July 2022 Parenta magazine
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Issue 92<br />
JULY <strong>2022</strong><br />
FREE<br />
Industry<br />
Experts<br />
How to build a play trail<br />
What does leadership<br />
look like... when others<br />
think they know best?<br />
Early years music<br />
training: do we need it? -<br />
part 2<br />
+ lots more<br />
Write for us for a<br />
chance to win<br />
£50<br />
Jump to page 8<br />
Children’s Art Week<br />
It’s back! Children’s Art Week is here to inspire and help children and young people to take part in practical activities with<br />
artists and art educators.<br />
CHILDREN’S ART WEEK • SUPPORTING PARENTS WITH SEN CHILDREN • PLASTIC FREE JULY
hello<br />
welcome to our family<br />
Hello and welcome to the <strong>July</strong> edition of the <strong>Parenta</strong> <strong>magazine</strong>!<br />
Summer has eventually arrived …and long may it last!<br />
As the summer holidays approach, we know that some parents feel a sense of dread at the thought of needing<br />
to entertain their children, or at least keeping them occupied for a few weeks – so we have some articles this<br />
month which parents will find particularly useful.<br />
Industry expert, Katie White, comes to the rescue and has chosen one of her favourite holiday activities to show<br />
us how we can keep the children amused for hours! Turn to page 10 to discover how to build a play trail from things not just outside, but<br />
that can be found around the house too – you’ll be surprised how many rooms and objects you can use!<br />
Arts and crafts activities can be a lifesaver for parents, and inspiration can be found on page 20 as we draw inspiration from Children’s<br />
Art Week; getting our creative juices flowing and encouraging parents’ participation in artistic endeavours.<br />
The summer holidays can be especially difficult for parents of children with SEN as they could be spending more time than normal with<br />
them and trying to understand them more fully. We have some great ideas and strategies to help them make small changes, but which<br />
can have a big impact.<br />
Another piece of advice which we think parents will really benefit from comes from early years expert, Helen Garnett, who has some<br />
fantastic guidance for parents of sensory-seeking children who struggle to stay still for periods of time.<br />
We have so many more insightful articles from our industry experts this month: Joanne Grace nears the end of her ‘Egg-cellent Advice’,<br />
Chloe Webster talks to us about The three Ps, Mona Sark continues her leadership series, Kathryn Peckham explores children’s emotions,<br />
Frances Turnbull concludes her music education training article, and Gina Bale tackles the difficulty that some little ones have with<br />
skipping.<br />
As always, everything you read in the <strong>magazine</strong> is written to help you with the efficient running of your setting and to promote the health,<br />
happiness and well-being of the children in your care.<br />
Please feel free to share the <strong>magazine</strong> with friends, parents and colleagues – they can sign up to receive their own copy here.<br />
Allan<br />
Egg-cellent<br />
advice: when<br />
play becomes<br />
work<br />
12<br />
Having lots of toys can be<br />
stressful to a child and feel<br />
like a chore...<br />
The three Ps<br />
14<br />
We all know how important<br />
our policies, procedures and<br />
protocols are, but do we know<br />
how important it is to get<br />
these documents right, rather<br />
than write them...<br />
What does leadership<br />
look like when...<br />
18<br />
In this article, we look at how to flip the<br />
narrative in a situation like this and support<br />
even the most resistant members of staff.<br />
JULY <strong>2022</strong> ISSUE 92<br />
IN THIS EDITION<br />
Regulars<br />
8 Write for us for the chance to win £50!<br />
34 Carrot star bites<br />
35 Finger painted trees<br />
News<br />
4 Childcare news and views<br />
6 Small stories<br />
39 Congratulations to our <strong>Parenta</strong><br />
learners!<br />
Advice<br />
20 Children’s Art Week<br />
22 Supporting parents with SEN children<br />
30 Supporting apprentices with peer-onpeer<br />
abuse issues<br />
32 Plastic Free <strong>July</strong><br />
36 The nightmare of skipping<br />
Industry Experts<br />
10 How to build a play trail<br />
12 Egg-cellent advice: when play becomes<br />
work<br />
14 The three Ps<br />
18 What does leadership look like...<br />
when others think they know best<br />
24 Supporting sensory-seeking children in<br />
your setting<br />
28 Early years music education training: do<br />
we need it? part 2<br />
Supporting parents with SEN children 22<br />
Understanding children’s emotions 26<br />
Plastic Free <strong>July</strong> 32<br />
The nightmare of skipping 36
Thousands of babies to join study<br />
of early childhood<br />
Thousands of babies are set to join<br />
a study of early childhood as part of<br />
research into children of the 2020s.<br />
The study, commissioned by the<br />
Department for Education and led by<br />
researchers from University College<br />
London will follow children for the first<br />
five years of their lives at least.<br />
It hopes to inform decisions about<br />
early years and childcare services,<br />
exploring how both the pandemic and<br />
the cost-of-living crisis have impacted<br />
the children, the study’s researchers<br />
say.<br />
The research, which is the first birth<br />
cohort study to be launched since<br />
the millennium, will be conducted in<br />
partnership with Ipsos, the universities<br />
of Oxford and Cambridge, and<br />
Birkbeck, University of London.<br />
Research Director Professor Pasco<br />
Fearon, said he was “extremely<br />
excited” to start meeting families and<br />
their children, who are currently nine<br />
months old.<br />
“More than 75 years ago, the first<br />
British birth cohort study, which is<br />
housed at UCL, was launched to track<br />
the lives of babies born just after the<br />
war.<br />
“And now, Children Of The 2020s will<br />
provide vital evidence about the early<br />
years as families navigate their way<br />
out of the COVID-19 pandemic and<br />
through the cost-of-living crisis.”<br />
Parents will be asked about<br />
their child’s development, their<br />
Childcare news<br />
and views<br />
neighbourhood, their family, their<br />
mental health and the home learning<br />
environment.<br />
They will also be asked about childcare<br />
arrangements for their children and<br />
pre-school education.<br />
Between the surveys, they will be<br />
invited to use a smartphone app<br />
to log their baby’s language and<br />
development, as well as receiving<br />
news and tips from the team of<br />
experts.<br />
Prof Fearon added: “Our first five years<br />
are a crucial developmental period in<br />
our lives, every new experience can<br />
play a pivotal role in how we fare later<br />
on.<br />
“This new study will investigate<br />
how children develop and the<br />
circumstances and early years services<br />
that can make a difference.<br />
“By understanding how these factors<br />
impact their development, we can<br />
learn how to support them, so they are<br />
able to make the best start at school<br />
and flourish as they are growing up.”<br />
Children and Families Minister, Will<br />
Quince, said: “This is an important<br />
study that will provide an insight into<br />
the crucial early years of a child’s<br />
life and a wealth of evidence about<br />
their development and educational<br />
outcomes.<br />
“We know the pandemic has created<br />
unique challenges for families and I’d<br />
like to thank the thousands who will be<br />
participating in this study over the next<br />
five years.<br />
“We are committed to supporting<br />
families, including through a multimillion-pound<br />
package to transform<br />
services, which will create family hubs<br />
in half of all local authorities and<br />
provide important advice to parents<br />
and carers through the Start-for-Life<br />
offer.”<br />
Speaking ahead of a visit to UCL<br />
last year focusing on the study, the<br />
Duchess of Cambridge said: “Our early<br />
childhoods shape our adult lives and<br />
knowing more about what impacts<br />
this critical time is fundamental to<br />
understanding what we as a society<br />
can do to improve our future health and<br />
happiness.<br />
“The landmark Children Of The 2020s<br />
study will illustrate the importance of<br />
the first five years and provide insights<br />
into the most critical aspects of early<br />
childhood, as well as the factors which<br />
support or hinder positive lifelong<br />
outcomes.”<br />
The full story can be found on the ITV<br />
website here.<br />
Childcare costs increase by nearly<br />
50% for the under 2s<br />
A report by the TUC has revealed that<br />
childcare costs have increased by 44%<br />
since 2010, for parents with children<br />
under 2 years - and the union body<br />
is calling for an urgent cash boost<br />
for the childcare sector. It argues that<br />
childcare is a vital part of our economic<br />
recovery; and investing in good quality,<br />
affordable childcare would support<br />
working parents and help the sector<br />
recover from the pandemic.<br />
TUC General Secretary, Frances O’Grady<br />
said: “Childcare should be affordable<br />
for all. But parents are spending a<br />
massive chunk of their pay packets<br />
on childcare bills, while their wages<br />
stagnate. This is putting huge pressure<br />
on family budgets at the same time as<br />
other living costs are shooting up. New<br />
mums are caught in a catch 22. The<br />
UK’s miserly rate of statutory maternity<br />
pay means many are under financial<br />
pressure to return work early and are<br />
then at the mercy of sky-high childcare<br />
fees. We urgently need to get wages<br />
rising to stop households drowning in<br />
bills.”<br />
On the need to invest in the childcare<br />
sector – not slash staffing requirements<br />
– Frances added: “The government<br />
has done little to support the childcare<br />
sector – even when nurseries were<br />
forced to close during the pandemic.<br />
Cutting staffing ratios is the last<br />
thing we need. It would just put<br />
more pressure on underpaid and<br />
undervalued childcare workers. We<br />
need a proper funding settlement<br />
for early-years childcare that delivers<br />
decent pay and conditions for the<br />
workforce and high-quality care.”<br />
Purnima Tanuku OBE, Chief Executive<br />
of National Day Nurseries Association<br />
(NDNA), said: “We absolutely agree<br />
that the government must give the<br />
childcare sector an urgent funding<br />
boost to reduce the burden on both<br />
parents and providers.<br />
“For years we have been warning of<br />
the spiralling costs of childcare and<br />
Government underfunding of their<br />
funded childcare places is a significant<br />
factor. As the largest customer, the<br />
Government must pay the actual<br />
cost of delivering high quality early<br />
years education and care, not keep<br />
giving providers a shortfall. This leaves<br />
nurseries struggling to make ends meet<br />
and parents picking up that shortfall.<br />
“We know parents are really grappling<br />
with the rapidly rising costs of living<br />
especially energy and food bills – this<br />
is also true for providers who are<br />
also facing increasing wage bills and<br />
business rates.<br />
“We need to see urgent support to the<br />
early years sector with funding that<br />
meets the cost of providing the high<br />
quality care and education that all our<br />
children need and deserve.”<br />
Read the full TUC press release here.<br />
“We are not babysitters”: Neil<br />
Leitch, EYA<br />
Chief executive of the Early Years<br />
Alliance, Neil Leitch, has highlighted<br />
the “disgraceful misconception” of what<br />
a nursery job demands, referring to<br />
an article in the Daily Telegraph which<br />
reported that nursery workers ‘watch’<br />
children.<br />
He told attendees at its annual national<br />
conference on 9th June: “Now I have<br />
met a lot of early years professionals<br />
in my time, and I have seen them<br />
educate children, I’ve seen them care<br />
for them, support them and their<br />
families, liaise with countless agencies,<br />
act as therapists, health visitors, social<br />
workers, you name it. Never have I<br />
met a single one who simply ‘watches’<br />
children.”<br />
The early years leader has vowed to<br />
fight the government’s plan to change<br />
nurseries’ staff-to-child ratio which<br />
would increase the number of twoyear-olds<br />
each nursery worker cares<br />
from four to five children.<br />
He is doing this “because early years<br />
professionals, no matter how well<br />
experienced and how well-qualified,<br />
only have two hands and two eyes.<br />
“And so, the more children per adult<br />
you have in a setting, the higher<br />
the risk of something unthinkable<br />
happening.”<br />
The Chief Executive said relaxing<br />
early years ratios is not the solution<br />
to problems caused by years of<br />
underfunding.<br />
Lamenting over the fact that nurseries<br />
have the “same battles, over and over<br />
again”, he said newspaper headlines<br />
report on high childcare costs but still<br />
nothing changes.<br />
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation<br />
and Development (OECD)<br />
has found the UK has the lowest early<br />
years investment of any economicallydeveloped<br />
country and some of the<br />
highest childcare costs in the world<br />
but still the government “pretends that<br />
there’s no link between investment and<br />
cost!”<br />
“I’d suggest if ministers want to take<br />
lessons from other countries on early<br />
years practice, how about looking<br />
at how they value and respect their<br />
