early years alliance - Case studies

Case study - Fundraising for your baby and toddler group

Tanya.Svilar — Mon, 17 Apr 2023 11:24:04 +0000

Michelle Urquhart, treasurer at Bumps 2 Four, Lincolnshire

Bumps 2 Four is a not-for-profit baby and toddler group in a small village in south Lincolnshire. The group is run by an ever-changing committee of volunteers who have children that attend the group. Treasurer, Michelle Urquhart shares her top tips on fundraising.

Bumps 2 Four has been serving the community of Langtoft and the surrounding area for more than 20 years. We meet on a Friday morning during term time and welcome anywhere between 15 and 30 families each week. Numbers tend to be higher in autumn and winter and drop off slightly as the weather improves going into the summer months.

Weekly themes
We have a different theme each week, with a craft table and messy play based on that theme. Then we rotate through our toys, including our play kitchen, balance beam, construction toys, wooden garage, doll corner, farm animals and dinosaurs – to name a few.

We finish off each session with story time and singing. And it wouldn’t be a baby group without tea, coffee and biscuits!

Covering costs
We charge families who attend £2 per family group – no matter how many children they have. This covers some of our costs, but we rely on donations and fundraising to make up the rest.

Here’s a few of fundraising ideas that have worked well for us:

Register with easyfundraising.org.uk – Once you’ve signed up, encourage your parents/carers to join. It costs absolutely nothing to join and when you do your online shopping with selected retailers (more than 7,000 of them), you get a small percentage back. We registered in September 2022 and have already raised £1,10 for the group.

Design and sell Christmas cards – We did this for the first time last year and it was a huge success. We used classfundraising.co.uk. The children design a Christmas card and parents/carers can order products (Christmas cards, gift wrap, mugs, tea towels) with that design on it. If you send your designs back early enough you can earn up to 25% commission. We raised £97 from doing this.

Do a raffle – We do an Easter raffle each year, making up Easter hampers made with donations from local businesses. We raised £68 in our Easter raffle this year.

Sponsor a session – We have asked several local businesses to sponsor specific sessions. For example, a local real estate agent donated £80 for our summer outing last year, a building developer donated £40 for our Halloween session and the owners of a local industrial estate donated £100 for our Jubilee session last year (we only asked them for £40!).

We have found it works best if you are very specific with your ‘ask’. We also send our supporters photos from the session that they can use on their own social media. Be sure to check with your parents/carers first that they are happy for the photos to be used in this way.

Ask for donations – We live in an area with several quarries and cement works run by large national companies. We have had donations of toys and resources from Breedon Group and Tarmac. We also approached Lightspeed Broadband who were doing a lot of promotion and marketing in our area.

Again, being specific with your request seems to help. In all these cases we asked if they could support us with replacing some of our toys that had gone mouldy in storage during the pandemic. We invited a representative from the company to the group to do a handover, which is a good photo opportunity for them. We always thank our sponsors on our social media and send photos to the local newspaper and village magazine.

We have looked at more formal funding opportunities (through grants and funds), but many of these have restrictions on what they will fund and a lot will not fund running costs. But it is still worth looking at this type of funding if you need funds for a large project.

Good luck with your fundraising!

Case studies

Case study - Under 5s Out and About, Kings Lynne

Tanya.Svilar — Mon, 17 Apr 2023 11:02:10 +0000

Under 5s Out and About is a well-loved community group open to all young children and their families. It meets in all weathers at the entrance to Reffley Wood in Kings Lynne. The group started when parent volunteer, Amy Ranger teamed up with a newly qualified member of staff from her local Children’s Centre. They were looking to help set up a new community project as part of their training and Amy suggested that they try starting up an outdoor parent-child group.

Amy explains: “My daughter, Olivia, was 18 months old at the time. She had really enjoyed attending the local ‘prams in the park’ and other outdoor events but there weren’t any regular outdoor activity groups meeting in the area.” Amy then began work with the children’s centre to organise a regular outdoor meet-up. She adds: “We wanted to do something different – something that didn’t involve technology or the usual toys in a church hall.”

