March 2023 Parenta magazine

Issue 100 

MARCH 2023 

FREE 

Industry 

Experts 

Top tips for the 

terrific twos - 

Tip seven: overwhelm 

The power of love 

languages 

Taking singing home: 

how singing helps your 

health 

+ lots more 

Prize Draw 

Give Aways 

Inside! 

Celebrating 100 

editions of Parenta! 

Thank you to all our readers and amazing industry expert guest authors for being part of our community - here’s to the next 

100 editions! 

NATIONAL CAREERS WEEK • RAMADAN • ZERO DISCRIMINATION DAY

hello 

welcome to our family 

Hello and welcome to the March edition of the Parenta magazine - celebrating 100 editions! 

We have much to celebrate this month, not least the fact our magazine has reached the milestone of 100 

editions! Over the past several years, we have strived to provide you with valuable information, advice and 

guidance on all aspects of early years childcare and we’ve been incredibly fortunate to work with some of the 

leading experts in the early years. Thank you for being part of our community, and here’s to the next 100 editions! 

Turn to page 7 for the chance to win some fantastic prizes! 

We celebrate the Muslim tradition of Ramadan this month and have some great ideas for you to be able to celebrate in all settings, of all 

faiths, including some wonderful recipes in preparation for Eid al-Fitr, once fasting has finished. 

Also featured in this month’s edition; Frances Turnbull looks at the benefits of singing on our health, Stacey Kelly gives us an insight into 

the power of love languages, Kathryn Peckham discusses ‘safe space policies’, and Joanna Grace helps us to look at the bigger picture 

when children feel overwhelmed. 

Pam McFarlane concludes her series dealing with the sensitive topic of the death of a staff member, focusing on duty of care, Dr Mona 

Sakr shows us how early years leaders can make positive workplace culture stick, Safeguarding expert Yvonne Sinclair discusses 

the summary of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) and looks at the Truth Project, and Gina Bale shows us the 

importance of keeping an open mind when allowing the children to let their imaginations run wild with authentic learning. 

It’s a packed 100th edition, and as usual, everything you read in the magazine is written to help with the efficient running of your setting 

and to promote the health, happiness and well-being of the children in your care. 

We are holding a special webinar this month for all who work in childcare, which looks at how collectively, we can tackle the 

challenges of the skills gap and staff shortage crisis in our industry. Join us on 9th March with guest speakers Neil Leitch 

from EY Alliance, Purnima Tanuku from NDNA, June O’Sullivan from LEYF and Mark Child from Skillsfirst. You can register for 

this here. 

Please feel free to share the magazine with friends, parents and colleagues – they can sign up to receive their copy at www.parenta.com/ 

magazine. 

MARCH 2023 ISSUE 100 

IN THIS EDITION 

Regulars 

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

34 EYFS Activities: Communication and 

Language 

News 

4 Childcare news and views 

6 Small stories 

7 100th Edition Give Aways! 

39 Congratulations to our Parenta 

learners! 

Advice 

16 Safeguarding focus on honour-based 

abuse/violence and forced marriage 

18 Ramadan 

22 How to avoid spreading infection in your 

setting & the importance of vaccinations 

26 National Careers Week 

32 Zero Discrimination Day 

Safety and safeguarding: IICSA summary 14 

How to avoid spreading infection in your setting 

& the importance of vaccinations 22 

Allan 

Top tips for 

the terrific 

twos -Tip seven: 

overwhelm 

10 

The early brain is a densely 

overgrown forest. Little babies 

find the world full of wonder... 

Dealing with 

the death of a 

staff member 

12 

How can we, as managers 

and leaders, recognise and 

support issues that impact our 

staff members? 

2 March 2023 | parenta.com 

Taking singing home: 

how singing helps 

your health 

This month, we are looking at what 

happens to your health when you take 

the singing home. 

20 

Industry Experts 

10 Top tips for the terrific twos - 


12 Dealing with the death of a staff 

member - duty of care 

20 Taking singing home: how singing 

helps your health 

24 The power of love languages 

28 Do your children have a safe harbour to 

return to when things get stormy? 

30 How early years leaders can make a 

positive workplace culture stick: the 

power of embedding mechanisms 

36 The importance of not having a 

narrow view of imagination and 

authentic learning 

National Careers Week 26 

The importance of not having a narrow view of 

imagination and authentic learning 36

Childcare news 

and views 

Ofsted chief calls for reversal 

of declining early years 

apprenticeships 

Ofsted’s Chief Inspector, Amanda 

Spielman, has said that more needs 

to be done to address the fall in 

apprenticeship starts in the early 

years sector, but also warns childcare 

providers not to use apprentices 

to replace “skilled, experienced 

practitioners” which “isn’t fair to 

children or apprentices” and “can’t be 

a long-term solution”. 

She told Saturday’s Ofsted Big 

Conversation that apprenticeships 

are a part of the solution to address 

declining staff numbers in the 

early years sector, but said that 

“unfortunately fewer young people are 

even beginning these programmes at 

the moment”. 

According to the education watchdog, 

the number of new apprentices 

starting in the sector had fallen from 

27,000 six years ago to just 16,000 last 

year – which represents a drop of 40%. 

Problems with employers releasing 

apprentices for their off-the-job training 

was highlighted as one of the main 

issues. 

“This may seem like a short-term fix, 

but it can delay or disrupt their training 

and cause problems down the road,” 

she said. 

She added that she hoped a recent 

consultation on improving Level 3 Early 

Years Educators course criteria will help 

inform necessary changes, explaining 

that “it’s so important that people 

coming into the sector get off to the 

right start, and this means equipping 

them with the knowledge they need”. 

The full story, as reported in FE Week 

can be found here. 

Treasury considering expansion of 

free childcare: sector could face an 

“entire collapse” 

Early years industry leaders are 

worried that an “entire collapse” of 

the childcare market if alleged plans 

to expand free childcare for the under 

twos is launched without sufficient 

funding for the sector. 

The Department for Education has sent 

proposals to the Treasury to “improve 

the cost, flexibility, and availability 

of childcare” for working parents 

which include an extension of the 

free 30-hours-a-week entitlement to 

include children aged nine months 

to three years. This is according to a 

report on 10th February 2023 in The 

Guardian. 

However, offering parents more 

funded hours under current levels of 

government investment will not only 

lead to “lower quality” early education 

and “more closures” of childcare 

settings but will ultimately lead to 

a complete “collapse” of the sector, 

leaders have warned. 

Neil Leitch, Chief Executive of the Early 

Years Alliance, said that promising 

more “free childcare” without 

adequately funding is “what got us 

into the current crisis” and it is critical 

that ministers “don’t make the same 

mistake again”. 

He added: “The harsh reality is 

that for years now, the existing socalled 

‘free childcare’ schemes have 

been grossly underfunded because 

adequately investing in these 

policies was, in government’s own 

words, ‘unaffordable’. We are deeply 

concerned, therefore, about any 

suggestion of expanding upon the 

current early entitlement offers without 

first acknowledging and addressing 

the significant shortfalls in government 

funding that already exist. 

Put simply, if the government extends 

the 30-hour offer to parents of oneand 

two-year-olds without first 

ensuring that funding actually covers 

the cost of delivering places, the entire 

early years sector will collapse.” 

Jonathan Broadbery, Director of 

Policy and Communications at NDNA 

said: “We have been talking to the 

Government for years about fixing 

the problems with how childcare is 

delivered in this country. Before any 

plans for expanding childcare are 

considered, the current funding crisis in 

the early years sector must be fixed. 

“In the UK, the level of investment in 

our youngest children’s education and 

care is among the lowest in developed 

countries. Whilst expanding the offer 

to parents of younger children would 

help grow our economy, investing in 

high-quality early education and care 

is vital for children’s development in 

those crucial first five years. This cannot 

be done on the cheap. 

“Chronic underfunding means 

providers cannot cover their costs and 

constrains efforts to drive up quality. 

With the right investment, childcare 

providers can deliver the high-quality 

services that support our children 

to flourish and grow. However, an 

underfunded expansion of the current 

system would do even more damage 

to working families and fail the children 

at the heart of this policy.” 

The full story, as reported in Children & 

Young People Now can be read here. 

New resource linking sustainability 

to the EYFS launched 

A new resource which links climate 

education and green skills to the EYFS 

has been launched by educational 

charity NCFE and developed in 

partnerships with Dr Diane Boyd, Senior 

Early Years lecturer at Liverpool John 

Moores University. 

Sustainability Matters in Early 

Childhood contains ideas, activities, 

and experiences that promote the 

“creativity and curiosity” of young 

children to take steps towards a 

greener future by engaging with the 

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

Ideas detailed in the resource include 

growing vegetables, being part of 

the eco-school initiative or engaging 

in decision-making in areas such 

as recycling, weather and energy 

monitoring. 

Janet King, Sector Manager for 

Education and Childcare at NCFE, said, 

“There’s no better place to start thinking 

about sustainability than the early 

years. 

“Small steps taken and advocated 

by practitioners through everyday 

conversation, experience, and 

opportunity supports best practice. 