staff…how about looking at how much<br />
they choose to invest in early years<br />
provision?”<br />
The full story, as reported by<br />
daynurseries, can be found here.<br />
4 <strong>July</strong> <strong>2022</strong> | parenta.com<br />
parenta.com | <strong>July</strong> <strong>2022</strong> 5
A round-up of some news stories that<br />
have caught our eye over the month<br />
Source and image credits to:<br />
Daynurseries.co.uk, Early Years Educator, Daily Record,<br />
Nursery World and Pacey<br />
New early years educator<br />
coaching launched<br />
May 25th, <strong>2022</strong>, was an auspicious<br />
moment for EnRich Coaching for<br />
Educators who hosted their official launch<br />
in the beautiful Cafe at City Coast Centre<br />
in Brighton & Hove.<br />
Pam McFarlane, founder of EnRich<br />
Coaching for Educators, opened the<br />
evening by introducing the team, all of<br />
whom are educators and accredited<br />
coaches.<br />
Staff shortages force nurseries to<br />
turn away new children and rely<br />
on agency staff<br />
A survey showed 77% of nursery staff are<br />
dealing with workforce shortages in their<br />
nursery.<br />
Staff in ‘outstanding’ London<br />
nursery greet children in their<br />
home language to promote sense<br />
of belonging<br />
Ofsted inspectors have praised staff at<br />
a London nursery for “skilfully greeting<br />
children in their home language”.<br />
Childcare costs stop one third of<br />
British under 25s having children<br />
Almost a quarter of couples in London,<br />
Liverpool and Birmingham say they can’t<br />
afford to start a family.<br />
Queen’s Birthday Honours<br />
recognises childcare providers<br />
The chief executive of Kids Planet and<br />
founder of Hopscotch Day Nurseries have<br />
been recognised in the Queen’s Birthday<br />
Honours for services to education and<br />
childcare.<br />
Most children are getting less<br />
than the recommended amount of<br />
physical activity<br />
Survey shows only 19% of children<br />
between one and five are getting the<br />
recommended amount of exercise<br />
needed to grow up healthy.<br />
Click here to send in<br />
your stories to<br />
hello@parenta.com<br />
Lanarkshire superheroes raise<br />
money with sponsored walk<br />
Children from Stonelaw Preschool<br />
teamed up to support their nursery<br />
with donations from a sponsored walk,<br />
raising over £500.<br />
Number of children eligible for<br />
free school meals increases<br />
amid rise in poverty<br />
According to data from the DfE, the<br />
percentage of children qualifying for free<br />
school meals has risen from 20.8% to<br />
22.5%.<br />
Government to ‘make it easier to<br />
be a childminder’<br />
The Prime Minister mentioned plans to<br />
look into changes for the early years<br />
and childcare sector, including ‘making it<br />
easier’ to be a childminder.<br />
6 <strong>July</strong> <strong>2022</strong> | parenta.com<br />
parenta.com | <strong>July</strong> <strong>2022</strong> 7
We’re always on the lookout<br />
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Congratulations<br />
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Congratulations to Kathryn Peckham, our guest<br />
author of the month! Her article “Supporting<br />
parents to support their child – from the beginning”<br />
explores how to help parents marvel in the early<br />
years as they lay the foundations that will have<br />
such great impact through all the years to come.<br />
Well done Kathryn!<br />
A massive thank you to all of our guest authors for<br />
writing for us. You can find all of the past articles<br />
from our guest authors on our website:<br />
www.parenta.com/parentablog/guest-authors<br />
8 <strong>July</strong> <strong>2022</strong> | parenta.com<br />
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parenta.com | <strong>July</strong> <strong>2022</strong> 9
How to build a play trail<br />
As the summer holidays approach, we<br />
might feel a sense of dread at the thought<br />
of needing to entertain our children, or at<br />
least keep them occupied. Whether you’re<br />
hands on and looking for inspiration or<br />
overwhelmed and need to start simple,<br />
a play trail might be just the ticket to a<br />
summer of fun!<br />
What’s the incentive?<br />
With nearly all play trails, children will<br />
need an incentive, a common goal or<br />
task. Children love searching for hidden<br />
things, collecting clues or finding pieces to<br />
a puzzle. You could even factor in a prize<br />
at the end, or get them to design their own<br />
winner’s crown.<br />
The trail doesn’t necessarily need to have<br />
much structure, the incentive could purely<br />
be to connect with others! A friend who<br />
lives in Australia showed me a picture<br />
which she had taken mid lock-down. It<br />
was a bunch of wooden spoon people,<br />
all carefully decorated and gathered in<br />
and around the park that she lived next to.<br />
Everyday new wooden spoon people were<br />
added as the children got involved and<br />
included their ’person’ to the crowd. I love<br />
this concept, and what a wonderful way<br />
of helping children feel connected to their<br />
community.<br />
For online courses, free resources or<br />
information about my current playful<br />
projects check out www.thebestmedicine.<br />
co.uk<br />
When I say ‘play trail’ you might think of a<br />
playground or obstacle course, filled with<br />
equipment that gets the children moving,<br />
leaping, balancing and swinging. These<br />
kind of play trails are brilliant, but may<br />
not be easy to access or age-appropriate<br />
for your child. In this article, I’ll outline<br />
ways to build a play trail from things you<br />
can find around the house, and give you<br />
some key pointers to think about to ensure<br />
enjoyment for all!<br />
Where to start<br />
If you’ve ever taken your children to a<br />
museum or gardens, you’ll be familiar<br />
with the preface of a play trail. Whether<br />
its educational, imaginative or promotes<br />
physical exercise, the play trail is a<br />
fantastic way to engage and excite<br />
children with their surroundings. So how<br />
might you do this at home, in your setting<br />
or community?<br />
I suggest you start where you are; what<br />
physical space do you have inside and<br />
out? Is there a park or public space where<br />
you could set up your trail? What resources<br />
do you have in front of you? Could you use<br />
something from the kitchen cupboard or<br />
recycling?<br />
Organising a play trail doesn’t need to be<br />
expensive or cost you too much time, if<br />
you’re caring for older children, get them<br />
involved in the generation of ideas and<br />
the construction. If they’re younger, keep it<br />
simple by confining the trail to one or two<br />
rooms. The trail doesn’t need to stretch for<br />
miles, it could simply be around the house<br />
or garden. Start small, leave the grander<br />
plans for later.<br />
Who’s playing?<br />
It’s important to first assess the ability of<br />
the children you’re caring for, and tailor<br />
it to their needs and learning. Children<br />
will lose interest if the trail is overly<br />
complicated or full of jargon, so keep it<br />
simple. Adding sensory elements is a<br />
great way of engaging younger children<br />
and children with disabilities. Walking<br />
barefoot or rolling on interesting textures<br />
like cornflakes or bubble wrap, adding<br />
tastes and smells, or using sound are all<br />
brilliant ways of making the trail inclusive<br />
and multi-faceted.<br />
Choose a theme<br />
Instead of rushing ahead with a theme,<br />
find something you know the children will<br />
enjoy. What are they interested in at the<br />
moment? Dragons, magic, fairies, fish,<br />
volcanoes, tractors, insects, mermaids,<br />
time travel, space, dinosaurs? Build these<br />
interests into the trail, that way you know<br />
you’ll have their attention.<br />
I recently designed a play trail for a<br />
local garden; with thousands of children<br />
passing through their gates, they needed<br />
something universal that every child<br />
could engage with and enjoy. I chose<br />
the theme of honey bees; assigning the<br />
children as bees and giving them the<br />
task of collecting pollen and nectar from<br />
the flowers at points which were spread<br />
around the garden. I then gave them tasks<br />
that aligned to the theme, with worker bee<br />
challenges, waggle dancing and queen<br />
bee photo opportunities.<br />
Another great way to find a theme is to<br />
structure the trail around a book or story<br />
that the child knows and loves. You can<br />
also take characters or elements of the<br />
story and build them into your trail.<br />
Katie White<br />
Katie Rose White is a Laughter Facilitator<br />
and founder of The Best Medicine.<br />
She works predominantly with carers,<br />
teachers and healthcare professionals -<br />
teaching playful strategies for boosting<br />
mood, strengthening resilience and<br />
improving well-being. She provides<br />
practical workshops, interactive talks<br />
and training days - fusing therapeutic<br />
laughter techniques, playful games<br />
and activities, and mindfulness-based<br />
practices. The techniques are not only<br />
designed to equip participants with tools<br />
for managing their stress, but can also<br />
be used and adapted to the needs of the<br />
people that they are supporting.<br />
thebestmedicine@outlook.com<br />
www.twitter.com/bestmedicine1<br />
http://www.facebook.com/<br />
thebestmedicinecornwall<br />
10 <strong>July</strong> <strong>2022</strong> | parenta.com<br />
parenta.com | <strong>July</strong> <strong>2022</strong> 11
Egg-cellent advice:<br />
when play becomes work<br />
I do not know how he came to acquire the nickname Egg but ever since he came along that’s what my youngest son has been called.<br />
I run The Sensory Projects www.TheSensoryProjects.co.uk (which should now really be called The Sensory Projects and Sons!) My work<br />
focuses on people with profound disabilities and sensory differences, but my son’s advice will apply to your work too.<br />
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<br />
Facebook profile: come and make friends. www.Facebook.com/JoannaGraceTSP<br />
This is article 9 out of a series of 10! To view the others click here.<br />
I cannot remember where I first heard<br />
it but the phrase “Active toys make<br />
passive children, passive toys make<br />
active children” rang true with me. Until<br />
recently the toys were all stored in six<br />
boxes downstairs on a kind of bookshelf<br />
arrangement, and the bedroom was kept<br />
for clothes and bedding. Since Egg’s arrival<br />
we have shifted the rooms around and the<br />
boys are sharing one big room. I swear<br />
the toys are multiplying, I don’t know how!<br />
But we still have relatively few toys when<br />
compared to our peers. This is not because<br />
we cannot afford them (they’re all finds<br />
from charity shops anyway) or because we<br />
are mean and do not want our children to<br />
have fun. It’s quite simply because we do<br />
not play with them. Pop by, you’re far more<br />
likely to find us playing with a cardboard<br />
box, or the two metres of guttering pipe<br />
which was my older boy’s first birthday<br />
present (still as played with six years on as<br />
it was the year he got it).<br />
Having lots of toys can be stressful to a<br />
child, it’s like an adult in an office with too<br />
much work to do in their in-tray, as Egg<br />
explains:<br />
(But before he does, allow me to get off<br />
my chest, that we did not move house.<br />
I packed the entirety of our house<br />
into boxes with a baby on my hip in<br />
anticipation of a move only weeks away. 7<br />
months down the line it all fell through and<br />
we are very much staying put!)<br />
*Note this post mentions people becoming<br />
overwhelmed by sensory experiences, if<br />
you are struggling with behaviour in your<br />
setting and think it might have a sensory<br />
cause consider studying “Exploring the<br />
Impact of the Senses on Behaviour” with<br />
The Sensory Projects online college www.<br />
TheSensoryProjects.co.uk/online-college<br />
We might be moving house. Ordinarily my<br />
toys are kept in different small boxes, each<br />
with just a few toys in it. Mummy offers me<br />
the toys from one box for a day, or a week.<br />
Because we are moving she has dumped<br />
them all into one box. It has no lid, so I can<br />
get to all my toys. Great!<br />
But often it ends up like this. I pick up the<br />
toy, other toys pull on my attention, I pick<br />
up another toy. Play becomes like work<br />
and I have too much on my plate. I am<br />
overwhelmed. I cannot pick them all up. I<br />
cannot focus. Play is no longer fun.<br />
When I only had six toys or even one, I<br />
played more. Research shows the less<br />
toys children have the more they play with<br />
them.<br />
My mummy grew up on a boat, where<br />
there wasn’t space for lots of toys, and my<br />
grandma would bag up half her toys and<br />
hide them for months, then take away the<br />
toys that were out and swap them around.<br />
She still remembers how exciting it was to<br />
re-meet her toys.<br />
In our new house, as I grow, my toys will<br />
be back in their separate boxes and I will<br />
be able to get to them myself. They will<br />
not all be out. My favourites will stay all<br />
the time but others will come and go in<br />
a rotate-a-toy dance. Mummy is looking<br />
forward to this!<br />
(These words first appeared on Jo’s<br />
Facebook profile you are welcome to<br />
send her a friend request to watch out<br />
for more insight www.Facebook.com/<br />
JoannaGraceTSP)<br />
Joanna provides online and in person<br />
training relating to sensory engagement<br />
and sensory differences, look up www.<br />