With no budget and no resources, they contacted the Woodland Trust to ask if they could meet in the nearby woods and were happy to be given permission to use the space. Just 15 people attended the first session, which Amy created around the theme of ‘nature detectives’. For 12 weeks, she worked with the children’s centre, hosting one meet-up each month.

Each month, Amy picks a theme – recent examples have included frogs, gingerbread men, and winter woodlands – and then builds a host of activities around the idea. She says: “I always include a walk and at least one craft activity.”

Most craft activities make use of free, natural resources from the forest itself such as bird feeders made from pinecones and a group weaving made using fallen leaves and twigs. Amy has been working with several local businesses to help fund the sessions and purchase more equipment. Parents also make voluntary donations at the end of each session, although most of the planned events are still free.

A grant from the local church group helped to pay for Amy’s public liability insurance and a nearby business, West Norfolk Glass, has agreed to help with printing trail materials and leaflets. The company has also donated £100, which she will use to buy a trolley for the group.

Support from the community has also meant that Amy has been able purchase a set of bug-hunting equipment, which will be useful for several sessions in the future, including the recent ‘insect adventure’ trail. The insect adventure walk included a bug hunt using magnifying glasses and bug pots, a bug hotel made inside an old tree stump and crafts including printing and making insects using wooden pegs.

The local community has been instrumental in the group’s success. As well as the financial grants, Amy receives support in the form of donated materials including wool, cardboard and other items. She says: “We have people of all ages joining in, from new parents with prams to older people with grandchildren.”

Older children are welcome to join in with the events during school holidays. Amy has also received help from the ��’s Norfolk subcommittee, which helps by providing additional staffing for busy events, such as the Easter egg trail.

Amy believes that the outdoors sessions help teach children to value the world around them. “I hope to teach children to respect nature while they are enjoying the space. I like to think that if they learn the joy of these spaces that they won’t grow up to be destructive teenagers in the future.”

Case studies

Reducing plastic in nursery settings

caroline.graham — Tue, 30 Jul 2019 14:08:54 +0000

To mark the end of Plastic Free July, we're sharing some amazing stories of nurseries who have radically reduced or cut out their use of single-use plastics.

Concerns about the damage caused by plastic pollution have been increasing. Every year, more than one million tonnes of plastic waste are sent to landfill in the UK, with most families throwing away an average of 40kg of plastic that could be recycled.

Earlier this year we shared some simple ideas for how early years settings could start to reduce the amount that they contribute to plastic waste.

And since then some nurseries have been making huge changes with some inspiring results.

Working with parents to reduce waste

Jelly Beans, a Montessori nursery based in Essex, has been changing the way it uses disposable plastic products.

Jelly Beans offers care between 8am and 6pm across two rooms and an outdoor classroom. The setting currently cares for a total of 90 children over each week. For them, the idea of cutting down on the level of waste produced at the setting was always on their radar.

Sarah Drummond, head and founder at the setting, explains: “This was always in the back of my mind we already recycle a lot in the setting, but I had been thinking about what other things we could do for a while.

"Then I saw the article on reducing plastics in Under 5 and saw there was evidence to back up what we wanted to do.”

The setting was also struck by how some of the disposable items they were using added up over the course of a year – for example, an average setting open for 50 weeks a year might use up to 5,000 plastic nappy sacks and 5,000 single-use plastic aprons.

Sarah started by speaking with families through the setting’s parents forum about the changes they wanted to make. “When we shared the statistics about how many nappies and wipes we were using, parents realised how important this was.” She explains. “I think a lot of parents only think about their own individual child and don’t see how all of this waste adds up.”

The response from families was overwhelmingly positive. “Out of a 180 families, only one had concerns about the plans – and they are still behind the idea overall, they just wanted to provide their own wipes as their child has eczema.”

Three parents have also been hugely supportive of the new plans, helping the setting implement some of the changes.

One parent has also been looking into setting up a litter-picking group for the local area to help clear up some of the outdoor spaces.

Washable wipes and resuable nappies

Jelly Beans has swapped from plastic toothbrushes to a bamboo alternative and has started using reusable wipes. “We were going to buy a set of these online, but one of the children’s grandparents made us a set using some muslin cloth,” Sarah says. The cloths can be cleaned in the washing machine, ready to be re-used.