The resource allows for this in a fun, 

engaging, interactive and inclusive 

way”. 

The full story, as reported in Nursery 

World can be found here. 

You can watch Dr Diane Boyd as 

guest speaker on Parenta’s webinar: 

Sustainability Matters in Early 

Childhood here. 


parenta.com | March 2023 5

A round-up of some news stories that 

have caught our eye over the month 

Celebrating 100 editions 

of our Parenta magazine! 

We are thrilled that our magazine has reached this incredible milestone, and we could not have done 

it without our dedicated readers and contributors. 

Over the past several years, we have been committed to providing you with valuable information, 

resources, and insights on all aspects of early years childcare. We have worked tirelessly to bring 

you articles, industry expert opinions, and practical tips to help you navigate the complex world of 

childcare and early education. 

We have been fortunate to work with some of the leading experts in the field of early years childcare, 

and we have been inspired by the feedback and support we have received from our readers. We 

are excited to continue our journey and look forward to bringing you more valuable insights and 

resources. 

Thank you for being part of our community, and here’s to the next 100 editions! 

Parenta announces reduced 

software prices to support the 

early years sector 

All primary children in London to 

receive free school meals for 

a year 

Grandson of nursery group CEO 

held a sponsored silence in aid of 

earthquake victims 

To celebrate, we have some fantastic prizes to give away! Simply email 

marketing@parenta.com with the subject of “100th magazine edition giveaway” and you 

will be automatically put into a draw for one of these prizes. Winners of the prizes will be 

Parenta announced that it is reducing its 

software prices to support the industry 

during these challenging times. 

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, is 

providing emergency funding for a year to 

enable all primary school children in the 

capital to have free school meals. 

Oliver Hancock pledged to stay silence 

for 24 hours on 19th February to help all 

those impacted by the natural disaster. 

Sarah Moseley Giveaway Prize: 

drawn at random and notified by 29th March. 

Teaching Reading To All Learners Including Those With Complex Needs: A Framework for Progression 

Source and image 

Within an Inclusive Reading Curriculum 

Dr Sarah Moseley’s book provides professionals with the knowledge and confidence to develop reading for 

all learners. 

credits to: 

Nursery World, BBC News, Early 

Years Educator 

Parenta Giveaway Prize: 

1500+ piece arts and crafts set: 

The children will have hours of fun with this! 

With feathers, pom poms, sequins, googly eyes, beads, safety scissors and more, their 

imaginations will run wild! The kit comes in a handy storage bag too so you won’t spend hours 

clearing up the rooms in your setting. 

Gina Bale Giveaway Prize: 

Click here to send in 

your stories to 

marketing@parenta.com 

Luton nursery school recognised 

for mental health education 

Rothesay Nursery School in Luton, 

Bedfordshire, is the first early years 

provider to be named an ambassador 

for mental health. 

Government announces wider 

roll out of Family Hubs to local 

authorities 

The government has announced the 

wider roll out of family hubs to local 

communities. 

Little Magic Train’s “Picnic on the Moon”: Sensory Activity Adventure 

The children will learn about transport to the Moon and the different rockets that have landed 

there. They’ll discover gravity, how high you can jump on the Moon - and best of all you will meet 

an Alien! 

Stacey Kelly Giveaway Prize: 

Early Years Story Box Transition Bundle: 

Oaky Owl’s Last Day and Monty Mouse’s First Day. 

These two delightful books, written and illustrated by Stacey Kelly help with reassuring children as 

they leave their setting, move on and helps them to settle into their new setting. 

6 March 2023 | parenta.com parenta.com | March 2023 7

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Top tips for the terrific twos - 


My second son recently turned two. Friends have commented that my first son skipped the terrible twos. They presume my professional 

skill set will get us through them again. I don’t fancy my chances. This series of articles presents ten tips for negotiating this time with 

small ones. Know that with every strike of the keys, I remind myself that advice is easy to give and hard to follow. I will be attempting to 

practice what I preach this coming year: wish me luck! 

Little by little, those pathways are built, 

tracks appear in the forest and now 

someone walking through has a vague 

idea of where to go. At this time in the lives 

of little ones, you will see them beginning 

to make sense of the world: reaching for 

an object they see to grab it with their 

hand, lifting food to their mouths. An 

image of neural pathways at this time will 

show a cobweb of pathways lacing across 

the brain. 

They keep having new experiences and 

pathways keep on being laid in the forest. 

Now is about the time, if our metaphorical 

forest were a real one, that we would see 

campaigners lashing themselves to trees 

and trying to protect what is left of the 

greenery. Because as children approach 

the age of two, they have had so many 

experiences in their lives that there are 

roads everywhere in this forest. An image 

of neural pathways at this time looks like 

a child has been left alone with a biro for 

too long, a dense scribble of line over line 

crossing over and intersecting with one 

another covers the whole brain. This brain 

is a very difficult place to navigate within! 

Just like the overgrown forest without any 

pathways it is hard to navigate across, so 

is the forest that has been nearly entirely 

replaced with pathways. When paths lead 

everywhere, how can you possibly know 

which way to go? Information comes 

into the brain – and fires across it in all 

directions. It is this that creates the wonder 

and awe. It is this that makes the blade of 

grass so interesting. It is this that makes 

them want to stop and stare at a beetle on 

the path. And it is also this that makes it all 

too much for them at times. Whilst a blade 

of grass can be fascinating, the average 

family living room with voices, a TV and 

toys would be overloading. Children are 

amazing and mostly they handle it, but 

every so often, they do not! 

What happens next in the brain is 

interesting too. It recognises that it is not 

useful to have SO MANY pathways, and 

so it decides which are most used and lets 

the rest grow over. By the time you are 6, 

you have a brain that is bespoke to your 

early environment. The brain continues to 

change and grow and adapt, but never 

again do you have as many pathways as 

you do aged two. So when they do get 

overwhelmed by it all, understand that if 

we were in their brain, we would probably 

be overwhelmed too. 

In my next article I’ll look at what to do 

when the overwhelm hits. 

Joanna Grace 

Joanna Grace is an international 

Sensory Engagement and Inclusion 

Specialist, trainer, author, TEDx speaker 

and founder of The Sensory Projects. 

Consistently rated as “outstanding” by 

Ofsted, Joanna has taught in 

mainstream and special school settings, 

connecting with pupils of all ages and 

abilities. To inform her work, Joanna 

draws on her own experience from her 

private and professional life as well as 

taking in all the information she can 

from the research archives. Joanna’s 

private life includes family members 

with disabilities and neurodiverse 

conditions and time spent as a 

registered foster carer for children with 

profound disabilities. 

In the very first article of this series when I 

pitched for switching the language of the 

terrible twos to the terrific twos, I made 

mention of just how extraordinary a brain 

is at aged two. It is worth revisiting this 

now as we consider a famous feature of 

the ‘T-Twos’: the meltdown, the tantrum, 

the overwhelmed small person letting it all 

out at full volume. What is going on here? 

Well to understand, it is worth tracing 

back to what has been happening so 

far in their young lives. From birth they 

have been working on wiring their brains. 

It’s an incredible process, founded in 

the experiences they have. Sensory 

experiences, so things they see, hear, 

taste, touch and feel, send little electronic 

pulses through the brain, and at first these 

leave just a trace, but with time and with 

repetition, what was a trace becomes 

an established neural pathway. As more 

pathways find their way into the brain they 

meet each other and connect, and the 

brain forms networks of neural pathways. 

These are the foundations for cognition. 

I always imagine it in terms of a forest. 

The early brain is a densely overgrown 

forest. When the baby has an experience 

it sends someone walking through the 

forest. If this just happens once, the forest 

remains pretty much the same, save for 

a few bent over blades of grass. But if it 

happens repeatedly, a little muddy track is 

formed, and in time, it becomes a road: an 

established neural pathway. 

When babies are born there are no 

pathways in the forest, it’s all trees. 

Imagine being a person trying to navigate 

from one side of the forest to the other. 

You would get lost, there are no clues as to 

which way to go. Without roads, the forest 

is a confusing place. Little babies find the 

world…maybe not confusing, but full of 

wonder. Everything is strange and new. An 

image of neural pathways at this time will 

show a few little sprouts scattered over the 

brain. 

Joanna has published four practitioner 

books: “Multiple Multisensory 

Rooms: Myth Busting the Magic”, 

“Sensory Stories for Children and 

Teens”, “Sensory-Being for Sensory 

Beings”, “Sharing Sensory Stories 

and Conversations with People with 

Dementia” and “The Subtle Spectrum”. 

Plus three inclusive sensory story 

children’s books: “Spike and Mole”, 

“Voyage to Arghan” and “Ernest and I” 

which all sell globally and her son has 

recently become the UK’s youngest 

published author with his book, 

“My Mummy is Autistic” which was 

foreworded by Chris Packham. 

Joanna is a big fan of social media and 

is always happy to connect with people 

via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. 

Website: 

thesensoryprojects.co.uk 



Dealing with the death 

of a staff member – duty 

of care 

Over the past two months, we have 

looked at how to deal with the death of a 

colleague and how we can manage this 

sad scenario with our staff, parents and 

children. 

