back more than 4,000 years. It is celebrated
by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and some Muslims and Buddhists around the world, and this year, lands on
2nd - 6th November.
Hinduism is an eclectic religion which
does not claim to have any one Prophet
or worship any one God, nor does it have
a single central belief, making it difficult to
describe to lay people. It is perhaps best
described as a ‘way of life’ which can
include many different spiritual and secular
practices including meditation, yoga,
worship, duties, respect for nature, the
seeking and giving of wealth/security and
pleasure, and honour of the family.
How is Diwali celebrated?
Diwali is a 5-day festival in which Hindus
traditionally do certain things on certain
days. Like Easter, its exact days are based
on a lunar calendar, so the dates change
each year.
Day one – people often clean their homes
and clear out old things in preparation for
the main festival.
Day two – houses are decorated with
small, clay oil lamps known as diyas. It is
traditional to draw or use coloured sand
or rice to decorate the floor outside the
front door with a bright, colourful pattern
(rangolis).
Day three – this is the main Diwali festival
and people go to the temples to worship
and honour the Goddess Lakshmi. They
can share food in the temple, decorate
them with rows of diyas and end the day
with feasts and fireworks.
Day four – this is the new year for many
Hindus, and it is celebrated by exchanging
presents with family and friends.
Day five – this day is traditionally a day to
celebrate the sibling relationship and so
people see family, and share traditional
foods such as laddoos and gulab jamun,
celebrating with music and dance.
Celebrating Diwali using the
Early Learning Goals
Diwali is a festival which you can celebrate
in many ways in your setting. We thought
it would be fun to come up with different
ideas based on the Early Learning Goals.
Communication and language
Hindi is one of India’s official languages
along with Urdu, and over 60% of Indians
speak Hindi. It stems from Sanskrit but has
also been greatly influenced by Persian
and Arabic. You could teach the children
a few Hindu words related to Diwali and
here are a few easy ones to get you
started:
• Namaste – Hello – I bow to you
• Haan – Yes
• Nahin - Noहीं
• Alavida – Goodbye
• Yoga - The path of achieving union
with the Divineयोग
• Diya - The traditional oil lamp used in
Diwali
• Sanskrit – The ancient language used
in Hindu religious texts
Physical development
Teach your children some classical Indian
dance, one form of which is known as
Bharatnatyam. It was originally a temple
dance for women and is often used to
tell religious stories. The movements are
characterised by bent legs and turnedout
feet with symbolic hand and arm
gestures called mudras. You can find some
basic steps at https://www.bbc.co.uk/
newsround/54833725 or you could try
some easy Bollywood dancing.
Personal, social and emotional
development
One of the teachings in Hinduism is about
the connectedness of all things and the
idea that we should live a kind life, which
is in balance with nature to create good
karma. You could explore what kindness/
karma mean in your circle time to see what
your children think being kind to others
means. You could have a ‘kindness day’
where the aim is to be kind to everyone you
see, by a kind word or a kind deed such as
sharing toys, or swapping small gifts.
Literacy
There are books that you can use in
storytime about Diwali that explain what
the festival is about and how people
celebrate it. Twinkl has recently released
“Dipal’s Diwali” which explains how the
protagonist, Dipal, celebrates Diwali with
his family, but there are others such as
“Let’s Celebrate 5 Days of Diwali!” by Ajanta
Chakraborty and “The Diwali Gift” by
Shweta Chopra.
Mathematics
Since there are 5 days in Diwali, you
can base your number work around the
number 5. This is a good number for early
years children because it is the number
of digits on each hand. Make some hand
prints using paint and then label the
numbers 1 to 5 and get the children to
practice writing their numbers. You can
also cut out paper images of diyas and
arrange them in different patterns, or cut
out different sized circles and petal shapes
and get the children to make their own
rangoli patters with the different shapes.
Explore symmetry too by making folding
paintings. Draw a line down the centre of a
piece of paper and get the children to paint
on only one half of the paper. Then fold it
in half so that the image is transferred onto
the opposite half. When you open it up,
you should have a matching, symmetrical
image on both halves of the paper.