TheSensoryProjects.co.uk/online-college<br />
for more information.<br />
To view a list of her books visit www.<br />
TheSensoryProjects.co.uk/books.<br />
Follow Jo on social media to pick<br />
up new sensory insights, you’ll find<br />
her at: Twitter, www.Facebook.com/<br />
JoannaGraceTSP and www.Linkedin/In/<br />
JoannaGraceTheSensoryProjects.<br />
Joanna Grace<br />
Joanna Grace is an international<br />
Sensory Engagement and Inclusion<br />
Specialist, trainer, author, TEDx speaker<br />
and founder of The Sensory Projects.<br />
Consistently rated as “outstanding” by<br />
Ofsted, Joanna has taught in<br />
mainstream and special school settings,<br />
connecting with pupils of all ages and<br />
abilities. To inform her work, Joanna<br />
draws on her own experience from her<br />
private and professional life as well as<br />
taking in all the information she can<br />
from the research archives. Joanna’s<br />
private life includes family members<br />
with disabilities and neurodiverse<br />
conditions and time spent as a<br />
registered foster carer for children with<br />
profound disabilities.<br />
Joanna has published four practitioner<br />
books: “Multiple Multisensory Rooms:<br />
Myth Busting the Magic”, “Sensory<br />
Stories for Children and Teens”,<br />
“Sensory-Being for Sensory Beings”<br />
and “Sharing Sensory Stories and<br />
Conversations with People with<br />
Dementia”. and two inclusive sensory<br />
story children’s books: “Voyage to<br />
Arghan” and “Ernest and I”. There is<br />
new book coming out soon called<br />
”The Subtle Spectrum” and her<br />
son has recently become the UK’s<br />
youngest published author with his<br />
book, “My Mummy is Autistic” which<br />
was foreworded by Chris Packham.<br />
Joanna followed with her own book<br />
“The Subtle Spectrum” which explores<br />
the landscape of post diagnosis adult<br />
identified autism.<br />
Joanna is a big fan of social media and<br />
is always happy to connect with people<br />
via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.<br />
12 <strong>July</strong> <strong>2022</strong> | parenta.com<br />
parenta.com | <strong>July</strong> <strong>2022</strong> 13
We all know how important our policies,<br />
procedures and protocols are, but do<br />
we know how important it is to get these<br />
documents right, rather than write them,<br />
print them, display them and store them<br />
just because we ‘have to’?!<br />
Policies, procedures and protocols<br />
encompass everything our setting has to<br />
offer, what we propose to do, our action<br />
plans and the health and safety aspects of<br />
our setting.<br />
The importance of these documents is not<br />
to be taken lightly by any stretch of the<br />
imagination, but we must adopt the same<br />
critical reflection of our policies etc. as<br />
we do all other parts of our practice, and<br />
ensure that we are writing these policies<br />
for the right reasons, that they include<br />
the right information and that they are<br />
readable and relevant.<br />
Policies and procedures are only as good<br />
as the people writing, reading and putting<br />
them into action – if you are a setting that<br />
has umpteen policies for a whole host of<br />
different areas of practice and provision<br />
because you feel like you have to have<br />
The three Ps<br />
them, then you are likely to be making<br />
considerably more work for yourself and<br />
your staff team.<br />
We all know that there are certain policies<br />
and procedures you must ensure you<br />
have within your setting as a legal<br />
requirement of our registrations and<br />
curriculum, but it’s important that we<br />
as practitioners have the confidence,<br />
knowledge and experience to differentiate<br />
between whether a policy is a necessity or<br />
if it could just be a professional discussion<br />
cascaded down throughout your staff<br />
team.<br />
We are very good at over-complicating,<br />
over-analysing and making more work for<br />
ourselves than is necessary for us to run<br />
effective and efficient settings.<br />
The policies and procedures we put in<br />
place provide a roadmap for the day-today<br />
running of the setting and provide<br />
materials to support decision-making.<br />
They are vital components of an<br />
efficient, well-informed and co-operative<br />
workplace atmosphere and work towards<br />
developing, building and maintaining the<br />
ethos of the setting.<br />
With this in mind, we must not overwhelm<br />
ourselves and our staff teams with<br />
hundreds upon hundreds of policies and<br />
procedures for every tiny aspect of the<br />
setting, this is totally unnecessary and<br />
often causes more stress for everyone<br />
involved.<br />
In an ever-changing sector, with new<br />
guidance, legislation and sector changes<br />
commonplace, this can sometimes require<br />
us to amend or create new policies<br />
to summarise new information and<br />
implement new procedures – times like<br />
these are the perfect times to reflect upon<br />
our current policies and how well they are<br />
working in practice and if they are even<br />
necessary to keep if they are no longer<br />
serving a purpose.<br />
We should be critical and regularly review<br />
our policies and when new documents<br />
or amendments are required and ask<br />
ourselves whether the new information<br />
or procedures can be condensed into an<br />
existing policy? Can it be cross-referenced<br />
through another policy for ease and to<br />
avoid duplicating complex information?<br />
The aim of these documents is to make the<br />
running of the setting easier to understand<br />
for everyone involved, and so even the<br />
way the documents are presented, written<br />
and ordered are important to consider.<br />
For example, there have been countless<br />
updates to the coronavirus guidance,<br />
legislation and advice in recent months<br />
and so this is a policy that will have been<br />
frequently reviewed and amended, but ask<br />
yourselves is it necessary for this to now<br />
be a stand-alone document or is there<br />
an opportunity for it be cross-referenced<br />
and inseminated into your illness/sickness<br />
policy for ease?<br />
During the review process it is essential<br />
that you completely re-read and critically<br />
reflect upon not only the quantity and<br />
necessity of each of your policies, but<br />
also critically reflect upon the content to<br />
ensure that the purpose of the policy and<br />
the content is still relevant to your setting,<br />
your current actions and procedures and<br />
current legislation and guidance.<br />
Similarly, if these documents only<br />
make sense to the leader/manager or<br />
whomever is writing them, then they are<br />
not fit for purpose.<br />
These documents should be readable and<br />
easy to understand for everyone whose<br />
actions they affect, this includes the entire<br />
staff team and the parent/carers who<br />
access the setting and provision for their<br />
children.<br />
Whilst these documents are professional,<br />
legal and essential documents, they<br />
should still aim to be concise, readable<br />
and avoid using jargon or language that<br />
is difficult to understand – if it is essential<br />
to use specific wording and terms and<br />
phrases relevant to the sector or setting,<br />
these should always be supported by a<br />
clear definition or explanation to ensure<br />
that they are readable for all.<br />
Most importantly, when reviewing<br />
or writing new policies, we must ask<br />
ourselves what the purpose of the policy<br />
is and if it is entirely necessary to have in<br />
place as a full policy.<br />
Policies and procedures are essentially<br />
methods of communicating the day<br />
to day operational plan of the setting<br />
and expectations in specific scenarios/<br />
situations, and so we must not insist<br />
that these be the only ways in which<br />
we communicate new information to<br />
practitioners and parents alike – let’s be<br />
confident in our knowledge of our setting<br />
and the people that work within it. Let’s be<br />
confident that we can also communicate<br />
such information through a range of<br />
different media, rather than re-write,<br />
amend or create a brand new policy to<br />
explain and outline a simple concept and<br />
consider other ways we can communicate<br />
this information to all involved.<br />
As long as we have the policies and<br />
procedures in place that we are legally<br />
required to and allow us to operate<br />
safely, keep the children safe and that<br />
these are shared and understood by both<br />
the staff team and the parents/carers<br />
of the setting alike, then we are already<br />
on our way to creating a concise, yet<br />
informative and efficient policy system and<br />
this will ensure a smooth and effortless<br />
day to day running and management<br />
of the setting, with everyone fully aware<br />
and understanding of the policies and<br />
procedures in practice.<br />
Chloe Webster<br />
Chloe Webster is an OFSTED Outstanding<br />
childminder at Pebbles Childcare,<br />
Worthing West Sussex. With over 10<br />
years experience in the sector, Chloe<br />
has written for a number of Early Years<br />
<strong>magazine</strong>s and journals.<br />
Chloe works for Bridgit Brown at Pebbles<br />
Childcare and together they were<br />
awarded Nursery World’s ‘Childminding<br />
Business of The Year’ in 2018 and pride<br />
themselves on their child-led, natural,<br />
outdoor pedagogy and are advocates<br />
of the home-based childcare profession<br />
and work tirelessly to champion HBC<br />
across the sector.<br />
chloelouisewebster@hotmail.com<br />
14 <strong>July</strong> <strong>2022</strong> | parenta.com<br />
parenta.com | <strong>July</strong> <strong>2022</strong> 15
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What does<br />
leadership look<br />
like… when<br />
others think<br />
Mona Sakr<br />
they know best?<br />
A few months ago, I had a great time<br />
presenting at the <strong>Parenta</strong> webinar on<br />
leading effective professional development<br />
across teams. There were some fantastic<br />
questions at the end of the presentation<br />
and one in particular that really stayed<br />
with me: What do you do when, as a<br />
settings, you come into contact with an<br />
experienced member of staff who always<br />
thinks that they know better than you?<br />
This is such a familiar situation to so many<br />
leaders. It can particularly resonate with<br />
younger leaders who may have fewer<br />
years in the job but find themselves<br />
leading others with many more years of<br />
experience.<br />
In this article, we look at how to flip<br />
the narrative in a situation like this and<br />
support even the most resistant members<br />
of staff. The article looks at three principles<br />
to apply in a situation like this:<br />
• A culture of curiosity: ‘Let’s try it and<br />
see’<br />
• Demonstrate respect for others’<br />
experiences<br />
• Grow your leadership by giving it<br />
away<br />
A culture of curiosity:<br />
‘Let’s try it and see’<br />
Imagine you are a baby room leader<br />
deeply committed to creating a rich<br />
pedagogical environment in the baby<br />
room, including through extending the<br />
language that is used in the environment.<br />
In a team meeting at the beginning of<br />
the week, you suggest that staff in the<br />
baby room try to use more adventurous<br />
language with the babies day to day.<br />
You suggest swapping the words ‘nice’<br />
or ‘good’ with more exciting choices like<br />
‘fabulous’, ‘wonderful’ and ‘magnificent’.<br />
Now let’s imagine that an experienced<br />
member of the team on hearing about<br />
this idea shows resistance. They scoff at<br />
the idea saying it is silly and unnecessary.<br />
They might say: “babies don’t need this;<br />
they just need us to care for them”. They<br />
might even fall back on their years of<br />
experience with babies to make the point:<br />
“I’ve worked with babies for years and this<br />
is just not something we need to worry<br />
about.”<br />
When we encounter someone’s resistance<br />
about learning new things, sometimes<br />
we wrongly assume that they are simply<br />
not interested in learning anything<br />
new. But research on motivation within<br />
organisations suggests that this is rarely<br />
the case. Edgar Schein’s important work on<br />
organisational leadership demonstrates<br />
that most employees are motivated by a<br />
range of needs including intellectual needs<br />
– the desire to learn and innate curiosity.<br />
Leaders need to tap into this intellectual<br />
curiosity even when it seems to be hiding.<br />
The simplest thing we can do in a moment<br />
like the one described above, is try to<br />
tap into our shared innate curiosity. We<br />
might say something like: “you might<br />
be right, but can we try and see what<br />
happens?” Through the phrase “let’s try it<br />
and see what happens”, we are showing<br />
a commitment to a culture of curiosity and<br />
learning. It’s a perfect go-to phrase when<br />
you encounter resistance to new ideas.<br />
Demonstrate respect<br />
for others’ experiences<br />
You will have noticed that in the<br />
example above, the response starts<br />
with a validation of the staff member’s<br />
experience: “you might be right”. This<br />
is a simple way of acknowledging that<br />
experience does count for something.<br />
Often resistance can come about when<br />
staff feel that their investment in the job<br />
has gone ignored or under-valued. It is<br />
challenging as an individual to feel that<br />
no one cares about your years of hard<br />
work. By going out of your way to show<br />
that experience is appreciated and valued,<br />
some of the resistance can begin to shift.<br />
Here are some ways to show that you care<br />