This article looks at how we, as managers 

and leaders, can recognise and support 

issues that impact our staff members. 

Unfortunately, causes of death include 

vulnerability in the three areas below:

Safety and safeguarding: 

Introduction 

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual 

Abuse (IICSA) was established in 2015, 

following serious concerns where some 

organisations in England and Wales had 

failed their duty to safeguard children 

and the aftermath of the highly publicised 

Jimmy Savile scandal. 

The independent inquiry looked into a 

wide range of allegations of child sexual 

abuse within institutions and how they 

responded to the incidents. Although there 

were 20 recommendations, this summary 

will focus on those relating to early years 

and educational settings. 

The Truth Project 

The Truth Project, which was concluded 

in October 2021, was set up to offer 

more than 6000 victims and survivors of 

CSA who were abused within a family, 

an institution or in another context, the 

opportunity to share their experiences 

and put forward suggestions for change. 

Their experiences and views helped inform 

what needs to be changed to help prevent 

it happening in the future and shape the 

Inquiry’s final recommendations. 

What is Child Sexual 

Abuse (CSA)? 

Sexual abuse of children involves forcing 

or enticing a child or young person to take 

part in sexual activities, whether or not the 

child is aware of what is happening. 

The activities may involve physical contact, 

including abuse by penetration or nonpenetrative 

acts (such as masturbation, 

kissing, rubbing and touching outside 

clothing). They may also include noncontact 

activities, such as involving children 

in looking at, or in the production of, 

sexual images, watching sexual activities, 

encouraging children to behave in sexually 

inappropriate ways, or grooming a child 

IICSA summary 

in preparation for abuse including via the 

internet. Child sexual abuse includes child 

sexual exploitation (CSE). 

The Truth Programme 

statistics 

Of the 6000+ victims and survivors 

involved in the programme, it was 

identified: 

47% first experienced CSA under the 

age of 7 years old 

12% of those were under the age of 3 

36% stated at least one of their 

incidents took place outside the family 

home – schools were the most frequently 

reported locations 

70% were female 

90% were from white ethnic 

background 

45% stated they now have an illness/ 

condition that affects their everyday life 

The final report 

The final report is made up of two parts: 

the first part sets out to represent the 

voices of the 6000+ victims and survivors 

with regards to their experiences. 

The second part records the Inquiry’s 

conclusions and recommendations. 

Conclusions 

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) 

of abuse have a significant and ongoing 

impact well into adulthood. 

Many victims disclosed abuse to trusted 

adults thinking action would be taken yet 

nothing happened. In fact, disclosure of 

abuse by the victims were often met with 

embarrassment, fear or disbelief by those 

who were entrusted to safeguard them. In 

some incidents, the children disclosing the 

abuse had been accused of lying or the 

incidents blamed on their lifestyle choices. 

The report has a number of common 

themes emerging:

Safeguarding focus on 

honour-based abuse/ 

violence and forced 

marriage 

Safeguarding comes in many different 

forms in all educational settings. We 

often have a focus on the children in our 

settings, but equally, there are young 

people in their teens and potentially 

staff in their early adult life who may 

need protection from different types of 

abuse and violence. In this article, we 

focus on the safeguarding categories of 

honour-based abuse/violence and forced 

marriage. 

What are honour-based 

abuse and violence? 

Honour-based abuse is a term which 

refers to a collection of practices used to 

control the behaviour of people within 

families (or other social groups) in order 

to protect perceived cultural and religious 

beliefs, values and social norms in the 

name of ‘honour’. It can include violence, 

threats of violence, intimidation and 

coercion (including psychological, physical, 

sexual, financial or emotional abuse) 

against a person who is alleged to have 

breached a family’s or community’s code 

of behaviour, thereby bringing perceived 

‘dishonour’ or ‘disrespect’ on the family or 

community. 

The victims of honour-based violence 

(HBV) are predominantly women although 

not exclusively, and there are usually 

a number of perpetrators or potential 

perpetrators who are involved in abusive 

and controlling behaviours. These can 

range from controlling finances and whom 

people are allowed to see and speak to, 

to acid attacks and murder. It can also be 

difficult to collect evidence in honour-based 

abuse cases if families effectively ‘close 

ranks’ and protect perpetrators. 

Forced marriage 

Consent to legally marry someone must 

be given freely and in full by both parties. 

Forced marriage is a criminal offence in the 

UK, as is deceiving someone into leaving 

the UK in order to force them into marrying 

someone. For an offence to be committed, 

the perpetrator forcing someone to marry 

must:

Ramadan 

What is Ramadan? 

Ramadan is a special celebration in 

the Muslim faith of the month when the 

Muslim Holy book, the Quran, was first 

revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. 

According to the Quran, the actual night of 

this revelation is known as Laylat al-Qadr 

(“The Night of Power”). Ramadan lasts 

for 30 days and is a time for reflection, 

contemplation, and celebration within 

the Muslim community, and is celebrated 

by almost 4 million Muslim people in 

the UK representing about 6.5% of the 

total population. Worldwide, there are 

approximately 2.2 billion people who 

follow Islam. 

When is Ramadan? 

The Islamic calendar is different to the 

traditional Gregorian calendar that we 

use in the West, and Ramadan is the 

ninth month of this Islamic calendar. The 

exact dates of Ramadan change every 

year, because Islam uses a lunar calendar 

based on the changing cycles of the 

moon, rather than the movement of the 

earth around the sun, which gives us a 

year in the Gregorian calendar. Therefore 

every year, the exact dates of Ramadan 

(and every other Islamic festival) vary and 

fall approximately 10 days earlier each 

year. 

In 2023, Ramadan starts on Wednesday 

22 March, and is due to end on Friday 

21 April, with the 3-day festival called Eid 

al-Fitr running from Saturday 22 April, 

with Laylat al-Qadr being celebrated on 

Monday 17 April. 

How is Ramadan 

celebrated? 

As with many religious festivals, Ramadan 

is a time for prayer and good deeds 

and it is a month when families and 

friends come together and celebrate with 

their wider communities. Muslims are 

encouraged to give up bad habits during 

Ramadan, and many Muslims will try to 

read the whole Quran at least once during 

Ramadan or carry out other religious acts 

of worship or sacrifice. Ways in which 

Muslims uphold traditions include: 

⭐ Greeting others by wishing them a 

happy Ramadan during the month. 

Two traditional Ramadan greetings 

which you could teach to the children 

in your setting are: 

Ramadan Mubarak – Happy 

Ramadan 

Ramadan Kareem - Have a 

generous Ramadan 

⭐ Fasting – also known as sawm (see 

below for more information) 

⭐ Zakat – this means “purification,” and 

it encourages all Muslims who are 

able, to donate some of their income 

or wealth to the poor, or get involved 

in an act of charity. Zakat is one of 

the five pillars of Islam, central to the 

Islamic faith 

⭐ Decorations - Ramadan decorations 

are not necessarily part of the 

longstanding tradition, but they have 

become increasingly popular in recent 

years. They often involve fabric with 

red patterns and lanterns, although 

there are a wide variety of decorations 

used to celebrate Ramadan 

nowadays 

Fasting during 

Ramadan 

During the month of Ramadan, Muslims 

don’t eat or drink during daylight hours. 

This is called fasting. Since the timing 

of Ramadan moves over a number of 

years, this can vary between about 8 and 

14 hours a day depending on whether 

Ramadan falls in winter or summer. 

Certain people such as children under 14, 

the elderly or travellers are not expected 

to fast but most other Muslims do. The 

reason for fasting is to teach people selfdiscipline, 

allow for physical cleaning, and 

to remind them of the suffering of the poor. 

However, it is not that people cannot eat 

at all – they just refrain from eating during 

daylight hours. At other times, such as 

just before dawn, people have one meal 

(known as the suhoor), and another one 

(known as the iftar), directly after sunset. 

Breaking the fast – Eid 

al-Fitr 

The end of Ramadan is marked by a big 

celebration called Eid al-Fitr or the Festival 

of the Breaking of the Fast, and as you 

can imagine, it involves special meals and 

celebrations with friends, family and the 

local community. People celebrate not only 

the end of Ramadan, but also thank Allah 

for giving them the strength and devotion 

during the last month. Many mosques 

hold special services and people are 

allowed to eat during daylight hours as 

special community gatherings during the 

Eid (festival). 

The exact timing of the start of the festival 

depends on when the moon is first sighted 

but it is expected to start on Saturday 22 

April or Sunday 23 April 2023. 