Understanding the world
Teach the children some facts about
India – you could show where it is on the
globe, look at some examples of traditional
Indian dress and talk about some of the
differences that exist between the two
countries. Why not consider things like?
• Climate and weather
• Population
• Diet
• National dress
• Music and dance
• Animals
Expressive arts and design
There are many arts and crafts ideas
that you can use to celebrate Diwali such
as making paper lanterns, pictures of
fireworks or rangoli patterns. You could
decorate the floor outside your setting
with chalk rangolis. Remember to make
them bold and colourful to welcome in the
Goddess Lakshmi into your setting. Another
idea is to make some Indian sweet treats
and there are some simple, no-cooking
recipes which are suitable for toddlers.
Diwali is all about light defeating darkness,
so you could encourage your children to
interpret this themselves and give them free
reign over what to draw to show this.
Remember to send us in your images and
stories to hello@parenta.com to let us know
what you get up to. Happy Diwali!
34 November 2021 | parenta.com
parenta.com | November 2021 35

Anti-Bullying
Week
Wouldn’t it be nice if our children could grow up in a safe, secure
and nurturing environment, free from any form or abuse or
the influence of people who do not have their best interests at
heart? Yet sadly, despite a myriad of safeguarding laws and
interventions, many of our children are still suffering at the
hands or bullies, either in person, or increasingly online, as they
have access to technology and the internet.
According to the latest ONS report on
Bullying in Schools, approximately 17%
of children report being bullied, with the
proportion being higher in younger age
groups: 22% of 10-year-olds and 8% of
15-year-olds. Compared to other OECD
nations, England saw the second highest
proportion of school principals reporting
bullying activity (29%) compared to an
OECD average of only 14%. A poll carried
out for the charity, Anti-Bullying Alliance
(ABA), found that in 2019, 11% of surveyed
children said they missed school due to
bullying, and 19% had avoided friends or
online media because of bullying. One in
four children experience online bullying in
some form or another.
What is bullying?
The ABA define bullying as:
“… the repetitive, intentional hurting of
one person or group by another person or
group, where the relationship involves an
imbalance of power.”
It can be physical, emotional, verbal,
sexual and it can happen face to face
or online, or even indirectly via types of
coercion and exploitation.
Occasionally, there is confusion as to
whether an incident should be classed
as bullying, or a one-off peer-to-peer
disagreement, but there are 4 key
elements that have been identified which
clarify the definition of bullying.
These state that in bullying, the actions are:
• Hurtful
• Repetitive
• Intentional
• And that a power imbalance exists
The power imbalance and repeated
intention are often key to understanding if
an incident is classed as bullying. Power
imbalance can be associated with age,
gender, social status, numbers involved
amongst other things, and our traditional
view of there being a bully and victim
is now evolving as we understand that
bullying often has a much more complex,
social structure. Research is starting to
identify different roles within and around a
bullying situation such as the:
• ‘Target’ – the victim of bullying
• ‘Ringleader’ – the main bully
• ‘Reinforcer’ – people who give the
ringleader power and reinforce their
status
• ‘Assistant’ – people who assist in the
bullying, verbally or physically
• ‘Defender’ – people who defend or
stick up for the target either in person
or by telling an adult
• ‘Outsider’ – bystanders who may
witness and ignore the situation or
who are unaware of the bullying
taking place
Having a greater understanding of
all these roles can help teachers and
practitioners tackle bullying from all
angles. By encouraging more ‘defenders’,
or ‘outsiders’ to report bullying, and by
discouraging ‘assistants’ and ‘reinforcers’,
it becomes less easy for the ‘ringleaders’
to gain access to, and intimidate their
‘targets’. Clearly these are simplifications
but they can help tackle bullying when
everyone’s role is taken into account. Left
unchallenged, bullying can grow and may,
in extreme cases, even eventually lead to
radicalisation, which we all have a duty to
tackle under The Prevent Duty.
Who is at risk?