about others’ experiences and that you<br />
want to learn from them day-to-day:<br />
• “Linda, I bet you’ve got some amazing<br />
ideas about X. Based on all your<br />
experiences, what do you think we<br />
should do?”<br />
• “Saira, have you come across<br />
anything that might help us with Y?”<br />
• “Antonio, I’m struggling a bit with Z<br />
and I’d really like to get your help with<br />
this. Do you have any thoughts or<br />
ideas?”<br />
Resistance can be a coping mechanism<br />
among more experienced staff. But<br />
similarly, younger or less experienced<br />
leaders can feel under pressure to<br />
dominate. The more resistance we<br />
experience from others, the more likely<br />
we are to want to push through with a<br />
strong, assertive leadership style where<br />
ideas can’t be questioned. This actually<br />
then exacerbates the resistance of other<br />
members of staff.<br />
The phrases above are powerful because<br />
they push us away from a traditional<br />
hierarchy where there is one leader and<br />
everyone else needs to follow and instead,<br />
they create a sharing culture, where<br />
everyone’s experiences and expertise can<br />
emerge. This will prompt a more relaxed<br />
and comfortable culture, where everyone<br />
feels valued and respected, and the<br />
resistance of more experienced members<br />
of the team may start to lift.<br />
Grow your leadership<br />
by giving it away<br />
You can take the point above one<br />
step further by pro-actively looking for<br />
opportunities to put the resistant member<br />
of staff in the driving seat. This isn’t<br />
about relinquishing your leadership but<br />
about developing a more collaborative,<br />
distributed leadership style where<br />
everyone can flourish.<br />
You could ask the staff member to lead<br />
on a particular initiative, so that they have<br />
a chance to bring their expertise and<br />
experience into the spotlight and see what<br />
happens as a result: “Stacey, I bet you’ve<br />
got so many ideas about how to make the<br />
outdoor space more appealing and more<br />
accessible – do you think this is something<br />
you could lead on?”<br />
By opening up these opportunities to lead,<br />
you are reconnecting with the intellectual<br />
needs of staff members – the need to<br />
grow and learn as professionals. They<br />
might not always take you up on the offer<br />
to lead on something new, but just having<br />
the offer out there can help to break down<br />
a culture of resistance and replace it with<br />
something more playful, curious and<br />
collaborative.<br />
References<br />
Schein, E. H. (2015) Organizational Culture<br />
and Leadership. 5th Edition. Hoboken, NJ:<br />
Wiley.<br />
Dr Mona Sakr is a Senior Lecturer in<br />
Education and Early Childhood. As a<br />
researcher in Early Years (EY) provision,<br />
she has published extensively on<br />
creative, digital and playful pedagogies<br />
including the books “Digital Play in<br />
Early Childhood: What’s the Problem?”<br />
(Sage) and “Creativity and Making in<br />
Early Childhood: Challenging Practitioner<br />
Perspectives” (Bloomsbury).<br />
Mona’s current research is an<br />
exploration of pedagogical,<br />
organisational and community<br />
leadership in EY and how leadership can<br />
be more effectively developed across<br />
EY. Current funded research includes a<br />
Nuffield Foundation project looking at<br />
online leadership development across<br />
the EY sector, a BELMAS project looking<br />
at leadership in the baby room of<br />
nurseries and a BERA project examining<br />
ethnicity in the early years workforce.<br />
Forthcoming books (include an<br />
introduction to social leadership in early<br />
childhood education and care (written<br />
with June O’Sullivan, CEO of London Early<br />
Years Foundation), and an edited volume<br />
on EY pedagogical leadership around<br />
the globe.<br />
Email: m.sakr@mdx.ac.uk<br />
Twitter: @DrMonaSakr<br />
18 <strong>July</strong> <strong>2022</strong> | parenta.com<br />
parenta.com | <strong>July</strong> <strong>2022</strong> 19
Children’s Art Week<br />
It’s back! Children’s Art Week is here<br />
to inspire and help children and young<br />
people to take part in practical activities<br />
with artists and art educators. The week<br />
is organised and run by Engage - the<br />
National Association for Gallery Education,<br />
although up and down the country,<br />
everyone is encouraged to organise their<br />
own artistic and creative activities, support<br />
local art galleries and generally wonder at<br />
the art around them. It is supported by the<br />
Arts Council England and other national<br />
arts organisations around the UK.<br />
This year, the week runs from June 29 to<br />
<strong>July</strong> 19 – so not one, but three weeks in<br />
total, so plenty of time to get your creative<br />
juices flowing and participate in some<br />
fantastic artistic endeavours.<br />
In recent years, Engage have set themes<br />
such as:<br />
The natural world<br />
Connecting across the generations<br />
Literacy and creative writing<br />
However, in <strong>2022</strong>, Engage is focusing on<br />
the health and well-being impact offered<br />
by artists and galleries and the positive<br />
effect on people’s general health and<br />
well-being that getting involved in, and/<br />
or appreciating the visual arts can have.<br />
Having been in lockdown in the last 2<br />
years, many of us took up creative pursuits<br />
such as baking, gardening or art, so this<br />
is a great time to showcase some of your<br />
work. And although it’s called Children’s<br />
Art Week, there’s no reason on earth<br />
why you shouldn’t involve all ages in your<br />
creative plans.<br />
Engage would also like everyone to share<br />
their work by email or on their social<br />
media channels which you can find on the<br />
Engage website here.<br />
Who can get involved?<br />
The short answer to this is anyone!<br />
Typically, it is schools, galleries, museums<br />
and community groups who take part in<br />
the week by putting together events and<br />
experiences for children and families,<br />
although there is no limit to anything<br />
and age is not a barrier either. If you are<br />
an artist, why not share your wealth of<br />
experience with the younger generation,<br />
and everyone will benefit.<br />
What can you do?<br />
If you can think of something creative,<br />
informative or inspiring in the visual arts<br />
field, then you can do it. Generally, there<br />
are 3 main ways that people can get<br />
involved in the arts, by either:<br />
Creating art<br />
Learning about art, or<br />
Appreciating art<br />
We’ve listed some different ideas below for<br />
getting involved in all three.<br />
Creating art<br />
This is where you let your children, staff,<br />
families and friends unleash their creative<br />
side and get involved in practically making<br />
some visual art. You can do it inside, on<br />
the walls of your setting, outside on the<br />
pavement, in the park or at the beach, and<br />
probably a host of places in between too.<br />
Obviously, there are hundreds of things<br />
you could draw or paint in your setting and<br />
thousands of arts and crafts sites on the<br />
internet such as https://www.tate.org.uk/<br />
kids/make to help with other ideas too,<br />
but why not try to do something different<br />
this year? Think about the different strands<br />
there are of visual arts such as:<br />
Painting and drawing<br />
Sculpture and modelling<br />
Printing (block printing, screen printing<br />
and yes, of course, potato- and handprinting<br />
count too!)<br />
Film and video<br />
Textiles<br />
Fashion, costume design and masks<br />
Now think about different media you could<br />
use such as:<br />
Paints (acrylic, enamel, watercolour,<br />
oil)<br />
Crayons and pastels<br />
Charcoal<br />
Pencil, pens, gel pens<br />
Textiles, wool and ribbons<br />
Wild art materials such as leaves/<br />
twigs/stones<br />
Paper and card e.g. origami<br />
Collage or mixed media<br />
Decoupage<br />
Photography<br />
Digital art<br />
Recycled materials and upcycling<br />
furniture<br />
Face paints<br />
Make sure you use things that are safe for<br />
children and wear protective clothing, but<br />
experimenting with new ideas is exciting<br />
and the children will love it.<br />
Learning about art<br />
This is about expanding your knowledge<br />
of art and art techniques. You could listen<br />
to a lecture or watch a programme about<br />
your favourite artist or a new art discovery.<br />
You could invest in learning or teaching<br />
your children a new skill such as knitting,<br />
jewellery-making, embroidery or silkscreen<br />
printing? How about sculpting or<br />
making a cardboard box Totem pole?<br />
And it doesn’t have to be expensive. You<br />
could use recycled bottle tops, paint them<br />
different colours and thread them on string<br />
or ribbon to make necklaces or bracelets.<br />
If you’d like to know more about art,<br />
https://artincontext.org/ is a wonderful<br />
place to start although a little more grown<br />
up.<br />
Another idea for learning about art is<br />
to invite a local artist into your setting to<br />
discuss their work and ask them to share<br />
their story with your children.<br />
Appreciating art<br />
Appreciating art is all about really noticing<br />
the art around you, recognising its beauty<br />
and creativity and discussing it with others.<br />
When was the last time you visited a<br />
gallery or a museum as a setting, and<br />
really looked at the artworks and objects<br />
in there? This is also a good way to help<br />
children’s vocabulary because you can<br />
show them pictures and images of famous<br />
art works and teach them words related<br />
to colours, textures, emotions and feelings<br />
to, showing children a picture of the Mona<br />
Lisa and asking them whether they think<br />
she looks happy or sad for example, will<br />
give you some interesting responses,<br />
whilst building cultural capital as well.<br />
Appreciating art also means not only<br />
looking at new (or new to you) artwork<br />
and artists, but also considering the art in<br />
everyday things. For example, have you<br />
ever considered the map of the London<br />
Tube network a piece of art? Maybe<br />
not, but if you visit the London Transport<br />
Museum website or building, and look at<br />
the many different designs of maps they<br />
have there, you might change your opinion<br />
about this iconic but everyday item.<br />
Or consider the design ideas that go into<br />
designing our food and packaging labels.<br />
Art is everywhere and we are surrounded<br />
by visual images that have been created<br />
by traditional artists, designers and<br />
graphic artists every time we get on the<br />
bus, open a <strong>magazine</strong> or browse the<br />
shelves of our local shop. Encourage the<br />
children to really ‘open their eyes’ and<br />
appreciate the rich culture that surrounds<br />
them.<br />
If you want some more ideas, look here<br />
to find a list of some of the best kids art<br />
websites and there is a good toolkit here<br />
from Somerset Artworks.<br />
And of course, we’d love to see your final<br />
pieces so remember to send us your<br />
images and stories to hello@parenta.com.<br />
20 <strong>July</strong> <strong>2022</strong> | parenta.com<br />
parenta.com | <strong>July</strong> <strong>2022</strong> 21
Supporting parents with<br />
SEN children<br />
Most settings will already be catering for<br />
some children with special educational<br />
needs (SEN) to help them access your<br />
services and curriculum. However, are<br />
you also finding ways to support their<br />
parents? Being a parent of a child with SEN<br />
can be lonely and confusing as they try to<br />
understand their children more fully, and<br />
then get them the help they need. Read on<br />
to find how you can help them by making<br />
some small changes, which can have a<br />
big impact.<br />
SEN children and their<br />
parents are unique<br />
Everyone is different, and children with<br />
special needs cannot be grouped into one<br />
homogenous group. Often, what works<br />
well for one person - (such as having<br />
a non-stimulating environment due to<br />
sensory overload), - is the opposite of<br />
what’s needed for others, who may need<br />
a more uplifting, colourful and visually<br />
engaging environment. Some people need<br />
a quiet space, others crave attention and<br />
may have trouble regulating their volume<br />
or energy. The phrase “one size fits all”<br />
does definitely NOT apply when you are<br />
discussing children with special needs.<br />
The same is true of their parents. There<br />
is not one ‘type’ of parent whose child<br />
has special needs, and it is not down to<br />
a ‘parenting fault’ or challenge either,<br />
although this is often a misconception and<br />
myth that many parents face.<br />
Understand parents’<br />
point of view<br />
One of the first things you can do, is to<br />
develop an empathy for parents. If you<br />
have ever stood in a supermarket whilst<br />
your toddler has a tantrum, and felt the<br />
‘judging eyes’ upon you as you try to calm<br />
them down, you will know what we mean.<br />
Now imagine that you are standing in the<br />
same supermarket, but your toddler is<br />
now age 10 and having the same tantrum.<br />
You know that it is because they have<br />
become overwhelmed by something that<br />
is out of their control, and this is their only<br />
way of emotionally releasing their fears/<br />
anxiety/stress. But for other observers, this<br />
fact is ‘hidden’, and instead of getting the<br />
sympathy and understanding you need,<br />
you feel the weight of their judgement as<br />
they silently (or not!) condemn you and<br />
your parenting.<br />