Ramadan recipes for 

Eid al-Fitr 

Once fasting is over, the feast can begin 

and there are a number of traditional 

dishes that are served including: 

⭐ Dates – these are a traditional way to 

ease back into eating after fasting 

⭐ Soups – popular varieties are 

vegetable, lentil, chicken and 

vermicelli 

⭐ Fattoush - Fattoush is a salad made 

of fresh vegetables and served with 

either pita or crispy bread 

⭐ Tharid – this is one of the most typical 

Ramadan dishes, and consists of 

Arabian meat and a vegetable 

stew over crispy bread. There are 

many variations on the dish, like the 

Levantine fatteh, Moroccan trid, and 

Iranian dizi 

⭐ Kebabs and samosas – meat and/or 

vegetarian versions 

⭐ Baklava – a sweet dessert made with 

nuts and honey 

How to celebrate 

Ramadan in your 

setting 

This Ramadan, why not encourage your 

staff and children to celebrate the month of 

Ramadan in different ways. Think about: 

⭐ Zakat – organising a charity collection 

of old clothes or toys that you can 

donate to a local children’s hospital or 

charity 

⭐ Trying new foods – see https://www. 

islamicity.org/food/ for lots of useful 

recipes 

⭐ Create some Ramadan crafts based 

around the sun and the moon – see 

https://artsycraftsymom.com/10- 

ramadan-crafts-and-activities-forkids/ 

for some useful ideas which are 

easy and fun 

⭐ Read stories about Ramadan and 

Eid al-Fitr during storytime. There are 

a number of dedicated children’s 

books on the subject including “It’s 

Ramadan, Curious George” by A. 

H. Rey, “Eid al-Fitr” by Grace Jones, 

“Ramadan Moon” by Na’ima B. 

Robert, and “Rashad’s Ramadan and 

Eid al-Fitr” by Lisa Bullard to name but 

a few 

⭐ Tell children about the different 

religions around the world 

⭐ Sing some songs about Ramadan – 

there are lots of age-appropriate and 

catchy songs on YouTube 

⭐ Create a display about how you have 

celebrated Ramadan and hold a 

special party at the end to mark the 

end of the fast 

References and more 

information 

⭐ https://mcb.org.uk/2021-census-asuk-population-grows-so-do-britishmuslim-communities/ 

⭐ https://www.prb.org/resources/theglobal-muslim-population/ 

⭐ https://www.muslimaid.org/what-wedo/religious-dues/when-is-ramadan/ 

⭐ https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ 

topics/zpdtsbk/articles/zjc2bdm 



Taking singing home: how 

singing helps your health 

One of my jobs involves researching the 

effects of singing on health, so this month, 

we are looking at what happens to your 

health when you take the singing home. 

There have been a few articles and TV 

programs on the benefits of singing for 

neurological conditions like Alzheimer’s 

(memory related) and Parkinson’s 

(movement related). But did you know that 

singing also helps heart conditions, lung 

conditions and diabetes, too? 

The NHS Core 20 PLUS 5 (Core20PLUS5: 

An Approach to Reducing Inequalities, 

2021) plan aims to target the 5 key clinical 

areas of health inequality starting with 

the most deprived 20% of the population 

(who do not conventionally access health 

care). These areas of health inequality 

include severe mental health, chronic 

respiratory disease, cancer, hypertension, 

and maternity care, where a number 

of early interventions and support are 

being offered. Interestingly, singing has 

been found to improve heart rate, blood 

pressure, pain and stress (Ribeiro et al., 

2018) of mothers, and also improves the 

foetal movement, heart rate, auditory 

memory and mental health (Gebuza et al., 

2018) of babies. 

Many children attending nurseries will 

have family members with different 

health conditions, particularly as a result 

of COVID-19 – either having had the 

illness, or as an after effect of lockdown 

(Kerker et al., 2023). For example, 

anxiety and depression amongst women 

has increased because they have 

experienced more stress and strain from 

all of the environmental changes made 

by governments. These have directly 

impacted babies and young children 

though increased maternal cortisol 

levels, which affect growth, neurological 

development and even changing gut 

microbacteria. 

Maternal mental health is known to 

impact the attachment of infants, leading 

to insecure attachment, which impacts 

their behaviour as they grow, and their 

future relationships as adults. When 

infants are unsure of what behaviour to 

expect from their parent, they can show 

signs of sleep disturbance, fussiness 

and impaired emotional regulation. At 

school, this can be seen in aggression and 

delayed language development. Children 

of depressed mothers have also been 

found to have higher rates of accidents, 

emergency department visits, and lower 

rates of immunisation and other medical 

appointment attendance. 

With the earlier findings on the effects of 

maternal singing, groups have developed 

sessions incorporating singing and 

mindfulness. Research has showed that 

these groups have created a safe space 

for people to connect (Foulkes, 2021) as 

well as increase their self-confidence, 

feelings of relaxation and become more 

energised. These results could potentially 

have a powerful effect on struggling 

families. 

Listening to music has powerful benefits 

and has been used effectively in many 

medical situations. However singing 

together with others appears to have a 

far greater effect (Lynch & Wilson, 2018), 

particularly on mindfulness – the ability to 

be aware of the present moment. We have 

included a few songs below that could 

be a great starting off point for families 

wanting to include more singing at home, 

where parents and children are able to 

confidently sing together. 

Twinkle twinkle 

Twinkle, twinkle, little star 

How I wonder what you are 

Up above the world so high 

Like a diamond in the sky 

Twinkle, twinkle, little star 

How I wonder what you are 

This lovely, traditional song about stars 

feels like it is full of gentle hope and 

daydream, wondering about things we 

don’t yet understand, and appreciating 

their beauty. 

Wind the bobbin up 



Pull, pull, clap-clap-clap 

Wind it back again 

Wind it back again 

Pull, pull, clap-clap-clap 

Point to the ceiling 

Point to the floor 

Point to the window and 

Point to the door 

Clap your hands together 

One, two, three 

Put your hands 

Upon your knees 

Rolling hands over and over, then 

changing direction, and clapping, then 

pointing and clapping, this song spells it all 

out. Following non-threatening instructions 

is a helpful mindfulness technique, helping 

us to live in and appreciate the present. 

Wheels on the bus 

The wheels on the bus go round and 

round 

Round and round, round and round 

The wheels on the bus go round and 

round 

All day long 

The wipers on the bus go swish-swishswish 

Swish-swish-swish, swish-swish-swish 

The wipers on the bus go swish-swishswish 

All day long 

The bell on the bus goes ding-ding-ding 

Ding-ding-ding, ding-ding-ding 

The bell on the bus goes ding-ding-ding 

All day long 

The driver on the bus says, “Tickets 

please,” 

“Tickets please, tickets please,” 

The driver on the bus says, “Tickets 

please,” 

All day long 

The doors on the bus go open-and-shut 

Open-and-shut, open-and-shut 

The doors on the bus go open-and-shut 

All day long 

The horn on the bus goes beep-beepbeep 

Beep-beep-beep, beep-beep-beep 

The horn on the bus goes beep-beepbeep 

All day long 

This has become a song about the types 

of people on the bus, but this version 

emphasises the parts on the bus, 

encouraging attention to detail – great for 

living in the moment. 

Baa baa black sheep 

Baa baa black sheep 

Have you any wool? 

Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full 

One for the master and one for the dame 

One for the little boy that 

Lives down the lane 

These days we use this song to imitate 

sheep noises, and to develop counting 

– although originally it was a satirical 

song that adults sang, mocking the 

government’s tax policies! 

Society has become increasingly more 

involved, with more and more to do and 

consider. It is almost certain that this will 

take a toll on our mental health, which 

eventually impacts our physical health. 

Earlier this week, I read an article on 

medieval peasants that only worked a 

3-day week, with leisurely meals, and 25 

weeks off a year, including 4-5 days off 

each month. They had a lot less freedom 

than we have today which may not make 

the time off worthwhile! But this is where 

the idea of mindfulness can help us to find 

a balance between learning from the past, 

living in our present and anticipating a 

hopeful future. 

References 

Frances Turnbull 

Musician, researcher and author, 

Frances Turnbull, is a self-taught guitarist 

who has played contemporary and 

community music from the age of 12. She 

delivers music sessions to the early years 

and KS1. Trained in the music education 

techniques of Kodály (specialist singing), 

Dalcroze (specialist movement) and Orff 

(specialist percussion instruments), she 

has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology 

(Open University) and a Master’s degree 

in Education (University of Cambridge). 

She runs a local community choir, the 

Bolton Warblers, and delivers the Sound 

Sense initiative “A choir in every care 

home” within local care and residential 

homes, supporting health and wellbeing 

through her community interest 

company. 

She has represented the early years 

music community at the House of 

Commons, advocating for recognition 

for early years music educators, and her 

table of progressive music skills for under 

7s features in her curriculum books. 

Frances is the author of “Learning with 

Music: Games and activities for the early 

years”, published by Routledge, August 

2017. 

www.musicaliti.co.uk 



How to avoid spreading 

infection in your setting & the 

importance of vaccinations 

It’s inevitable that wherever young children 

are together in a group, there will be a 

high chance that infections will spread. 

When working in early years, it’s an 

occupational hazard; with the children 

touching each other and the toys – often 

at the same time as wiping their noses 

and rubbing their eyes! We know all too 

well how quickly viruses and infections 

can spread, and often children can be 

contagious for some time before they 

show certain symptoms. For the first 

few years of their lives, their bodies 

are building up immunity to infections 

and they will have neither completed 

their vaccination programme nor have 

developed good hygiene habits. 

In this article, we look at some of the 

more common infections in children and 

their causes, how we can prevent their 

spread and explore the importance of 

vaccinations. 

What causes an infection? 