Bullying can happen to anyone, in any
walk of life, and is not confined to children.
Many adults are the victims of bullying
in their workplace, or by virtue of their
gender, ethnicity, social status or sexuality.
There are several groups that have been
shown to suffer bullying disproportionately,
including:
• Looked after children and ex-looked
after children
• People with SEN and disabilities
• Young carers
• Ethnic or religious minorities
• LGTBQIA+
Bullying and early years
Bullying is wrong and needs to be taken
seriously at all levels. Even children aged
as young as 3 have been observed
displaying bullying behaviour, so it
everyone’s responsibility to promote
tolerance, celebrate rather than ridicule
difference, and tackle bullying head-on
with a whole-school or whole-setting
approach. Early years settings are wellplaced
to challenge prejudices that may
exist in a child’s wider social network, and
to educate and influence them in more
positive ways.
Anti-Bullying Week
Anti-Bullying Week, which runs this year
from 15th to the 19th of November is a
great way to open the discussions and
improve staff training on this issue. It is
organised annually by the ABA whose
objective are to:
• Raise the profile of bullying and the
effect it has on the lives of children
and young people
• Create a climate in which everyone
agrees that bullying is unacceptable
• Make sure that teachers, youth
practitioners, parents, carers, children
and young people have the skills
and knowledge to address bullying
effectively
The ABA website is full of information,
videos and advice on how to tackle
bullying and even has a free,
downloadable advice sheet especially
for early years settings which gives
some tips on how to promote positive
communication, empathy and
understanding to tackle the issues early
on, rather than falling into some of the
old traps of dismissing the behaviour as
‘banter’, telling the victims to ‘stand up
for themselves’, and equally-damaging,
labelling people as ‘bullies’ rather than
understanding their behaviour and
communication.
The ABA is a unique coalition of
organisations and individuals, working
together to stop bullying and create safer
environments in which children and young
people can live, grow, play and learn. It
was established by the NSPCC and the
National Children’s Bureau in 2002 and is
hosted by the National Children’s Bureau.
They provide expertise in relation to all
forms of bullying between children and
young people.
This year, the theme is ‘One Kind Word’
and they are promoting the positive use of
kindness as a way to encourage a kinder
society overall, in which empathy and
understanding replace conflict, bullying
and coercion. The week is supported by
CBeebies star, Andy Day, and his band,
Andy and the Odd Socks, and everyone
is encouraged to start the week with Odd
Socks Day by wearing different socks to
school or nursery. Last year, over 80% of
schools and nurseries took part in the
event in some way, and you can download
and an advice sheet on ways to celebrate
anti-bullying week.
ABA covers England and Wales, but
Scotland has their own anti-bullying
agency called Respectme, and in Northern
Ireland, there is the Northern Ireland Anti-
Bullying Forum.
Each organisation has developed their
own resources and activity to support the
week.
Remember too, that staff training can
help practitioners spot bullying behaviour
and the ABA run several free, online CPD
lessons too.
References
• https://researchbriefings.files.
parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8812/
CBP-8812.pdf
• https://www.ons.gov.uk/
peoplepopulationandcommunity/
crimeandjustice/bulletins/
onlinebullyinginenglandandwales/
yearendingmarch2020
36 November 2021 | parenta.com
parenta.com | November 2021 37

How to help children to
deal with big emotions
Children can struggle with big emotions and often when going into a meltdown can find it hard
to self-regulate. Developmentally, young children don’t have the capacity to calm down, so it’s
important that we acknowledge this and take steps to support and nurture them back into a safe
and calm state.
During a tantrum, it’s almost impossible
for a child to see reason because the part
of their brain that is active is closed off to
these things and isn’t capable of applying
a logical perspective. Once we realise that
their reaction is often instinctive and out of
their conscious control, we can make more
effective decisions when responding to the
situation.
Tantrums can be very frustrating, however
in these moments, children need us to
respond with connection and calmness
rather than chaos. The best thing that we
can do for our children is to firstly regulate
ourselves and our own emotions. If we are
adding frustration and anger to the mix, it
won’t help anyone.