The setting purchased some wet bags online, which cost around £1 for a set, which they now use instead of disposable nappy sacks to wrap up wet clothing to be sent home. These sacks are also more convenient for many parents. Sarah explains: “The whole thing can be put in the washing machine with the clothes and they are totally reusable.”

Two parents have also been sharing their experience of using reusable nappies with the parents forum. Sarah says that as well as helping to reduce plastic waste, reusable nappies may also help with toilet training for young children. “Modern nappies work almost too efficiently, so that children do not realise that they are wet,” she explains. In a year the average early years setting can use up to 12,500 nappies, so this can have a huge impact on waste.

Eco-swaps prove cost effective

Many settings may also be concerned about the cost of some of these swaps, as eco-friendly alternatives are often seen as being more expensive.

“Actually, we’ve found that everything has actually saved us money and we are no longer spending money on disposable aprons and gloves,” Sarah explains. The reusable alternatives the setting is now using will work out cheaper in the long term.

Sarah thinks this is an important issue for settings to address with children. “We all play our part in taking care of the environment and children are the future of this – we need to educate them now.” She says that making changes now can help set habits. “If we can teach them to take care of their environment, they will carry that with them throughout their lives.”

Devon nursery is officially plastic free

Oak Tree Nursery in Devon has achieved Plastic Free Nursery status through the environment charity Surfers Against Sewage, after reducing the amount of single-use plastic they use.

Francy Broxholme, deputy manager at the setting, explains: “We’ve been really productive and are now throwing away only a third of what we used to.”

Children at the setting were the driving force behind the campaign, after reading the book Five Little Men in A Flaying Saucer, which sees aliens visit a polluted and littered planet Earth.

“It sparked a wider conversation about the environment around our nursery and the children were upset by all the litter they say,” Francy explains.

The setting found out about the Plastic Free Nurseries scheme after a nearby school signed up to a similar schools initiative.

Goodbye glitter

As part of the scheme, the setting was tasked with eliminating three sources of single-use plastic. They removed straws, glitter and cling-film.

“The glitter was really hard to say good-bye to,” Francy admits. “Children and practitioners love using glitter for crafts, but we’ve had to find ways of decorating without it.”

The team has gone above and beyond their original task, and has also stopped using their laminator so that paper and cardboard items can be recycled when no longer needed.

Oak Tree also recycles all the waste paper, including paper towels, metals and plastic. The children use any plastic items that can’t be recycled to make eco-bricks – plastic bottles filled with plastic waste to create building blocks.

Francy says: “It’s lovely to hear the children saying things like: ‘Look at me, I’m a superhero, saving the world!’ when they are making up the bricks. It’s really magical and I hope they take this all with them for the future.”

Resources

Plastic not so fantastic webinar

Plastic not so fantastic article

Plastic not so fantastic audit — �� members can use this spreadsheet to carry out an audit of the single-use plastics they use in their settings. It's available to download from the �� Members Area.

Coming soon...

More great tips for reducing, re-using and recycling at your setting from our partners at Famly

Best practice

Case studies

World Book Day: how to make a great book corner

rachel.lawler — Wed, 06 Mar 2019 10:58:15 +0000

Melanie Pilcher, quality and standards manager at the ��, shares some ideas for creating a book corner, or story area, to help encourage children to develop a love of books and reading. This is an extract of an article that originally appeared in the March 2019 issue of Under 5 magazine.

A designated book-corner or story area is an important element of continuous provision. It should be laid out in such a way that children and adults will want to visit it frequently. Practitioners must ensure that it is planned and maintained, with new books added often and damaged books removed. Practitioners should also model behaviour they want to see in the book corner, treating books with the care and respect they deserve.

The right place

It is also important to reflect upon who uses your book corner and when – for example, if boys only tend to do so during designated story times when they are directed to. Think about how you can encourage these children to use it more, maybe making the theme more appealing to their current interests.