Listen to what parents<br />
say<br />
Listening to parents is key. They will<br />
understand their situation and their child;<br />
they have found what works for them, and<br />
things that don’t. Parents will hopefully<br />
have tried numerous different approaches,<br />
learning through trial and error, experience<br />
and hopefully some professional input<br />
too. So it is important to listen to what<br />
they say, and try to accommodate things<br />
if you can. If they say that their child is<br />
upset by certain textures, sounds or tastes,<br />
then disseminate this information to your<br />
staff and make sure they are aware.<br />
A lot of children with SEN find physical<br />
contact difficult. They may find it difficult to<br />
look people in the eye or they may have<br />
sensory needs which mean they can’t<br />
bear certain materials close to their skin or<br />
particular smells.<br />
Many neurotypical people often find these<br />
needs difficult to understand and instead,<br />
think that the person is being deliberately<br />
difficult or ‘naughty’. However, almost all<br />
of us visibly tense at the sound of nails<br />
scraping down a blackboard. The noise<br />
seems to go through us, vibrating our<br />
very bones and we quickly cover our ears<br />
and call for it to stop. This is how many<br />
people with sensory needs feel about<br />
some of the sounds, touch, tastes and<br />
smells that many of us love. It is not a<br />
question of one person being ‘right’ and<br />
the other person be ‘wrong’ – it’s just<br />
that we are all different. If we approach<br />
the situation with more understanding,<br />
patience and tolerance, then we will go a<br />
long way to helping support the parents of<br />
SEN children, because they will feel more<br />
validated and understood.<br />
Meet the children’s<br />
individual needs and<br />
share what works<br />
It is the duty of settings to try to meet the<br />
needs of SEN children. Depending on the<br />
need, this is not always possible and so<br />
specialist provisions for children with some<br />
severe disabilities or learning difficulties<br />
exist. However, many children with SEN<br />
can cope in mainstream establishments<br />
so long as their needs are considered, and<br />
adaptations made.<br />
Having a SENCo draw up a list of needs<br />
and a provision map will mean that<br />
you can document the provisions and<br />
adaptations you are providing for that<br />
child. Many SENCos will also draw up and<br />
individual child profile and share it with<br />
staff. These give details of what the child<br />
needs and what works well. Remember<br />
to update these as children grow and<br />
develop and help parents and councils<br />
maintain up-to-date EHCPs. In early years,<br />
children are growing and developing at<br />
an amazing rate, and what they need will<br />
develop with them helping parents get the<br />
provision their children need, especially as<br />
children transition to school or between<br />
school key stages.<br />
Train your staff<br />
Another simple way to help parents with<br />
SEN children is to train your staff on how<br />
best to deal with that child. You could do<br />
this as part of your annual CPD work or<br />
have key people undertake specific special<br />
needs training. There are some free and/<br />
or inexpensive CPD courses that staff can<br />
take ranging from a short one- or twohour<br />
online course, to more in-depth, Level<br />
2 courses. <strong>Parenta</strong> offer a number of CPD<br />
courses which may be of interest which<br />
you can access here and include Asperger<br />
Syndrome, Autism Awareness and<br />
Disability Awareness to name but a few.<br />
Offer support and be an<br />
advocate<br />
Many children in early years may only be<br />
starting to show signs of having special<br />
needs as they join your setting, so it may<br />
be a shared journey of discovery for<br />
both the setting and the parents as you<br />
investigate some of the issues you witness<br />
in the nursery. You can help parents by<br />
offering information and advice about<br />
different conditions, and point them in<br />
the direction of support groups or other<br />
advocacy organisations.<br />
Other ways to help<br />
Encourage children to get involved in<br />
everything in your setting<br />
Keep reviewing your own policies and<br />
procedures<br />
Consider if you can offer extended<br />
hours or respite services<br />
Supporting parents with SEN children<br />
will not only help them, but it will help<br />
the children too, as their home life is an<br />
important aspect which will contribute to<br />
their success in your setting.<br />
Further information<br />
https://www.kids.org.uk/<br />
https://www.understood.org/<br />
https://www.family-action.org.uk/whatwe-do/children-families/send/send-info/<br />
22 <strong>July</strong> <strong>2022</strong> | parenta.com<br />
parenta.com | <strong>July</strong> <strong>2022</strong> 23
Supporting<br />
sensoryseeking<br />
children<br />
in your setting<br />
Do you have children in your setting who<br />
come across as rough or a little wild? If<br />
you do, these children could be showing<br />
signs of sensory-seeking behaviour. Whilst<br />
children generally enjoy physical activity,<br />
some may have a great deal of excess<br />
energy.<br />
Sensory-seeking children will want to<br />
move! Their need for sensory input means<br />
that they may find it difficult being still for<br />
long.<br />
The following questionnaire may indicate a<br />
child’s sensory-seeking needs:<br />
Does the child:<br />
1 Wriggle, fidget or squirm a lot of the time?<br />
2 Find it difficult being still whilst sitting down for an activity/meal?<br />
3 Seek constant motion, sometimes colliding with other children/objects?<br />
4 Often seek climbing activities that may be risky?<br />
5<br />
Often seek jumping/spinning activities regardless of other children<br />
around them?<br />
6 Enjoy/make loud noises or talk non-stop?<br />
7 Touch everything/put non-edible things in their mouths?<br />
8 Find it difficult to stand still whilst getting dressed?<br />
Scoring 3 or 4 means a child will need a lot<br />
of outlets for their energy.<br />
When a child has sensory-seeking needs,<br />
it is more challenging for them to keep<br />
still without fidgeting and squirming. But<br />
the good news is that if sensory-seeking<br />
children are given plenty of opportunities<br />
to get the sensory input they are craving,<br />
this will help with their overall sensory<br />
needs.<br />
Never<br />
1<br />
What sensoryseeking<br />
may look<br />
like<br />
Example A<br />
James is 4 and finds it very difficult to<br />
sit down and listen to stories with other<br />
children. During story-time he is always<br />
fidgety and sometimes gets up and<br />
wanders off.<br />
Sometimes<br />
2<br />
Usually<br />
3<br />
Always<br />
4<br />
muscles and joints with some heavy<br />
work activities, such as pulling, pushing<br />
or crawling. These are all tiring on the<br />
muscles and joints and can help in<br />
calming James down towards story time.<br />
Date/<br />
Time<br />
28/06/22<br />
Snack<br />
time.<br />
Example B<br />
Sara is 3 and often puts non-edible items<br />
in her mouth and on occasion will bite<br />
other children.<br />
How can Sara be<br />
supported?<br />
Again, Sara may be responding to an<br />
unbearable ‘itch’, seeking oral feedback<br />
to help ‘scratch’ that itch. Children who<br />
are oral-seeking like the feel and texture<br />
of things in their mouth. They may well<br />
be biting because they are seeking that<br />
sensory input through their jaw which<br />
gives them a calming feeling.<br />
Try the following:<br />
Offer sensory chew toys such as a chew<br />
noodle.<br />
What was<br />
going on<br />
when it<br />
happened?<br />
Coming inside<br />
after Forest<br />
School.<br />
Last word<br />
What<br />
triggered<br />
the<br />
response?<br />
Child reluctant<br />
to come<br />
inside for<br />
snack.<br />
What did the<br />
response look<br />
like?<br />
Wriggling away,<br />
crying.<br />
Offer crunchy food such as apple or<br />
carrots. Crunchy snacks and having access<br />
to a chew (e.g., having one on a necklace)<br />
can be helpful preventative measures.<br />
Redirect to these options when the child<br />
bites or chews on inappropriate things<br />
rather than disciplining and always praise<br />
for using the appropriate item.<br />
Triggers and<br />
tracking for sensory<br />
responses<br />
It is always useful to know what triggers a<br />
sensory response. Use the following chart<br />
to keep an eye on triggers, responses<br />
and what worked best for the child.<br />
Observation is key. Stop and assess!<br />
Ask questions. Is the response due to a<br />
different environment or a new demand?<br />
Is it a repetitive response? What are the<br />
triggers to the response?<br />
It is always good to get a professional<br />
opinion if you are worried.<br />
Triggers and<br />
Tracking Chart (with<br />
example)<br />
What happened after/as a result<br />
of the response?<br />
Tracking food to see if there is a familiar<br />
theme to textures etc. that the child<br />
may be avoiding.<br />
Use of schedule and timer countdowns<br />
when going inside to manage child’s<br />
expectation.<br />
Use of wobble cushion on the chair for<br />
snack time.<br />
It is important to realise that whole group sensory activities can be hugely beneficial to<br />
help with low alert levels (a room full of sleepy looking or unfocused children with lots of<br />
yawns, wriggles etc.) or with a sudden rise in the noise level that is difficult to contain. Low<br />
alert levels can be raised with movement breaks, and high alert levels can be lowered<br />
through other types of physical activity, e.g., heavy work activities or deep pressure.<br />
Helen Garnett<br />
Helen Garnett is a mother of 4, and a<br />
committed and experienced early years<br />
consultant. She has a wealth of experience<br />
in teaching, both in the primary and early<br />
years sectors. She co-founded a preschool<br />
in 2005 where she developed a<br />
keen interest in early intervention, leading<br />
her into international work for the early<br />
years sector. Helen cares passionately<br />
about young children and connection.<br />
As a result, she wrote her first book,<br />
“Developing Empathy in the Early Years:<br />
a guide for practitioners” for which she<br />
won the Professional Books category<br />
at the 2018 Nursery World Awards, and<br />
“Building a Resilient Workforce in the Early<br />
Years”, published by Early Years Alliance<br />
in June 2019. She also writes articles for<br />
early years <strong>magazine</strong>s, such as Nursery<br />
World, Early Years Teacher Organisation,<br />
QA Education, Teach Early Years, and Early<br />
Years Educator.<br />
Helen is the co-founder and Education<br />
Director at Arc Pathway, an early years<br />
platform for teachers and parents.<br />
Helen can be contacted via LinkedIn.<br />
How can James be<br />
supported?<br />
First, it is important to remember<br />
that sensory needs are a form of<br />
communication and have been likened to<br />
an unbearable ‘itch’ that will only go when<br />
it is ‘scratched’. If James does not get the<br />
movement he is seeking, he will seek it<br />
out in other ways. Frustration can creep in<br />
because James will have a strong feeling<br />
that he needs to do something, but he<br />
doesn’t know what that is.<br />
Try the following:<br />
Give James time to enjoy some active<br />
movement before story-time, such as<br />
running, jumping, spinning and swinging.<br />
Follow this up with some more calming<br />
activities, where he can engage his<br />
Observing and supporting individual or group alertness and physical activity in the room<br />
can remove a lot of stress, both from a child’s and adult’s point of view. The key point to<br />
remember is that sensory-seeking behaviour can often appear ‘naughty’ when in fact it<br />
is an ‘itch’ that needs ‘scratching’. When adults find out what is ‘itching’ the child, they can<br />
then support the child in alternative and beneficial ways to relieve that itch. In this way, the<br />
child can interact, take part and enjoy their learning alongside their peers.<br />
It’s a win-win situation!<br />
24 <strong>July</strong> <strong>2022</strong> | parenta.com<br />
parenta.com | <strong>July</strong> <strong>2022</strong> 25
Understanding<br />
children’s<br />
emotions<br />
A child’s emotions are a very real part of<br />
everyday life, just like for all of us. They<br />
will be experienced positively through<br />
the happiness, love, and joy that they<br />
feel. Through the negative emotions<br />
of fear, anger or jealousy or through<br />
neutral emotions of apathy, acceptance<br />
or indifference. It is only with some<br />
understanding of their emotions that<br />
you will be able to support children to<br />
understand and manage their emotions<br />
for themselves. And only then can<br />
you consider how this influences their<br />
behaviours and what you can do to<br />
support their healthy growth.<br />
The way a child reacts to any given<br />
situation is dependent on many different<br />
things. Including the gene pool they have<br />
been born into and the environment<br />
they are in. It will depend on their<br />
developmental stage and developing<br />
character, whether they are naturally<br />
anxious, prone to anger or susceptible to<br />
hurt feelings. It will be affected by current<br />
family stressors and life circumstances,<br />
such as moving home, family break ups,<br />
new jobs or the birth of a sibling. It can<br />
also simply hinge on the fact that they are<br />
feeling unwell, tired, frustrated or even<br />
simply hungry.<br />
Children are developing a complex set<br />
of social and emotional skills that they<br />