Infections in children can be caused by 

a variety of harmful microorganisms, 

including viruses, bacteria, fungi, and 

parasites. These microorganisms can 

invade the body and cause symptoms 

such as fever, cough, runny nose, 

diarrhoea, and skin rashes. 

The specific cause of infection will vary, 

depending on the type of microorganism 

and the method of transmission. Common 

causes of infections in children include 

close contact with infected individuals, 

poor hygiene, underdeveloped immune 

system, if a child is unvaccinated or comes 

into contact with contaminated food 

or water, or exposure to contaminated 

environments. 

The most common infections in 

children affect their respiratory system, 

gastrointestinal system, skin, ears and 

eyes. 

“Prevention is better than 

cure!” 

Completely preventing the spread of 

infections in an early years setting may 

seem like a daunting task; it requires a 

combination of good hygiene practices 

and environmental controls. Here are 

some steps you can take:

The power of 

love languages 

We all communicate love in different ways 

and according to American author, Gary 

Chapman, there are 5 love languages. 

His theory is that we all express and 

experience love in these 5 different ways:

National Careers Week 

the well-being of their staff at all levels. 

To this end, we have covered information 

in two categories which we hope you will 

find useful. 

It’s that time of year when young people 

across the country start turning their 

attention to revision, exams and what 

they will do when they leave school, either 

after completing their GCSEs or higher 

exams such as A Levels and T Levels. 

National Careers Week (NCW) runs from 

6th – 11th March with the aim of being a 

focus for careers guidance, and offering 

lots of free advice, information and useful 

downloadable resources to help young 

people navigate this important time. 

NCW is also a one-week celebration 

of all things ‘careers’ in the UK and it is 

sponsored by a whole host of diverse 

industries and work sectors from the 

BBC to Careers in Racing, the WWF to the 

financial sector and from Maritime UK 

to the UK Space Agency, so there really 

is something out there for everyone, 

whatever their interests. 

The NCW website is available throughout 

the year and is full of resources, webinar 

and event details, advice and information, 

not only for young people but also for 

educators, employers and parents too. 

And as we head towards a greener 

economy, last year saw the launch of 

the Green Careers NCW category which 

showcases new jobs in the burgeoning 

green industry sector. 

Social media plays a big part in advertising 

and raising awareness of the week 

and participants can use the hashtag 

#NCW2023! this year to link up to others 

and raise the profile of the week across 

their social media partners. Previous years 

have proved a vital link for young people. 

During the pandemic, NCW2021 and 

NCW2022 reached over 1 million young 

people and had over half a million views 

of the 2022 Virtual Careers Fair online 

and over 14,000 resource downloads. All 

these things are designed to help inspire 

and inform young people so they can take 

positive actions towards the future of their 

choosing. 

NCW and early years 

At first glance, early years practitioners 

may see little relevance in NCW and the 

early years, since the children in our care 

have not even started school, let alone be 

thinking about their next career move! But 

obviously, the early years profession has 

a very keen interest in NCW since many 

new recruits into the early years sector 

join at age 16 or 18 on apprenticeship 

programmes and the week represents 

an opportunity to raise awareness of the 

profession and recruit some new staff. 

In addition, there may be existing staff 

whose own children (or indeed the staff 

themselves) are trying to decide on their 

next course of action, for whom some 

extra information and resources would 

be very beneficial. Transitions can be a 

stressful time for families, so anything you 

can do to help support your own staff will 

also help reduce stress levels and show 

that you are an employer who cares about 

1. Raising awareness of the early years 

sector and recruiting staff 

2. Supporting staff with their own or their 

children’s choices 

1. Raising awareness and 

recruiting new staff 

NCW is the perfect opportunity to get 

out into your local community and raise 

awareness of the early years sector, how 

important it is for our society and the 

advantages of starting a career in such 

a vital social occupation. Starting a Level 

2 apprenticeship at the age of 16 is just 

the beginning of what could be a life-long 

career in early years, leading on to Level 3 

qualifications (equivalent to A’ Level) and 

eventually to Level 6/7 qualifications and 

research degrees that can drive new ideas 

and pedagogical thinking for the benefit 

of our youngest children and the wider 

society too. 

Here are some ideas to help you make the 

most of NCW2023! 

✨ Make contact with your local 

secondary schools and colleges and 

talk to their Careers Officers – perhaps 

you could arrange a stand at a 

careers fair or meet relevant interested 

students to get your apprenticeship 

recruitment information in front of 

potential local candidates 

✨ Use your social media presence to 

advertise your involvement in NCW 

and use the hashtag #NCW2023! You 

can also download the campaign 

graphics here 

✨ Host or sponsor a space at the NCW 

Virtual Careers Fair to showcase your 

organisation – contact nick.newman@ 

ncwcic.co.uk 

✨ Talk to Parenta about apprenticeship 

recruitment opportunities. Parenta 

recruit and train hundreds of Level 

2 and Level 3 apprentices each 

year, and there are even courses for 

Team Leaders, Supervisors and Lead 

Practitioners up to Level 5 

2. Supporting existing 

staff and their children 

National Careers Week has lots of very 

useful information for parents and 

educators including newsletters, lesson 

plans and a Parent’s Guide which explains 

all the options that young people have 

after GCSEs. It provides parents with 

the information they need to help their 

teenage children make the right choices to 

create successful futures after GCSE and 

sixth form. This includes information about: 

✨ A Levels 

✨ T Levels 

✨ BTECs 

✨ Apprenticeships 

✨ Traineeships 

✨ Internships 

✨ Other qualifications and exam retakes 

✨ University 

✨ HNCs and HNDs 

✨ Gap years 

✨ Starting work 

✨ Starting your own business 

✨ Work experience 

Some ideas to help your 

staff during NCW 

✨ Hold an informal careers event and 

allow staff and their children time 

to research and access some of the 

information available from NCW. You 

could collate some prospectuses or 

brochures from local colleges and 

if you have any contacts there, why 

not invite them to speak. It’s often 

also useful to hear information from 

people who have studied at a college 

as well as an official brochure 

✨ Set up a careers display board in 

your staff room or other communal 

area and promote the idea of lifelong 

learning and CPD courses so that staff 

know what is available 

✨ Talk about continued learning at staff 

meetings and allocate a learning 

budget for staff so they feel that 

they are supported throughout their 

careers, not just at the beginning 

✨ Chat to your own staff about their 

own career development – are there 

courses or further CPD areas that staff 

wish to explore – remember, although 

NCW is primarily aimed at teenagers, 

there is nothing to stop you expanding 

it to have a discussion with all your 

staff about their own futures in the 

industry 

✨ Parenta also offer a variety of short 

online CPD courses to upskill existing 

staff so look at CPD eLearning Courses 

from Parenta - Develop your Childcare 

Career for more information 

Whatever you do for this year’s NCW, let us 

know your plans and send your stories to 

us at Parenta by emailing: 

hello@parenta.com. 



Do your children have a 

safe harbour to return to 

when things get stormy? 

There are times in all our lives when we 

need that little bit of extra support. When 

things feel a little too tough to handle 

by ourselves we all need a safe place to 

return to. But for a child who may not have 

been with you for very long or who is not 

used to feeling this way, does your “Safe 

Space Policy” ensure they know how to 

find you before they begin to struggle? 

Many things can cause children’s emotions 

to spike including conflicts with their 

friends, difficult experiences in the nursery 

environment, issues at home or even an 

impending illness or sleep disruption. 

In fact, studies show that about 2.5% of 

children at any time are feeling some level 

of sadness. But whilst children’s feelings 

need careful monitoring, should you seek 

to remove anxiety altogether? 

Anxiety refers to feeling worried, nervous 

or uneasy about something whose 

outcome we are uncertain of. But life is 

unpredictable and full of uncertainties as 

we face every kind of experience. Learning 

to cope with anxiety means learning 

to manage this uncertainty and move 

forward with courage despite our fears. So 

rather than seeking to eliminate anxiety, 

we need to support our children’s feelings 

as we teach them how to recognise their 

emotions, to manage their anxieties and 

to have faith in their abilities to do so. 

But before a child can begin to manage 

themselves through difficult times 

of uncertainty, they need to have 

established a sense of security within all 

their environments. And this starts with 

secure attachments to the caring adults 

around them. When this fundamental 

component of early years safety is in 

place, children’s well-being can flourish as 

they feel able to take risks and handle life’s 

unpredictability’s, knowing you are there to 

catch them if they fall. 

Every time you connect with children’s 

thoughts and emotions you are forging 

the links that allow these deep-rooted 

attachments to occur. This will not be the 

same for every child – nor indeed, for 

every day. You will then need a varied tool 

kit at your disposal. But through nondemanding 

exchanges, you are laying the 

groundwork that is so important to a child. 

Establishing a sense of security, as well as 

offering a safe harbour for them to return 

to whenever things get tough. 

Research at Boston University showed that 

connecting with an anxious child in an 

attentive, but non demanding way for just 

five minutes a day had a profound impact. 