Put your book corner in a space that is relatively quiet, away from areas of high traffic, such as the route to the bathroom.
Think about how books are stored and displayed – put some on shelves, some in racks and some in book boxes.
Make it accessible and welcoming so that children have room to gather in small groups, or to simply be still and quiet in their own way if they need to. For many children, the act of looking at a favourite book is calming and reassuring when they are feeling upset.
Don’t be tempted to fill the area with brightly coloured child-sized plastic furniture – it may appeal to an adult’s idea of what looks nice, but is quite often not really fit for purpose. A small adult-sized sofa and some comfy seating is ideal.
Soft cushions and rugs are great, if they can be easily cleaned.
Can children arrange the books as they wish? Are fixtures and fittings easily removed? Do they have ‘ownership’ of the layout?

The right content

Think about the type and range of books you have available. There should be a good mixture of picture books, big books, board books, lift-the-flap books, poems and non-fiction books, with lots of different print styles. Ensure that you include books that reflect diversity and inclusion, with plenty of positive images of people from different cultures and in non-stereotypical situations.

Books can be expensive, but there are means and ways of keeping a regular supply of new books coming in. Ask parents for donations of books, but set some criteria – you’ll want books that are in a good condition, covering a relevant topic and age-appropriate for the children in your setting. But while you are adding to your collection and making sure that there is always something new, don’t forget old favourites.

Some things to consider:

Children enjoy looking at photo albums – either sitting quietly alone or sharing memories with a friend or practitioner. Seeing photos of themselves and their peers encourages dialogue and helps them grasp the concept of time and the sequence of events.
Many settings use their book corner to display children’s work. This is fine as long as they don’t take over and help enhance the area.
You might want to explore themes from time-to-time. For example, you could add props for particular books or choose to highlight the work of a particular author or illustrator.

Where next?

Healthy and Active Lifestyles - top tips for early years settings

Plastic not so fantastic

Happy children — taking care of young people's wellbeing

Case studies

Best practice

Under 5

Case Study - Developing reflective practice and leadership skills

sarah.evans — Fri, 26 Oct 2018 13:12:15 +0000

In this guest blog from Steven White of Tiptoes Nursery, he shares with us a case study example of using reflective practice and the development of leadership skills to improve outcomes for children's learning. So grab yourself a drink, settle down and enjoy this long read!

Developing and implementing a broader approach to the use of our fire pit: going beyond the marshmallow.

Through self-evaluation, early years practitioners were supported to contribute to the creation of a detailed action plan, which indicated that an area for improvement was the use of the fire pit; how could meaningful experiences created for our children by using fire? A meaningful experience that will go beyond just the toasting of marshmallows using the open fire.

The project created many questions, one that arose at the start of the process was how the impact would be measured and evaluated to effectively meet the needs of the early years practitioners and meet the outcomes for the children’s learning experiences. The need to go beyond the evaluation processes of reviewing the documentation of children’s learning experiences was discussed as a team. A concern was raised that there would be an element of bias created when an individual recorded and reviewed the children’s experiences and outcomes, through traditional methods of the floor book or an individual’s learning journal. In developing the project, a stronger record of evidence was required.

The contribution of the practitioner and how this was documented was explored through an analysis developed by Mayne (2009); this would allow the project to offer an insight to the relationship between the practitioner and child. A logical model (see image) was created and used to record the development of practice, development of benefit risk assessments, development of policies and procedures. The logical model was shared amongst the entire staff team and regularly revisited to evaluate progress. Progress was determined by evaluating positive and negative outcomes and reflecting on what required to be included in addition to the original draft. The logical model provided a tool for critical reflection to occur and open discussion amongst the team in regard to what was working and what was not, for example the first cooking experience failed due to offering to boil their home-made soup on a particularly hot summers day. The feedback from the team was that originally "a blame of it being purely the children's dislike to veg would likely be the thing that caused the failure but using the logical tool we discussed through the headings and realised it was down to us to think about how we delivered this experience to our children." (early years practitioner).