need to understand, influence and<br />
communicate through the emotions<br />
that they are experiencing. But to do<br />
this they need to be allowed to feel their<br />
emotions, unafraid of them. They need<br />
to learn how to recognise emotions in<br />
themselves and others and they need to<br />
develop techniques to regulate their strong<br />
emotions, to know how to cooperate and<br />
socially interact. Trouble comes however,<br />
when these emotions and skills are not<br />
managed or when unrealistic expectations<br />
are in place.<br />
Simply said, emotions are a natural,<br />
healthy and necessary part of growing up<br />
that we want our children to experience,<br />
at the right time and to the right extent.<br />
Negative emotions are a very real part of<br />
this and children also need to understand<br />
how to deal with these; their own as well<br />
as when their peers are experiencing them<br />
too. However, when negative emotions<br />
continue unchecked, they can become<br />
more deeply ingrained and emotional<br />
predispositions or personality traits can<br />
establish. If this is happening in a child,<br />
you might see an ingrained temperament<br />
such as a tendency to whine, to be quick<br />
to cry or quickly resorting to aggressive<br />
responses.<br />
These behaviours and the selfperpetuating<br />
thinking and feeling cycles<br />
that establish, may be confused by a<br />
diagnosis of ADHD and the like, with<br />
medications all too quickly prescribed. With<br />
symptoms ranging from feeling fearful or<br />
self-conscious, to experiencing nervous<br />
anxiety or feeling worthless and unloved<br />
unless they can attain a level of perfection,<br />
we need to intervene. By understanding<br />
how behavioural and emotional health<br />
problems develop in our children, we can<br />
better address the issue at a time when<br />
we can actively help them to manage it.<br />
Whenever we experience a particularly<br />
emotional event, thought chemicals are<br />
released into the body to inform us of<br />
our response to it. As we experience the<br />
world or even think about it, the neurons<br />
in our brain release these chemicals to<br />
trigger reactions in the body that we feel<br />
as emotions, anything from a slight flutter<br />
felt in the tummy, to a debilitating physical<br />
reaction.<br />
Happy and empowering thoughts produce<br />
chemicals to make us feel happy and<br />
empowered, whilst negative, sad or angry<br />
thoughts produce chemicals that make<br />
us feel sad, angry or depressed. When<br />
in a healthy balance, these processes<br />
inform our responses and empower our<br />
reactions, however, trouble soon comes<br />
when they are unmatched to our need for<br />
them.<br />
Take fear for example - that feeling of a<br />
racing heart and rapid breathing as the<br />
body is flooded with oxygen, preparing<br />
its fight or flight response to the danger<br />
it perceives. A healthy reaction when<br />
that perception of fear is accurate, but<br />
heightened levels of fear or anxiety long<br />
before an active response is needed is not<br />
a healthy state to be in. Think back to the<br />
last time you had to wait weeks for a test<br />
result. Or were eagerly awaiting a holiday<br />
but needed to board a plane when you<br />
are petrified of flying.<br />
If a child is consistently experiencing the<br />
world in a particularly emotional way,<br />
pre-dispositions to those emotions can<br />
develop. And to make matters worse,<br />
children do not have a well-established<br />
sense of time; they cannot understand<br />
why the good times spent in the park need<br />
to end and they struggle to imagine a time<br />
when they will not feel this bad.<br />
A predisposition to negative thoughts<br />
does not develop because of one<br />
negative emotional incident. However,<br />
over time, processes in the body establish<br />
a chemical continuity and an emotional<br />
predisposition is created, intensifying over<br />
the days, weeks, months or even years<br />
that it is left to reinforce. These patterns<br />
are laying down from their earliest<br />
experiences and are informing all future<br />
responses. Predisposed to tears, they<br />
are likely to react to most situations with<br />
an emotional response. To override this<br />
takes a great deal of active mindfulness<br />
and a huge effort of will to act differently,<br />
however, unless patterns of behaviour are<br />
consciously changed, these will continue<br />
to intensify.<br />
You can help your children to develop all<br />
of these skills through guided support,<br />
managed behavioural techniques and by<br />
effectively modelling healthy responses.<br />
You can teach them techniques such as<br />
self-soothing and calming as you speak<br />
to them in gentle tones, helping them to<br />
remember happier times. And remember,<br />
we all know how overwhelming emotions<br />
can feel at times, so help your children<br />
through this rather than letting your own<br />
emotions join them for the ride.<br />
This is the first of five articles from The<br />
Secure Child. Next time we will look at<br />
supporting children as they feel their<br />
emotions. But in the meantime, bring<br />
focus back to nurturing all of children’s<br />
growth and development with a Nurturing<br />
Childhoods Accreditation. A new approach<br />
to CPD that is tailored to the needs of<br />
your setting and the children and families<br />
you work with. With its complete set of<br />
materials and guidance, it complements<br />
the resources available for your parents<br />
and is underpinned by professional<br />
standards and industry leading research.<br />
As together we surround children with a<br />
unified understanding of who they are<br />
and what they need. And really begin<br />
developing the potential of all children in<br />
their early years.<br />
Kathryn Peckham<br />
As Founder of Nurturing Childhoods,<br />
Dr Kathryn Peckham is a passionate<br />
advocate for children’s access to rich and<br />
meaningful experiences throughout their<br />
foundational early years. Delivering online<br />
courses, training and seminars she<br />
works with families and settings to identify<br />
and celebrate the impact of effective<br />
childhood experiences as preparation for<br />
all of life’s learning. An active campaigner<br />
for children she consults on projects,<br />
conducts research for government bodies<br />
and contributes to papers launched in<br />
parliament. Through her consultancy<br />
and research she guides local councils,<br />
practitioners, teachers and parents all<br />
over the world in enhancing children’s<br />
experiences through the experiences<br />
they offer. A highly acclaimed author and<br />
member of parliamentary groups, Kathryn<br />
also teaches a Masters at the Centre for<br />
Research in Early Years.<br />
For more information and practical<br />
guidance on developing the features of<br />
lifelong learning, Kathryn has published<br />
a book: “Developing School Readiness,<br />
Creating Lifelong Learners”.<br />
Get in contact at www.kathrynpeckham.<br />
co.uk or email info@kathrynpeckham.<br />
co.uk.<br />
26 <strong>July</strong> <strong>2022</strong> | parenta.com<br />
parenta.com | <strong>July</strong> <strong>2022</strong> 27
Early years music<br />
education training: do<br />
we need it? part 2<br />
Bautista et al (<strong>2022</strong>) considered the ways<br />
that settings currently use to meet their<br />
music needs: paying outside specialists<br />
to come in regularly; and, rarely, paying<br />
to train staff in music provision. Teacher<br />
training often only provided a few<br />
compulsory hours music education<br />
training or was offered as an option. Only<br />
around half of the staff at any nursery<br />
in the literature consulted had had any<br />
experience in playing an instrument,<br />
dancing or singing – and in settings with<br />
lower qualifications, that fell to less than<br />
half.<br />
Researchers found that outside specialists<br />
limited the quality of musical instruction<br />
because it was not integrated into the<br />
children’s holistic learning experience, as<br />
music specialists were not involved in the<br />
day-to-day planning, so were not familiar<br />
with the children. Although some settings<br />
brought in skilled performing musicians,<br />
they were not usually familiar with<br />
teaching pedagogy.<br />
As a result of these half-measures, this<br />
poor training provision has ultimately<br />
created a situation of unprepared and<br />
self-conscious educators who are unable<br />
to access the positive benefits of music for<br />
their children.<br />
Researchers consulted publications from<br />
several countries including America,<br />
England, China, South Africa, Japan,<br />
Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, Ireland<br />
and Namibia. Topics that early years<br />
educators identified for deeper training<br />
included: understanding music curriculum<br />
design, developing instrumental and<br />
singing skills, integrating music within the<br />
curriculum, designing and implementing<br />
music appreciation activities, learning<br />
basic music theory, and developing<br />
ways to foster children’s creativity and<br />
self-expression, as well as introducing<br />
improvisation and composition in early<br />
years.<br />
Researchers then suggested a few ways<br />
that this type of training could be achieved.<br />
As highly motivated people, early years<br />
specialists enjoyed practical microteaching<br />
activities, whether live or video,<br />
with opportunities to implement innovative<br />
ideas. Mentoring was suggested, as<br />
musical novices planning music education<br />
curricula alongside accomplished<br />
musicians exposed trainees to different<br />
teaching methodologies.<br />
Professional development was preferred<br />
to be held during work hours, including<br />
music seminars, workshops and<br />
conferences, but were perceived to be<br />
less effective as they were not early<br />
years specific. Online music education<br />
resources were valued because early<br />
years specialists could access them at<br />
their convenience, and an interest-based<br />
community was valued for the opportunity<br />
to discuss and compare experience.<br />
Internationally, the lack of funding support<br />
was noted to be the biggest barrier to<br />
accessing most professional development.<br />
To address these needs, change<br />
needs to come from the top, which is<br />
an opportunity for music councils and<br />
unions to develop strategies together.<br />
In terms of teacher training, universities<br />
and colleges could facilitate change by<br />
increasing their music education provision<br />
more regularly. Partnerships with settings<br />
could be used to practice these skills,<br />
and partnerships with specialist music<br />
training centres could offer online/video<br />
training, demonstrating a variety of<br />
methods. Setting managers could create<br />
non-judgemental opportunities to develop<br />
these skills and collaborate. With flexible<br />
working schedules and protected time<br />
for collaboration, these forms of informal<br />
learning are more cost effective and<br />
sustainable long-term.<br />
Governments could facilitate change<br />
through conferences and professional<br />
development, either in person or online,<br />
that could provide further information<br />
on the latest field developments. By<br />
developing online learning communities<br />
with discussion forums and chats, this<br />
knowledge-sharing platform would<br />
reinforce personal development and peer<br />
learning, again, in a sustainable way.<br />
In the meantime, every day early years<br />
specialists can improve their own musical<br />
skills gradually and creatively with children<br />
using materials currently available.<br />
Below we continue with our of sample<br />
songs from the free mini e-book Come<br />
and Sing 1 (Turnbull, 2015) - https://<br />
books.apple.com/gb/book/musicaliti/<br />
id1057514353.<br />
As a reminder, the book Learning with<br />
Music (Turnbull, 2017) - https://www.<br />
routledge.com/Learning-with-Music-<br />
Games-and-Activities-for-the-Early-Years/<br />
Turnbull/p/book/9781138192591 - includes<br />
substantially more detail.<br />
Level 4: Frosty Weather<br />
Frosty weather<br />
Snowy weather<br />
When the wind blows we<br />
All stick together<br />
This song introduces a fifth pitch (la*) to<br />
do*, re*, mi* and so*, this time from high<br />
to low, and the original two rhythms, the<br />
steady beat (crotchet/quarter note) and<br />
twice as fast (quaver/eighth note).<br />
Level 5: Love Somebody<br />
Love somebody, yes I do<br />
Love somebody, yes I do<br />
Love somebody, yes I do<br />
Love somebody, but I won’t say who<br />
Love somebody, yes I do<br />
Love somebody, yes I do<br />
Love somebody, yes I do<br />
Love somebody, and it’s you, you, you<br />
This song uses five pitches, do*, re*, mi*,<br />
so* and la*, and the three rhythms from<br />
previous songs, the steady beat (crotchet/<br />
quarter note), twice as fast (quaver/eighth<br />
note) and twice as slow (minim/half note).<br />
We’ll all have tea<br />
This well-known favourite introduces a<br />
sixth pitch (fa*) to do*, re*, mi*, so* and<br />
la*, and the three rhythms as before, the<br />
steady beat (crotchet/quarter note), twice<br />
as fast (quaver/eighth note) and twice as<br />
slow (minim/half note).<br />
Level 7: Skip To My Lou<br />
Skip, skip, skip to my Lou<br />
Skip, skip, skip to my Lou<br />
Skip, skip, skip to my Lou<br />
Skip to my Lou, my darling<br />
Another well-known song, while it also<br />
has six pitches do*, re*, mi*, fa*, so* and<br />
la*,and three rhythms, it is a new rhythm:<br />
the steady beat (crotchet/quarter note),<br />