Simply gather a few non-competitive toys 

such as crayons, dolls or building blocks 

and play together. As you do so, keep all 

your attention on them, rather than other 

conversations or distractions. Avoid asking 

questions, correcting or giving instruction 

as you allow the child to direct. It is 

important that they experience this time 

without tension or worry, as you create a 

warm and relaxed atmosphere around 

them. 

With these ‘safe space guidelines’ in 

place, you can help children manage their 

anxieties before they become a crisis. With 

your strong attachment, you will become 

aware of the patterns of your children’s 

thoughts and emotions, ready to respond 

to any changes that suggest things are 

becoming more difficult. And ready to act, 

with the support and guidance they have 

learnt to trust in. 

Known in psychology as social referencing, 

children look to a person they trust to take 

their cues, secure in the knowledge that 

you are there for them and ready to catch 

them if they stumble. These memories 

of spending safe time together and 

connecting establishes you as someone 

they can trust. Without this, a child can 

feel like they are facing their fears or more 

difficult times alone. This is especially 

important for anxious children who may 

feel this way a lot of the time and lays 

the groundwork for when things become 

particularly bad. 

Without it, an anxious child may simply 

learn to avoid anything connected to 

their anxieties. While this may offer 

some immediate and temporary relief, 

it can see anxiety in these areas grow. 

Instead, connect with your children as 

you help them manage and move past 

their fears with compassion and gentle 

encouragement throughout the nursery 

environment. 

For example, when a child sees a spider, 

they will look to you to see how you 

respond, learning from your reaction. If 

you are relaxed, they are more likely to 

be. If you react with an increased set of 

emotions, their anxiety around spiders will 

likely grow in preparation for the next time 

they encounter an eight-legged friend. 

Especially if anxiety is becoming a default 

reaction. You don’t need to avoid your 

own anxiety, look to deny it or even look to 

belittle its power. Instead, help each other 

to be brave together, doing something 

even though you may be afraid of it. 

If you feel nervous around spiders, use 

this as an opportunity to face your fears 

together. Talk about what it is you don’t 

like, explore with them how sometimes 

our fears may be irrational – you know 

the spider can’t hurt you, but you feel 

frightened anyway. And help them to 

see that there may be things they feel 

braver about than you do, helping their 

confidence to grow. 

Through these exchanges, get to know 

your children so you can be ready to 

recognise when things are becoming too 

much for them to handle. Take the time to 

really connect and build the safe harbours 

they know they can always return to. 

Increased or prolonged anxiety can be 

dangerous and needs resolving. So, if 

you are ever worried, then it is probably 

something to be worried about. And if 

you are working with a child who seems 

to have been struggling for what seems 

like weeks, it may be time to consider 

professional intervention. Especially if 

you feel like prolonged periods of difficult 

emotions have come on suddenly, or 

without any obvious explanations. 

Next time, as we continue our reflections 

of ‘the happy child’, we will look at 

supporting children through difficult 

processes of social connections. But in the 

meantime, bring focus back to nurturing 

all of children’s growth and development 

with a Nurturing Childhoods Accreditation. 

Whether you are looking for a setting 

wide approach to reflective practice 

and active CPD or a more personalised 

approach with the Nurturing Childhoods 

Practitioner Accreditation, gain recognition 

for the nurturing practice you deliver. 

Through 12 online sessions throughout the 

year join me and hundreds of nurturing 

practitioners as together we really begin 

developing the potential of all children in 

their early years. 

Kathryn Peckham 

As Founder of Nurturing Childhoods, 

Dr Kathryn Peckham is a passionate 

advocate for children’s access to rich and 

meaningful experiences throughout their 

foundational early years. Delivering online 

courses, training and seminars she 

works with families and settings to identify 

and celebrate the impact of effective 

childhood experiences as preparation for 

all of life’s learning. An active campaigner 

for children, she consults on projects, 

conducts research for government bodies 

and contributes to papers launched in 

parliament. Through her consultancy 

and research, she guides local councils, 

practitioners, teachers and parents all 

over the world in enhancing children’s 

experiences through the experiences 

they offer. A highly acclaimed author and 

member of parliamentary groups, Kathryn 

also teaches a Masters at the Centre for 

Research in Early Years. 

For more information and practical 

guidance on developing the features of 

lifelong learning, Kathryn has published 

a book: “Developing School Readiness, 

Creating Lifelong Learners”. 

Get in contact at www.kathrynpeckham. 

co.uk or email info@kathrynpeckham. 

co.uk. 



How early years leaders can 

make a positive workplace 

culture stick: the power of 

embedding mechanisms 

We know that a positive workplace culture 

matters. It’s a huge player in why people 

join particular nurseries and why they 

choose to stay. In a time when recruitment 

and retention are such huge challenges for 

the sector, and when pay and progression 

are limited, it’s vital that leaders know how 

to embed an organisational culture that 

makes staff excited about coming to work 

every single day. 

But how do leaders actually embed a 

positive culture? According to the leading 

figure in organisational culture research, 

Professor Edgar H. Schein, there are 

a range of what he calls ‘embedding 

mechanisms’ that leaders can use to help 

a positive workplace culture to stick. 

He separates these mechanisms into 

‘primary embedding mechanisms’ – the 

things that leaders do straight away as 

they try to build up a particular culture 

in the organisation – and ‘secondary 

embedding mechanisms’, which are vital 

for helping to sustain that positive culture 

over time. 

In this article, we’ll look at the primary 

embedding mechanisms that 

leaders can use as they try to 

cultivate a new workplace 

culture across a nursery. We’ll look at three 

in particular: 

⚙ Paying attention: what you notice and 

celebrate day to day 

⚙ Allocating resources: where the time 

and money goes 

⚙ Role modelling, training and coaching: 

showing how you’d like things to be 

Paying attention: what you 

notice and celebrate day to 

day 

If you want to embed a positive workplace 

culture that emphasises supportiveness 

across a team, as a leader, you’ll need to 

pay attention to the quality of support as it 

shows up in day to day interactions across 

the nursery. This means being on the 

lookout for how staff show support to one 

another at the moment. 

For example, you might notice that a 

particular member of staff is great at 

cheering others up when they’re feeling 

tired or demotivated. You might see how 

this individual’s attitude and emotional 

attunement helps others to get through 

the day. Saying the simple words “thank 

you” to this person sends a message 

throughout the organisation about what 

matters to you as a leader and how 

important you think this kind of supportive 

attitude is across the nursery. 

Leaders can go further than just saying 

thank you of course. You can celebrate 

supportiveness more concretely and 

encourage others to celebrate it also. This 

might mean putting up a noticeboard for 

example in the staff room where staff can 

share examples of how they felt supported 

by someone else. You could have a small 

budget available for staff to buy each 

other small, silly tokens to show support 

or to show their appreciation for others’ 

support. Over the longer-term, you might 

even invest in a staff award ceremony – 

on whatever scale works for you – where 

there is an award specifically for showing 

support to others in the team. All of these 

celebratory actions are powerful because 

they reinforce the idea that showing 

support matters. 

And of course this doesn’t apply to just 

supportiveness. You could do the same 

thing for kindness, for joy, for showing 

initiative – whatever you see as the 

fundamental qualities of workplace culture 

that you really want to make stick. 

Allocating resources: where 

the time and money goes 

When it comes to valuing particular 

qualities in the workplace culture, as 

leaders we need to put our money where 

our mouth is. We need to show that we 

care about these qualities of the culture 

through directing resources in their 

direction. It’s not just money that matters 

and speaks, but also the allocation of time. 

So, for example, in a team meeting, you 

might show that being supportive matters 

by dedicating the first 15 minutes of the 

meeting to connecting with one another on 

an emotional and personal level, helping 

to support flow more readily across the 

team. Team meetings are precious time 

where there’s a lot to get done. But if 

support really does matter to the culture, 

then fostering this support is a priority. 

Does pay and progression in the nursery 

clearly relate to the qualities that you’re 

hoping to embed? If we look at promotion 

criteria for example, is being supportive 

explicitly recognised? 

On a more day to day basis, is there a 

small budget that staff can tap into in order 

to support colleagues through difficult 

times or even just show appreciation of 

colleagues that have been supportive? It 

could be a personalised mug costing less 

than £20, but for an employee it makes all 

the difference to know that what they’re 

doing for the team matters, along with 

being a sign to the whole team about 

what’s most important in the nursery. 

Role modelling, training 

and coaching: showing how 

you’d like things to be 

Sometimes it can feel like a positive 

workplace culture is something that’s 

hard to pin down and therefore hard to 

teach. But once you get a clear grip on the 

qualities that you want to see more of, you 

can begin to not only model that quality 

through your own style of leading, but 

also use training and coaching to enable 

staff to bring more of that quality into their 

practice and teamwork. 

If you want to develop a team that feel 

emotionally connected to one another and 

where the support flows freely, it could 

work well to invest in training around 

emotional intelligence, attunement and 

even attachment styles. This is powerful 

on many levels because it impacts not only 

on how staff interact with each other, but 

their understanding of young children and 

families as well. Follow-up coaching, which 

focuses on these qualities, is a great way 

to help staff to embed the quality in their 

practice over time. 