Leadership, sustained, shared thinking, and CPD

The practitioners that were engaged directly with this project requested that this experience would support their leadership and management development. As Adair 2016 (pp 68) discusses “people grow as leaders by that actual practice of leading. There is no substitute for experience.”; this active learning approach for adults is similar to the approach that we engage children with - this is a power approach to learning and forms the foundation of critical reflection on personal experiences, promoting empathy and a connection to the children that they teach. In relation to the leadership of the team as a senior leader, consideration was required as to when to provide the individuals involved the opportunity to lead the project, offering enough challenge without overwhelming them. This was applied through discussion on how the practitioner felt and is supported by the reference, “The trick here is to give the person the right job at the right time. It should be the kind of leadership role that is realistic but challenging for the individual concerned” (Adair, 2016. pp 68).

The teams involved would also be supported through providing continuing professional development; CPD that supports staff participants about the theories of leadership, especially focusing on the theories being adopted during the journey of this project. Bubb et al, (2007) discusses the importance of the role of senior leaders in providing meaningful CPD as this is critical to the success of any project, whether immediate or in the future. This is supported by Timperley (2011 pp 128) who shared that “leaders must be prepared to overcome initial resistance and put in place the conditions that motivate people to take advantage of professional learning opportunities in communities and individually”.

The sustained shared thinking and emotional well-being (SSTEW) (Siraj et al, 2015) assessment document, supported the early years team through the initial self-evaluation process as they adopted the SSTEW scale; it also provided the ethos and methodology to remain within our vision and aim for the nursery. The SSTEW scales were utilised before, during and after the project to gauge the levels of success of delivery and evaluating the impact that the project had on children’s outcomes.

Outcome - or how the project progressed in reality

The changes to the practice of utilising the outdoor fire have impacted operational and strategic leadership for the better, providing scope on the boundaries that the team will operate within and how best to challenge boundaries to allow development to occur; the aim being to offer improved learning experiences for children and staff. The project has provided myself a platform from which to reflect on, further research and the ability to put into practice, several of the theories that surround leadership and management (Crawford, 2014., Adair, 2016., Northouse, 2016). The project has provided myself a greater understanding of utilising and adapting different styles of leadership theories when supporting change. Strategic leadership is vital in allowing change to occur, Crawford (2014 pp 118) discusses that the leader must harness personal skills to manage boundaries “…it is very important to stress that the ability to utilise your personal skills to manage boundaries will more than likely be ineffective if you ignore the importance of strategic thinking.”.

"The project has provided myself a greater understanding of utilising and adapting different styles of leadership theories when supporting change. Strategic leadership is vital in allowing change to occur"

Even though the project focused primarily on a theory of leadership that was perceived to meet the needs of the project, I discovered through my own naivety, that the practical delivery of any given theory in a team, or individual, is not as easily delivered as I had originally anticipated. During the progress of the project, one individual in the team demonstrated difficulties in carrying out the tasks offered, difficulties in engaging with training and coaching that was being delivered to upskill their practical abilities and found it difficult to comprehend the reasons behind the need for the project to take place. Although they had originally shown a great enthusiasm at the beginning, this enthusiasm strained greatly during the engagement process. In investigating change and the impact of change, I had recognised that my approach to change relied on one model of change to deliver the action plan, Crawford (2014 pp 112) discusses “The empirical-rational model assumes that most people are responsive to clear explanations about why change is necessary and will put the necessary structures in place”. I approached with an assumption that the action plan was clear and that the early years practitioners (out of which, two out of three were, or had been, senior leaders in previous early years settings) were experienced enough in their given role and that they would follow the plan accordingly.

Reflection as a tool for leadership and CPD

Struggle to adapt to change is normal and reflection and investigation into where it stems from is of great importance to ascertain the next step of support through leadership. Communication skills are vital for the success of the project and I had not recognised through my own delivery of leadership that the most senior leader of the group, would be the individual that would find change most difficult to engage with. I have come to critically reflect and understand that change had not been communicated by a justification of the chosen approach. Mintzberg (1979) expressed that the work of leaders involved the application of rationality, which I had originally overlooked, due to my own assumptions that other leaders understood the task in hand and how to go about implementing it. Historically, I would have responded to the most senior leader of the group with questionable doubt over the individual maturity level, where they find difficulty with being led by another leader i.e. myself. I would also question their commitment to develop their own practice to provide better outcomes for children. I would respond by offering the individual the opportunity to leave the project, allowing others to continue with little distraction. I would have previously been of the belief that the emotions of the individual would be the main and only catalyst for the resistance. However, I had not researched enough into this and through reflection, discovered that this was my opinion and not fact based upon research. Oatley and Jenkins (2003 pp 82) suggest that emotions arise in our lives through the need to solve problems. I had not understood emotional intelligence (EI), especially the first component of E.I. self-awareness (Goleman, 2011). Through previous work and at the start of this project, I had overlooked my own self-awareness which was crucial to understand the impact of change on the team. Thankfully EI can be learned and developed for both the team and the individuals within the group and it is hoped that this will benefit the children’s outcomes moving forward.