twice as fast (quaver/eighth note) and four<br />
times as fast (semiquaver/sixteenth note).<br />
Looking at all the songs chosen, wellknown<br />
songs have more going on<br />
musically than lesser-known songs,<br />
which makes them more interesting.<br />
It is entirely natural to prefer complex<br />
songs, as the brain finds complexity more<br />
interesting, but lesser-known songs are<br />
just as valuable because of the things<br />
they teach us. While it is true that some<br />
children can sing a greater range than<br />
the songs listed above, teaching notes<br />
gradually gives people the ability to break<br />
down complex tunes. This skill allows both<br />
children and educators to understand the<br />
songs musically, join in successfully, and<br />
ultimately, access all the positive benefits<br />
of music.<br />
* Kodály pitch: do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti.<br />
(Rhythms in British and American terms.)<br />
References:<br />
Bautista, A., Yeung, J., Mclaren, M. L., &<br />
Ilari, B. (<strong>2022</strong>). Music in early childhood<br />
teacher education: Raising awareness of a<br />
worrisome reality and proposing strategies<br />
to move forward. Arts Education Policy<br />
Review, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/10632<br />
913.<strong>2022</strong>.2043969<br />
Frances Turnbull<br />
Musician, researcher and author,<br />
Frances Turnbull, is a self-taught guitarist<br />
who has played contemporary and<br />
community music from the age of 12. She<br />
delivers music sessions to the early years<br />
and KS1. Trained in the music education<br />
techniques of Kodály (specialist singing),<br />
Dalcroze (specialist movement) and Orff<br />
(specialist percussion instruments), she<br />
has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology<br />
(Open University) and a Master’s degree<br />
in Education (University of Cambridge).<br />
She runs a local community choir, the<br />
Bolton Warblers, and delivers the Sound<br />
Sense initiative “A choir in every care<br />
home” within local care and residential<br />
homes, supporting health and wellbeing<br />
through her community interest<br />
company.<br />
She has represented the early years<br />
music community at the House of<br />
Commons, advocating for recognition<br />
for early years music educators, and her<br />
table of progressive music skills for under<br />
7s features in her curriculum books.<br />
Frances is the author of “Learning with<br />
Music: Games and activities for the early<br />
years”, published by Routledge, August<br />
2017.<br />
Level 6: Polly Put The<br />
Kettle On<br />
Polly put the kettle on<br />
Polly put the kettle on<br />
Polly put the kettle on<br />
Turnbull, F. (2015). Come and Sing 1 (1st<br />
ed.). Musicaliti Publishers.<br />
Turnbull, F. (2017). Learning with Music:<br />
Games and Activities for the Early Years (1<br />
edition). Routledge.<br />
www.musicaliti.co.uk<br />
28 <strong>July</strong> <strong>2022</strong> | parenta.com<br />
parenta.com | <strong>July</strong> <strong>2022</strong> 29
Supporting apprentices<br />
with peer-on-peer<br />
abuse issues<br />
much less likely to think these things<br />
happened, particularly contact forms of<br />
harmful sexual behaviour and girls were<br />
shown to be adversely disproportionately<br />
affected.<br />
So clearly there is a problem and many of<br />
our young people (girls in particular) may<br />
be suffering or have suffered from this kind<br />
of abuse. So how can we support people<br />
in our setting who may have suffered any<br />
of these safeguarding issues?<br />
The issue of safeguarding is fundamental<br />
to everything we do in education, whether<br />
for our early years children or our older<br />
apprentices who may only be just out of<br />
school, and still legally classed as children<br />
themselves (under 18s). If you have been<br />
reading the <strong>magazine</strong> for a while, you will<br />
know that we regularly revisit safeguarding<br />
issues and each year, when Keeping<br />
Children Safe in Education is updated, we<br />
advise settings to revisit their policies and<br />
procedures to ensure they keep within<br />
their statutory duty.<br />
The proposed new changes for this<br />
September have recently been published<br />
and you can view them here and an<br />
easy-to-read article from TES about them<br />
here. This month we have also written a<br />
Handy Guide about what settings need<br />
to know about peer-on-peer abuse<br />
(shortly to change to child-on-child abuse),<br />
online abuse, and issues around healthy<br />
relationships and consent that were<br />
introduced last year. You an access this<br />
detailed guide here.<br />
Whilst understanding the changes that<br />
affect settings in terms of policies and<br />
procedures, we also need to be aware<br />
of the impact that these safeguarding<br />
issues can have on our employees and<br />
young people in our setting, particularly<br />
if they have been victims themselves or<br />
have supported other people who have.<br />
In these cases, we need to be aware of<br />
the problems that our trainees and young<br />
people can face, and the problems that<br />
victims experience in coming forward.<br />
The long-term consequences<br />
of abuse<br />
Abuse is a terrible thing, it can affect<br />
someone’s self-esteem, cause extreme<br />
mental health issues and has a huge<br />
impact on the life chances that people<br />
have, if not treated with compassion,<br />
patience and understanding. Adverse<br />
Childhood Experiences (or ACEs) are<br />
potentially traumatic adverse events that<br />
occur in childhood. All the kinds of abuse<br />
we are aware of in safeguarding training<br />
count as ACEs but there are other things<br />
too such as parental divorce, substance<br />
misuse or having parents/care givers in<br />
prison which can add to the burden of<br />
toxic stress. Children who grow up with<br />
this kind of toxic stress often have difficulty<br />
forming healthy and stable relationships,<br />
they may have attachment disorders<br />
which can disrupt their relationships into<br />
adulthood, and they may even pass this<br />
on to their own children.<br />
Peer-on-peer abuse can also lead to<br />
traumatic experiences which can have<br />
lasting consequences. People who<br />
experience peer-on-peer abuse and<br />
bullying may conclude that they cannot<br />
trust other people, or they may crave<br />
attention from relationships which are<br />
unhealthy, controlling or abusive, purely<br />
because they feel that negative attention is<br />
better than no attention at all.<br />
If people have suffered from unwanted<br />
sexual contact or sexual harassment, then<br />
this can affect their self-esteem, mental<br />
health and their ability to form strong and<br />
healthy intimate relationships.<br />
According to a recent Ofsted report on<br />
sexual harassment in schools, “Children<br />
and young people told us that sexual<br />
harassment occurs so frequently that it has<br />
become ‘commonplace”.<br />
In a survey of 900 girls at school and<br />
college, the percentage of girls who said<br />
they had experienced some kind of sexual<br />
harassment and assault by peers was:<br />
• sexual assault of any kind (79%)<br />
• feeling pressured to do sexual things<br />
that they did not want to (68%)<br />
• unwanted touching (64%)<br />
These findings are strongly supported<br />
by existing research into harmful sexual<br />
behaviour between peers which were<br />
classed as happening “a lot” . Boys were<br />
The problems of disclosure<br />
Clearly, most people do not advertise<br />
a traumatic history on their application<br />
form and one of the main issues that<br />
people face, is knowing where to get help<br />
from. This is where settings can help by<br />
having an open and supportive culture,<br />
encouraging people to talk about any<br />
issues that may affect their work, and<br />
having policies in place that support<br />
people if they do come forward with a<br />
non-judgemental attitude. In the next<br />
<strong>magazine</strong>, we will talk about the tricky<br />
subject of disclosures in more detail.<br />
Information, advice and an<br />
empathetic culture<br />
Nowadays, there is lot of support around<br />
for people who have been victims of<br />
abuse or ACEs, and it is no longer the<br />
taboo subject it was. Campaigns such as<br />
the “Me Too” campaign, which spread<br />
originally through social media (the ‘news’<br />
channel of young people), have helped<br />
young people not only speak up against<br />
things like sexual harassment and abuse,<br />
but they have also helped them rebuild<br />
their lives and their confidence.<br />
Employees and trainees should be made<br />
aware that all disclosures will be taken<br />
seriously, and employers have a duty to<br />
safeguard young people if they are still<br />
being affected by these issues. They will<br />
have a statutory duty to have procedures<br />
and protocols in place to offer immediate<br />
help, support and referrals to outside<br />
agencies or the police if needed. There are<br />
Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs) in<br />
each setting and employees and trainees<br />
should know who they are.<br />
Many employers are also able to offer<br />
mental health first aid, and/or put young<br />
people in touch with support organisations<br />
for victims of abuse so there is help out<br />
there for anyone who needs it.<br />
If you have been affected by abuse,<br />
then help is available on any of the<br />
websites listed below or by calling the<br />
police on 121 or in an emergency, on<br />
999.<br />
Childline number: 0800 1111<br />
Further sources of<br />
information and advice:<br />
MeToomvmt.org/<br />
www.childline.org.uk/<br />
www.youngminds.org.uk/young-person/<br />
coping-with-life/bullying/<br />
safeline.org.uk/<br />
www.mind.org.uk/information-support/<br />
guides-to-support-and-services/abuse/<br />
www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/<br />
children-and-young-people/protectingchildren/<br />
www.womensaid.org.uk/informationsupport/<br />
www.gov.uk/guidance/domestic-abusehow-to-get-help<br />
www.nationalbullyinghelpline.co.uk/<br />
cyberbullying.html<br />
www.childrenssociety.org.uk/information/<br />
young-people<br />
rapecrisis.org.uk/<br />
30 <strong>July</strong> <strong>2022</strong> | parenta.com<br />
parenta.com | <strong>July</strong> <strong>2022</strong> 31
Plastic Free<br />
<strong>July</strong><br />
As you sit down reading this article, take<br />
a moment to look around you and do a<br />
quick visual and mental survey. How many<br />
plastic items can you see?<br />
Perhaps there are some drinks bottles<br />
or some toys, carrier bags or take-away<br />
coffee cups? Now take a moment to think<br />
about other rooms too – what plastic<br />
items would be in your bathroom? Or<br />
the kitchen, the garden or your setting<br />
generally?<br />
When you come to think about it, our lives<br />
have become almost dependent on plastic<br />
in some form or another. We use plastic in<br />
food packaging, toiletries, toothbrushes,<br />
broom handles, drawers, storage boxes,<br />
shelves, ornaments, decorations, money!<br />
The list is endless. And what’s more, we<br />
use plastic in many items that we don’t<br />
even realise – like sanitary products,<br />
disposable nappies and even tea bags!<br />
In the 1950s, plastics were hailed as a<br />
‘saviour’ because they were so cheap,<br />
hard-wearing and long-lasting. But we<br />
have come to realise that those attributes<br />
are now not the golden lining we were<br />
promised as we struggle to cope with the<br />
ever-increasing mountain of waste plastic<br />
we now produce.<br />
The problem<br />
Some plastics can be recycled and made<br />
into other useful objects, but this does<br />
not apply to all plastics, or we should say,<br />
most plastics. Some cannot be recycled,<br />
and they are not easily bio-degradable so<br />
a plastic bottle can take up to 450 years to<br />
break down. Much of the plastic we use<br />
ends up in our oceans where wildlife can<br />
mistake it for food and ingest it. Plastics<br />
also break down into microplastics (pieces<br />
less than 5mm small) and can find their<br />
way into the human food chain too.<br />
Have a look these 10 disturbing facts<br />
from the Plastic Free <strong>July</strong> and Earth Day<br />
websites about plastic waste:<br />
1. Approximately 91% of plastic is not<br />
recycled<br />
2. Humans use about 1.2 million plastic<br />
bottles per minute<br />
3. Roughly half of our global annual<br />
plastic production is for a single-use<br />
products<br />
4. Virtually every piece of plastic ever<br />
made still exists in some shape or<br />
form (with the exception of the small<br />
amount that has been incinerated)<br />
5. Five trillion plastic bags are produced<br />
worldwide annually. It can take up to<br />
1,000 years for a bag to disintegrate<br />
completely<br />
6. There is more microplastic in the<br />
ocean than there are stars in the Milky<br />
Way<br />
7. At least 14 million tons of plastic end<br />
up in our oceans every year<br />
8. Many countries lack the infrastructure<br />
to prevent plastic pollution such as:<br />
sanitary landfills; incineration facilities;<br />
recycling capacity and circular<br />
economy infrastructure; proper<br />
management and disposal of waste<br />
systems<br />
9. Over 1 million marine organisms<br />
are killed each year due to plastic<br />
pollution in the ocean<br />
10. There are five massive patches of<br />
plastic in the oceans around the<br />
world. These huge concentrations of<br />
plastic debris cover large swaths of<br />
the ocean. One patch in particular,<br />
known as the “Great Pacific Garbage<br />
Patch” covers 20 million square<br />
kilometres of water which is bigger<br />