To help a particular quality in the 

workplace culture to stick, you can start by 

celebrating that quality in action, directing 

resources towards it, role modelling what 

it looks like and investing in training and 

coaching to foster the quality in practice. 

Mona Sakr 

Dr Mona Sakr is a Senior Lecturer in 

Education and Early Childhood. As a 

researcher in Early Years (EY) provision, 

she has published extensively on 

creative, digital and playful pedagogies 

including the books “Digital Play in 

Early Childhood: What’s the Problem?” 

(Sage) and “Creativity and Making in 

Early Childhood: Challenging Practitioner 

Perspectives” (Bloomsbury). 

Mona’s current research is an 

exploration of pedagogical, 

organisational and community 

leadership in EY and how leadership can 

be more effectively developed across 

EY. Current funded research includes a 

Nuffield Foundation project looking at 

online leadership development across 

the EY sector, a BELMAS project looking 

at leadership in the baby room of 

nurseries and a BERA project examining 

ethnicity in the early years workforce. 

Forthcoming books (include an 

introduction to social leadership in early 

childhood education and care (written 

with June O’Sullivan, CEO of London Early 

Years Foundation), and an edited volume 

on EY pedagogical leadership around 

the globe. 

Email: m.sakr@mdx.ac.uk 

Twitter: @DrMonaSakr 



Zero Discrimination 

Day 

March 1st is Zero Discrimination Day – a 

day when the UN and partner agencies 

around the world celebrate the right of 

everyone to live a full and productive life - 

and live it with dignity. 

According to the official website: 

“Zero Discrimination Day highlights how 

people can become informed about and 

promote inclusion, compassion, peace 

and, above all, a movement for change. 

Zero Discrimination Day is helping to 

create a global movement of solidarity to 

end all forms of discrimination” 

It is closely tied to some of the United 

Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals 

for 2030 to help improve the lives of 

everyone across the planet. The symbol 

for the day is a butterfly, chosen because 

it represents transformation which is what 

the day is about – transforming the world 

into a fairer and more tolerant place. 

History of the day 

Zero Discrimination Day was first 

celebrated on March 1, 2014, and was 

launched by UNAIDS Executive Director, 

Michel Sidibé, on 27 February of that year 

with a major event in Beijing. A lot of the 

focus for the day is aimed at ending the 

discrimination that many people living 

with AIDS face on a daily basis. Whilst 

advances in the treatment of AIDS has 

meant that it is now no longer the death 

warrant it once was in the West, it is still a 

major problem in many under-developed 

nations with 38.4 million people living with 

HIV globally in 2021. Every year, 1.5 million 

people become infected with the disease 

according to 2021 figures. 

However, Zero Discrimination Day also 

focuses on different areas where there is 

other discrimination too. In 2020, the focus 

was on discrimination against women and 

girls, and in 2019 and 2022, a light was 

shone on the laws that countries have that 

continue to allow discrimination between 

people. 

In 2023, the theme is “Save lives: 

decriminalise” since many areas of the 

world still have laws which criminalise 

aspects surrounding sexuality and HIV/ 

AIDS. In the world today: 

❤ 134 countries explicitly criminalise or 

otherwise prosecute HIV exposure, 

non-disclosure or transmission 

❤ 20 countries criminalise and/or 

prosecute transgender persons 

❤ 153 countries criminalise at least one 

aspect of sex work; and 67 countries 

now criminalise consensual same-sex 

sexual activity 

❤ 48 countries still place restrictions 

on entry into their territory for people 

living with HIV 

❤ 53 countries report that they require 

mandatory HIV testing, for example 

for marriage certificates or for 

performing certain professions 

❤ 106 countries require parental consent 

for adolescents to access HIV testing 

Zero Discrimination Day 

and early years 

When thinking the relevance of the day 

to early years, you may want to steer 

away from AIDS/HIV, but a good place to 

start would be to focus on celebrating the 

diversity of people and the backgrounds 

they come from. You could start by thinking 

about the different types of families that 

children can come from, remembering 

that there are many. Sociologists have 

identified a number of types of family and 

household set ups that include: 

❤ Nuclear family – one man, one 

woman and their children 

❤ Single parent families 

❤ Same sex families 

❤ Extended families – where 

grandparents, aunts, uncles and 

cousins may all live in the same 

household 

❤ Reconstituted or blended families 

– where at least one parent may 

have children from another marriage 

(sometimes called step-families) 

❤ Foster families 

❤ Adopted families 

❤ Kinship families where children are 

looked after by aunts, uncles, siblings 

or grandparents 

❤ Special guardians looking after 

children 

traumatic for some children, especially 

if they have been taken into care, are 

refugees or have lost a parent through 

bereavement and/or family breakdowns. 

Children may not be able to express 

how they feel in these situations, but 

talking about families may be a trigger 

for some challenging behaviours in some 

children as they struggle to come to terms 

with these emotions. What is needed is 

patience and understanding here, and a 

recognition on the part of the early years 

practitioner that these problems exist and 

are real for these children. 

How to celebrate Zero 

Discrimination Day in your 

setting 

need to be mindful of unconscious 

bias that can be introduced which 

can reinforce stereotypes or 

generalisations. 

2. That children can see the families 

that they grow up in, represented in 

the world around them. This means 

that children hear stories and see 

images of families that are diverse, 

multicultural and represent our wider 

society. One family set up should not 

be favoured over and above others as 

this can create problems in the minds 

of children if they feel they are not 

from a family set up that is accepted. 

So, in celebrating Zero Discrimination Day, 

think about how you can: 

❤ Refugees who may be fostered 

❤ Compound families – where there 

may be 3 parents living in the same 

household, either by divorce or in 

polygamous societies 

❤ Communes 

❤ Religious communities 

❤ Children living in care homes 

There will be more, as each family is 

unique, and this is why it is important to 

make sure that children understand the 

diverse nature of families in the UK and 

the world today and that each family unit 

is valid and accepted just as it is. 

Another important thing to remember 

when talking about families is to 

understand that even the subject can be 

Obviously, you will need to make sure that 

any information you give to the children 

about this day is age appropriate. There 

are 2 main issues that our youngest 

children need to understand about 

tolerance in pre-school: 

1. That tolerance of different races, 

religions and sexualities is promoted 

in the UK (it’s one of the British Values 

after all). This can be done in an age 

appropriate way by talking about 

relationships which are based on 

love, whether that is between a man/ 

woman, 2 women or 2 men, or even 

a single parent/foster parent and their 

child. The emphasis should be on the 

fact that the people love each other 

and want to be together. Younger 

children are much more accepting of 

all kinds of relationships than many 

adults, and early years practitioners 

❤ Celebrate diversity by celebrating 

all the wonderful people in your 

children’s life, whether parents, carers, 

family or friends 

❤ Talk about it – read some storytime 

books about diversity – see here for 

a list of pre-school appropriate books 

including “My Mums Love Me” by 

Anna Membrino and “My Daddies!” 

by Gareth Peters. 

❤ Participate in campaigns via the 

website or through local awareness 

groups 

❤ Make a display of the different 

families that make up your setting 

❤ Use the butterfly motif in your arts and 

crafts work – you could incorporate 

the PRIDE rainbow too 



EYFS activities: 

Physical 

Development 

‘Spring’ into reading! 

The children will just love jumping, clapping and hopping with this all-time favourite activity, using 

the popular “Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” song. It gives a great opportunity for some In the 

Moment Planning and allows the children to have fun exploring their physical capabilities. 

• Create some action cards, such as jump, 

clap, hop on one leg, then on the other, 

hand on head etc. 

Emerging from winter hibernation 

Now that the time is approaching for those 

hibernating animals to start to reappear 

around our countryside, it’s a good time to 

explore what happens to them when they 

hibernate and where do they go when they 

disappear for the winter? 

• Gather a selection of soft toy animals 

that hibernate in the winter, e.g. bats, 

hedgehogs, dormice, squirrels, bees, frogs 

and snakes. 

• You can also use some picture books/ 

stories about hibernating animals. Go 

through the concept of hibernation with 

the children, passing around the soft toy 

animals. 

• Encourage the children to build dens 

or cosy hiding spots for the animals 

to hibernate in, within the setting. 

This allows children to move around, 

whilst simultaneously improving their 

concentration and understanding of 

hibernation. 

You can find this activity and more on the Early 

Years Educator website here. 

• Place these around the room, creating little 

‘activity stations’. 

• Lead the children around the circuit, 

encouraging them to perform the action 

shown on the card at each area. 

• Ask questions like ‘I wonder how many 

times we can jump?’ or ‘Let’s clap 5 

times’. These can not only encourage 

physical activity, but also mathematical 

development as you count with them. 

You can find these and more activities at Early 

Years Educator here. 

Active Stories 

Active stories are a great way to facilitate 

active learning, build motor skills and 

encourage imagination and creativity. 

• The stories can be simple; based on 

everyday activities such as cleaning the 

house, or adventures such as pirates on the 

high seas, or you can find inspiration from 

children’s favourite books. 

• The idea is to incorporate any move or skill 

you want into the story, and collectively act 

it out. For example, on a jungle adventure, 

you could crouch under branches, jump 

over streams or leap from stepping stones. 