Connection and space
The greatest gift we can give anyone is
connection. When people feel connected
and heard they are far more likely to calm
down and listen. During a meltdown, a
child won’t hear your words. However,
they will feel your energy. By just extending
love and care in this moment, you will give
them the time and space to calm down.
Think about when you yourself have lost it.
In that moment you are raging and can’t
think clearly. It’s only once you’ve calmed
down that you can reason and look at a
different perspective. The same applies
to children. Calm always comes before
clarity.
Acknowledge feelings
Quite often tantrums seem irrational.
However, if you look at the situation
through the eyes of a child (with their
limited life experience), you will most
probably gain a better understanding
of why they are feeling and reacting this
way. I remember once giving my little boy
a red felt tip pen instead of the blue one,
he wanted. It all descended into chaos
and he ended up on the floor screaming
and crying. From my adult perspective
this seemed like a massive over reaction.
However, the minute I looked at this
through the lens of a 2-year-old, it made
so much more sense. He was frustrated
that I got it wrong and on top of that, he
didn’t have the ability to talk to me in a
way that could articulate this frustration.
The only way he could express himself
was through a meltdown and because of
his age, he wasn’t able to rationalise and
control himself. He wasn’t being ‘naughty’
or defiant, he was struggling to manage
his feelings and needed my help. I hugged
him through his meltdown and then once
he was calm, I told him that I understood
he was frustrated with mummy getting it
wrong and that I was going to fix it. I then
gave him the blue pen, wiped away his
tears and peace was quickly restored.
Manage expectations
When I am expecting something from my
children, I always ask myself how I would
personally react if I was being treated in the
same way. This helps me to make sure that
my expectations are fair and respectful.
Quite often without meaning to, we
ask things of children that
we wouldn’t ourselves
be okay with.
For example:
If we were engrossed in a project and
someone just came up to us, turned off our
computer and told us it was lunch time, we
would be annoyed. We’d expect to have
some time to round things up and to finish
off what we were doing, and for people to
allow us to manage our own time. Children
are no different. By asking them if they can
be done in 5 minutes, you allow them to
feel in control. Like my own children, they
might negotiate and ask for 10, which is
perfectly okay.
By managing our own time and
expectations we can allow for this and give
children the feeling of autonomy, which
helps them to feel more empowered. If they
then go into a meltdown anyway when
the time comes to pack up, you can gently
remind them that they agreed to this.
This then teaches children about
responsibility and boundaries too.
Children are always going to have
meltdowns and will often struggle to
regulate their own feelings. However, with
our help and compassion they can return
to a state of calm and learn the lessons
necessary to move forward in a better way.
People are more likely to step into their
greatness when they feel understood, loved
and respected. If we can view a meltdown
as a signpost that a child is struggling and
needs our help, rather than viewing it as
‘bad behaviour’, we will not only manage
the situation in a more effective way but
will also teach children the art of kindness,
empathy and care.
?
?
?
Stacey Kelly
Stacey Kelly is a former French and
Spanish teacher, a parent to 2 beautiful
babies and the founder of Early Years
Story Box. After becoming a mum, Stacey
left her teaching career and started
writing and illustrating storybooks to help
support her children through different
transitional stages like leaving nursery
and starting school. Seeing the positive
impact of her books on her children’s
emotional well-being led to Early Years
Story Box being born. Stacey has now
created 35 storybooks, all inspired by
her own children, to help teach different
life lessons and to prepare children for
their next steps. She has an exclusive
collection for childcare settings that are
gifted on special occasions like first/
last days, birthdays, Christmas and/or
Easter and has recently launched a new
collection for parents too. Her mission is
to support as many children as she can
through story-time and to give childcare
settings an affordable and special gifting
solution that truly makes a difference.
Email: stacey@earlyyearsstorybox.com or
Telephone: 07765785595
Website: www.earlyyearsstorybox.com
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/
38 November 2021 | parenta.com
parenta.com | November 2021 39

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0800 002 9242 hello@parenta.com