than the combined area of the United<br />
States’ five largest states<br />
It’s clear that something needs to be done.<br />
What is Plastic Free<br />
<strong>July</strong>?<br />
Plastic Free <strong>July</strong>® is a key initiative of the<br />
Plastic Free Foundation and was started<br />
by Rebecca Prince-Ruiz and a small local<br />
government team in Western Australia.<br />
It’s now a global movement that helps<br />
millions of people begin to tackle plastic<br />
pollution. One of the Foundation’s core<br />
beliefs is “small changes add up to a big<br />
difference”, because if everyone does one<br />
small thing, we could have a massive<br />
impact across the world.<br />
The Plastic Free Foundation published<br />
an impact study about the impact that<br />
Plastic Free <strong>July</strong> was having and found that<br />
participants had:<br />
• reduced their household waste and<br />
recycling by 15kg per person per year<br />
• reduced 2.1 billion tonnes of waste<br />
and recycling including 300 million<br />
kgs of plastic consumption<br />
• refused over 301 million everyday<br />
plastic items<br />
• reduced the overall use of plastics<br />
in bottled water, fruit and vegetable<br />
packaging, and plastic straws<br />
So the campaign is working, but more still<br />
needs to be done.<br />
How you can get<br />
involved in your<br />
setting<br />
The first thing to do if you want to join<br />
in with Plastic Free <strong>July</strong> is to make a<br />
commitment within your setting. You can<br />
take the quiz on the Plastic Free Website<br />
and make a pledge to reduce your own<br />
plastic footprint, advertise this to parents<br />
and carers, and encourage them to do the<br />
same.<br />
The second step is to audit the plastics you<br />
are using and start with those.<br />
The 5 Rs<br />
We all know about the “Reduce, Reuse and<br />
Recycle” Rs which are commonplace terms,<br />
used nowadays to help us cut waste, but<br />
when it comes to plastics, there are 2 more,<br />
which stand for “Refuse” and “Remove”.<br />
Refuse is about consumer choice where<br />
people refuse to buy products which are in<br />
single use plastics, such as water bottles<br />
and take-away coffee cups, using more<br />
sustainable options instead such as glass,<br />
or using reusable ones.<br />
The big four<br />
Whilst we rely on plastics for many things,<br />
there are four main items that are the most<br />
prolific single-use plastics which could<br />
easily be reduced or removed altogether,<br />
with a little more thought and deliberate<br />
action on behalf of consumers. These are:<br />
• plastic bags<br />
• water bottles<br />
• takeaway coffee cups<br />
• plastic straws<br />
Instead, think about ways to reduce them<br />
by:<br />
• using reusable shopping bags – make<br />
sure you always have some in your car<br />
or in your bag so you have them when<br />
you need them<br />
• using a metal or reusable bottle - just<br />
refill it when you need to<br />
• buying a reusable cup such as a<br />
bamboo one and use this in coffee<br />
shops – most cafes offer a discount to<br />
people who do<br />
• keeping some reusable straws with<br />
you so next time you order a drink that<br />
needs a straw, you have a sustainable<br />
solution in your pocket<br />
Say ‘no’ to<br />
disposable nappies!<br />
In early years, one of our biggest sources<br />
of single use plastic, is disposable nappies<br />
and disposable baby wipes. These are a<br />
major source of pollution, although there<br />
are now many sustainable alternatives<br />
out there. The London Evening Standard<br />
newspaper, published an article recently<br />
(March <strong>2022</strong>) on the “Best reusable and<br />
eco-friendly baby nappies that are better<br />
for the planet” which you can read here. So,<br />
this year, why not set yourself a challenge<br />
and use Plastic Free <strong>July</strong> to trial different,<br />
more environmentally friendly options<br />
for the month and become part of the<br />
‘pollution solution’?<br />
More information,<br />
resources and<br />
toolkit<br />
Plastic Free <strong>July</strong><br />
Earth Day Plastic Pollution Primer and<br />
Action Toolkit<br />
32 <strong>July</strong> <strong>2022</strong> | parenta.com<br />
parenta.com | <strong>July</strong> <strong>2022</strong> 33
What do you need?<br />
Carrot star bites<br />
Let’s celebrate Children’s Art<br />
Week from 29th June to 19th <strong>July</strong><br />
Finger Painted Trees<br />
• Grated carrots<br />
• Grated cheese<br />
• Oat flour<br />
• Eggs<br />
Instructions<br />
You can find the full recipe<br />
on ‘Healthy Little Foodies’<br />
here.<br />
1. In a small mixing bowl,<br />
mix the grated carrot with<br />
some water, cover and<br />
microwave for 3 mins.<br />
2. Drain the carrots, place<br />
them on a clean cloth/<br />
absorbent paper and<br />
squeeze out the excess<br />
liquid.<br />
3. Place the carrots back in<br />
the bowl and mix with the<br />
remaining ingredients.<br />
4. Prepare a baking sheet<br />
with parchment paper or a<br />
silicon baking sheet.<br />
5. Form star shapes (or any<br />
shape you wish) of the<br />
mixture using a cookie<br />
cutter. The mixture should<br />
be approximately 0.5cm<br />
thick.<br />
6. Bake for approx. 13-15<br />
mins (until crispy on the<br />
sides).<br />
You will need:<br />
• White card or paper<br />
• Sharpie or marker pen<br />
• Paints<br />
You can find the full craft<br />
instructions on ‘My Bored<br />
Toddler’ here.<br />
Instructions<br />
1. Using the marker pen, draw a tree<br />
trunk and branches on the paper.<br />
2. Dip your fingertips into the paint and<br />
press onto the paper around the<br />
branches to create the leaves.<br />
3. Tip – you can even use different<br />
colour paints to represent the different<br />
seasons of the year.
The nightmare of<br />
skipping!<br />
A duck that has to fly up (jump) to catch its<br />
food.<br />
A frog jumping to catch flies as its tongue<br />
isn’t long enough.<br />
A dolphin jumping out of the sea to catch<br />
fish.<br />
Heads up!<br />
Marching soldiers<br />
Marching is wonderful preparation as this<br />
is a skip without the hop and allows you<br />
to bring in the arm movements in a new<br />
way. Remember that the key to mastering<br />
physical skills is repetition but in different<br />
ways to keep children engaged.<br />
Why is skipping so<br />
hard!<br />
Skipping is so hard for little ones to do<br />
and impossible when they are not ready.<br />
I have spent years working on skipping<br />
with little ones and it is always a cause<br />
of anxiety due to the expectation of the<br />
parents not understanding that they<br />
need to develop other skills first before<br />
they can skip. Imagine the fun when I<br />
used to prepare children for their ballet<br />
exams when they had to skip in time to<br />
the music and remember a sequence of<br />
skips and claps. That was hard enough so<br />
imagine the stress when you had to add in<br />
directions such as going around in a circle<br />
or diagonal – ‘herding cats’ used to come<br />
to mind on occasions!<br />
After all my years of teaching ballet and<br />
movement I can, hand on heart, confirm<br />
that skipping is something you can’t teach<br />
when they are not ready. My advice,<br />
breathe, take a step back, and accept they<br />
will be ready when they are ready.<br />
Did you know skipping is just a transfer<br />
of weight with a little hop and bilateral<br />
coordination? A move that looks so simple<br />
and naturally, takes a huge amount of<br />
effort from your body. All the muscles and<br />
senses in your body are working hard to<br />
keep you upright while they engage to<br />
move your limbs to hop and move in a<br />
direction!<br />
Over the years I have learnt that you need<br />
to prepare the children to achieve this skill<br />
and here are some of the things I do to<br />
perfect the skill of skipping.<br />
No.1: Preparation of<br />
the body<br />
You need to be able to jump before you<br />
can skip. It sounds weird as you would<br />
think skipping would be easier than<br />
jumping.<br />
Before you begin you will need to assess<br />
their skills of walking, going up and down<br />
stairs, moving on their toes, demonstrating<br />
running pace and being able to stop.<br />
These activities are developing their core<br />
stability and muscle control. The muscles<br />
they are developing help them stay upright<br />
and not fall over, which is vital for jumping<br />
skills. You really don’t want them to try to<br />
jump and just land flat on their face! In<br />
fact, trying to jump without core strength is<br />
impossible.<br />
Try this: Let yourself go completely floppy<br />
and try to jump – don’t cheat!!!<br />
No.2: Mastering the<br />
skill of jumping<br />
You need to go down before you can go<br />
up!<br />
Bend those knees at the beginning and<br />
end of your jump. When you jump with<br />
the children make sure you demonstrate<br />
by bending your knees and landing on<br />
the front of your foot (tiptoe) bending your<br />
knees as you land. Your toes are the shock<br />
absorber for the ankles, knees, and spine.<br />
Feel the difference between landing on<br />
your heels compared to the front part of<br />
your foot. You will hear a difference in<br />
when you land on your heels compared<br />
to your toes. Landing on your heels can<br />
sound like a thump!<br />
In my sessions, I play a game of who can<br />
jump the quietest as we do not want to<br />
wake up the sleeping lions. The children<br />
love this as you are letting them problemsolve<br />
and discover the best way of landing<br />
from jumps.<br />
Did you know that jumping helps the<br />
bones harden and grow strong due to the<br />
downward forces?<br />
Take a peek at these slow-motion videos<br />
of dancers and watch how they land<br />
through the front of the foot, not the heel<br />
and look at the amount of control and<br />
strength it takes to jump.<br />
https://www.youtube.com/<br />
watch?v=e4X5z8AQc3s<br />
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyL-<br />
TfkVDjY<br />
Some ideas to practice jumping<br />
Jumping in or over puddles – get muddy!<br />
Blow bubbles for the children to jump up<br />
and pop.<br />
With a little bit of imagination, you can<br />
have even more fun and become……<br />
Encourage children to look forwards or<br />
upwards. If they look down when jumping<br />
they could land face-first on the floor. This<br />
is due to the weight of their heads pulling<br />
them forwards – I have seen it happen!<br />
Different types of jumps<br />
2 to 2 = jumping from 2 feet and landing<br />
on 2 feet.<br />
2 to 1 = jumping from 2 feet and landing<br />
on 1 foot.<br />
1 to 2 = jumping from 1 foot and landing<br />
on 2 feet.<br />
1 to 1 = jumping from 1 foot and landing on<br />
1 foot.<br />
No.3: Get set go…..<br />
When your little ones can demonstrate<br />
some jumping skills, you are ready for the<br />
fun of learning to skip.<br />
Some ideas for building their skills<br />
1. Practise balancing on one leg like a<br />
flamingo, how long you can hold it<br />
for?<br />
2. Take the flamingo for a walk over an<br />
obstacle course. I use hula hoops for<br />
them to step in and out of.<br />
3. Feeding time! Flamingos have to hop<br />
as they step in and out of the hula<br />
hoop to catch their fish.<br />
Handy hint: Give the children scarves as<br />
flamingo wings and see who could get<br />
them the highest to catch their fish. This<br />
starts to bring in the use of the arms to<br />
propel them upwards and forwards.<br />
Co-ordination of the arms and legs can<br />
be tricky at first but over the years I have<br />
learnt a neat trick. I use bands/scarves on<br />
the children’s opposite wrists and ankles.<br />
Have fun using games of moving with<br />
band/scarf and no band/scarf first or<br />
inside a hula hoop – there are so many<br />
different games you use with the children,<br />
and it works as this is something real and<br />
concrete for them to work with.<br />
All the hard work has paid off and now we<br />
can skip!<br />
Remember every child reaches this stage<br />
at their own pace and let them feel<br />
successful in their abilities no matter what<br />
they are able to achieve at that moment<br />
in time.<br />
Once they can skip, why not add some<br />
extra challenges to perfect their skills and<br />
have fun in the process.<br />
Skipping challenges<br />
Gina Bale<br />
Gina’s background was originally<br />
ballet, but she has spent the last 27<br />
years teaching movement and dance<br />
in mainstream, early years and SEND<br />
settings as well as dance schools.<br />
Whilst teaching, Gina found the time to<br />
has create the ‘Hi-5’ dance programme<br />
to run alongside the Australian Children’s<br />
TV series and the Angelina Ballerina<br />
Dance Academy for Hit Entertainment.<br />
Her proudest achievement to date is her<br />
baby Littlemagictrain. She created this<br />
specifically to help children learn through<br />
make-believe, music and movement.<br />
One of the highlights has been seeing<br />
Littlemagictrain delivered by Butlin’s<br />
famous Redcoats with the gorgeous<br />
‘Bonnie Bear’ on the Skyline stage.<br />
Gina has qualifications of teaching<br />
movement and dance from the Royal<br />
Ballet School, Trinity College and Royal<br />
Academy of Dance.<br />
1. How many skips does it take<br />
to cross the room?<br />
2. Skipping backwards<br />
3. Skipping holding hands<br />
4. Skipping around obstacles<br />
5. Skipping in a circle, diagonal<br />
6. Create a skipping sequence and add claps<br />
7. Let them create their own skipping dance and show everyone<br />
36 <strong>July</strong> <strong>2022</strong> | parenta.com<br />
parenta.com | <strong>July</strong> <strong>2022</strong> 37
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