• To involve the children further, you can ask 

for suggestions such as: ‘what animal shall 

we be today?’ or ‘where are we travelling 

to’. These open questions will just add to 

their imagination! 

You can find this activity and more on the 

Teach Early Years website here. 

34 March 2023 | parenta.com

The importance of not having 

a narrow view of imagination 

and authentic learning 

Authentic learning is a very positive 

experience for your little ones, but 

sometimes if a very narrow view is taken, it 

can be the opposite in the long term. 

Piaget believed the learner must be 

active to be engaged in real learning and 

that authentic learning is a pedagogical 

approach that allows children to explore 

and problem-solve. 

This is where things can go wrong if 

you are too rigid. Imagination is key to 

exploration and problem-solving! If we 

don’t nurture their imagination, they will 

not gain the full experience and potential 

of the learning process through play. 

How we support children through 

authentic learning is so important. We all 

know that the trick to engaging children is 

for them to be CURIOUS. We want children 

to be curious to find out about their own 

environment and ask questions. I have 

found that over the last 30-plus years that 

using imagination when seeing the world 

or outer space, helps create a sense of 

belonging, and appreciation of their own 

world around them. In other words, think 

outside your immediate surroundings 

otherwise learning can become very 

insular and ultimately boring for some. 

There are many ways of using imagination 

to enhance authentic learning for example, 

what could be better than a magical 

adventure into our amazing solar system 

to learn about night and day? You never 

know you may even meet an alien on your 

adventure... 

Let them enjoy and see the fun of maths 

with imagination ranging from countdown 

to blast off and comparing sizes, and 

properties of different planets. Create 

invitation activities for your little ones. 

Blasting off into space can be a wonderful 

multi-sensory experience from the 

dashboard of the rocket to the sensation of 

taking off and moving. For some extra fun 

use, a hairdryer (or battery-operated fan), 

attached to the inner tube of a loo roll and 

with crinkly paper attached. Outer space 

is full of endless fun and mirth especially 

when you learn that farts are the reason 

astronauts have a bean-free diet. Who 

knew farts could be so dangerous? 

Farts aside, when you look up, on a 

clear night, at the moon you can see the 

craters making the moon an authentic 

experience as it exists in their immediate 

surroundings. You could extend that 

experience by creating an activity using 

moon sand or flour to see the impact 

on the moon, or earth when they drop 

different-sized pebbles with different 

forces. Add a bit of imagination and add 

dinosaurs to the mix. Go back in time 

and find out what happened when the 

extinction-sized meteor hit the earth. 

Poor dinosaurs! This is part of our history 

on Earth and a great way to inspire 

the next generation of scientists and 

palaeontologists with fossil-hunting 

activities – all this from a trip into outer 

space! 

While you are in outer space you can 

increase their vocabulary with words from 

gravity to satellites. Do peek at the bunnyhopping 

astronauts on the Moon as a 

fun way to look at gravity. https://www. 

youtube.com/watch?v=HKdwcLytloU 

Between your bunny hopping or avoiding 

meteors you could spend a few moments 

watching the oceans on Earth and discover 

how the moon affects the tides. The way 

this is presented will depend on their age 

and abilities. 

A follow-on from this could be a fun day 

trip to the seaside. The children will love 

searching for and counting sea creatures, 

shells, and pebbles. At the same time, 

you can point out the marks in the sand of 

the high and low tides which are a direct 

link to the moon. This shows the impact 

of the moon on their natural environment. 

I do hope you can see how much fun 

and authentic learning there is with a 

sprinkling of imagination. Please do not 

discount space travel and trips to the 

moon by viewing them as something they 

won’t experience directly. In fact, if you are 

working on the ‘Seasons’ a journey to the 

moon, is a wonderful way of looking at 

why we have longer days in the summer 

and shorter in the winter. The moon helps 

the earth to maintain its tilt which gives us 

our seasons as we travel around the sun. 

Did you know the other planets in the solar 

system that have a tilt also have seasons? 

Why not celebrate the winter and summer 

solstice and the children can monitor the 

length of the day around those events? So 

many exciting early STEM activities with the 

magical ingredient I-M-A-G-I-N-A-T-I-O-N! 

I know some may feel still feel that a trip 

to the moon and learning about satellites 

is not authentic learning as the children 

will never experience it. But every time 

you check your Google maps or watch 

Sky (other brands are available) just think 

about those satellites in space giving your 

directions and bouncing a signal to your 

TV. 

Most importantly… you may have the 

next Neil Armstrong, Bill Gates or Steve 

Jobs sitting right in front of you. If we don’t 

inspire and stimulate their imagination, 

they will never be confident to explore and 

see the world and fulfil their full potential. 

We need creative and imaginative minds 

to help improve the world. Everything we 

see around us that is man-made came 

from our imagination. If we become too 

insular in our learning and only focus on 

the immediate surrounding, as I have 

seen in some early-years settings, we can 

have too narrow a view of what authentic 

learning is. This narrow view is curtailing 

their imagination and creativity. Every child 

is different, and one size doesn’t fit all. 

Imagination is disappearing in our little 

ones. I have seen this myself over the last 

30 years of teaching, making me sad. This 

is the reason for my passion for creating 

opportunities for imaginative role-play and 

play. Children need the imagination to be 

able to be CURIOUS to wonder WHAT, IF, 

WHY, and HOW? 

There are no limits to how imagination, 

role play, and play lead to valuable and 

amazing authentic learning experiences 

for your little ones. Using role-play to 

visit far-flung places can help them 

become ethical and informed about the 

sustainability of our planet. Learning 

about other countries, cultures, and 

places enable them to become more 

knowledgeable. This knowledge will help 

them to respect the needs and rights of 

others, as a member of a diverse society. 

Creativity, imagination, and the arts make 

us human and connect on so many 

different levels. 

References: 

https://www.discovermagazine.com/ 

the-sciences/farts-an-underappreciatedthreat-to-astronauts 

Gina Bale 

Gina’s background was originally 

ballet, but she has spent the last 27 

years teaching movement and dance 

in mainstream, early years and SEND 

settings as well as dance schools. 

Whilst teaching, Gina found the time to 

create the ‘Hi-5’ dance programme to 

run alongside the Australian Children’s 

TV series and the Angelina Ballerina 

Dance Academy for Hit Entertainment. 

Her proudest achievement to date is her 

baby Littlemagictrain. She created this 

specifically to help children learn through 

make-believe, music and movement. 

One of the highlights has been seeing 

Littlemagictrain delivered by Butlin’s 

famous Redcoats with the gorgeous 

‘Bonnie Bear’ on the Skyline stage. 

Gina has qualifications of teaching 

movement and dance from the Royal 

Ballet School, Trinity College and Royal 

Academy of Dance. 

Email: gina@littlemagictrain.com 

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

gina-bale/ 

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

Littlemagictrain 



Testimonials 

“As a new nursery we have tried multiple apprentice providers and local colleges, one shone through 

and didn’t appear to look after the wellbeing of my apprentices. Parenta from the get go have been 

amazing. 

Congratulations 

to all our Parenta learners! 

My apprentices assessors Charlotte and Gill have been brilliant and Jesse has been super helpful over 

the phone in booking inductions. 

Parenta understand the difficulties early years are facing and no challenge is too great. Really really 

appreciate the support from Parenta towards my apprentices and all my apprentices are having a 

positive learning experience and enjoying their courses. Would recommend to anybody.” 

Nurture Team Diary 

“I had an excellent experience with Parenta. My assessor, Tonni, was very helpful and always answered 

any queries I had during my course. She guided me very well and was always super friendly. I have 

now completed my course and I am very thankful to my assessor.” 

Julia Gowthaman 

“My name is Vicky and I have just finished my Level 3 Early Years Educator - all thanks to the efforts of 

Emily Hunt. 

Emily took me on when I was significantly behind in my course compared to where I should have been 

at the time, however she took the time to get to know me, my learning style and what it was that I 

wanted to get out of this course. The result of this was fully completed coursework no less than seven 

months later, which would not have happened without her efforts. Emily made it her goal to break 

down the remainder of my course into achievable chucks which was vital in getting me to where I 

needed to be as she understood how overwhelmed I felt. 

Congratulations to all our Parenta learners who completed their apprenticeship 

and have now gained their qualifications. 

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

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

current climate. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

Emily was a constant source of support and guidance; she was also a confidence booster when I 

needed it and motivated me to see the course through. Emily made sure that I knew she was always 

there for me if I needed her and always helped with a smile and her beaming positivity! I always felt 

at ease when speaking with Emily and as though I was being listened to and heard - especially during 

my observation day which helped more than I can put into words! 

I am so grateful, and I just cannot thank Emily enough for all of the help and support she has given 

me and I purely have her to thank for getting me to where I am now. Emily is what made my success 

in completing my course possible and quite honestly, I do not want to think about where I would be if 

she didn’t pick me up as a learner. I can only hope that every apprentice coming into Parenta gets a 

tutor like Emily. 

She is a dream to work with!” 

Vicky Reynolds 



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March 2023 Parenta magazine

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