Change is disruptive to the team and throughout this project, change has been the key focus for supporting practitioners to deal with the difficulties that it brings. If small changes to procedure in one activity can create such difficulties then leaders must be clear in the need for change on any scale, be it cultural or operational; the detail and support from leaders will be key to the project’s success. Crawford (2014, pp117) agreed with Boleman and Deal (2003) sharing “…change is costly emotionally for the people involved and for those who lead it and can cost more than is expected…”.

Reflective practice leading to improved outcomes

Through improving communication systems between myself and the staff member, it had been recognised through research that the primary theory of transformational leadership did not suit this individual, and that the theory of adaptive leadership would be more appropriate. It was my own approach and use of this leadership theory that had to change to regain a balance for success with the project. I had to make sense of what was really going on with the senior practitioner and truly reflect using Crawford (2014 pp 114) research “essentials of leadership: know the people, know the task and know the organisation” which I had overlooked in more than one of these aspects. I had not appreciated the group culture that, in part, explained the resistance from the senior leader; as the leader of the group they had manifested the current culture in the team, specifically to engaging with change of any form, as they would often say "that's not the way we've done things here in the past". Schein (2010 pp 18) discusses that “cultural forces are powerful because they operate outside our awareness. We need to understand them not only because of their power but also because they help to explain many of our puzzling and frustrating experiences in social and organizational life… understanding cultural forces enables us to understand ourselves better”. This notion provided a better understanding of the team and that of myself, in that a recognition of the bias that we bring affects our approach to leadership. Making sense of cultural forces provided the necessary understanding to progress the project and promote a change in culture to create an environment where change was actively sought. Furthermore, the idea that “…people’s beliefs lead inevitably to the actions that they take, that people need to make sense of what is going on and the implication’s that might have for what they do next” is discussed by Wieck (1976) ; upon reflection I believe that had this not occurred and posed a real risk to the project losing momentum, or worse, halting the project altogether with no implementation and development of the action plan taking place. I have learnt that other leadership styles are useful in a given situation when an individual, group or other factors influence the success of the project and are useful in creating a change in culture to actively seek development to better children’s outcomes. Stoll (2011 pp 193) suggested “…helping adults to have the capacity to learn continuously themselves is not at all clear-cut. Professional learning communities are a critical key to institutional capacity building”. The collaborative community of learning as early years professionals would correlate with improving outcomes for children. With a positive outlook to change, early years practitioners will focus on developing a deeper knowledge in an organised way that does not rely on one-off professional development experiences within their career.

"I have learnt that other leadership styles are useful in a given situation when an individual, group or other factors influence the success of the project and are useful in creating a change in culture to actively seek development to better children’s outcomes."

Sensitivity to others and the ability to adapt accordingly are vital components when working with team members, this promotes a positive view on change and creates a culture of embracing development. Through the project I have developed an understanding of the breadth of approaches in the study of leadership theories and through the engagement of this project, I will confidently encounter future projects utilising other leadership styles that I am currently unfamiliar with. I feel confident to not only engage in discussions with experienced leaders within early years education but also to research their success and understand their variety of leadership styles. The journey provided myself with a personal success in that I was able to transform from one style to another and maintain the original members of the project through to completion. This journey was not an easy one and I have a new-found appreciation of change, specifically with regards to the time and direction it can take; whether it is in small steps over a sustained period or quickly in a short time frame, practice is not fixed indefinitely.

Further information

Read a full list of references here

Where next?

Case study - Effective Leadership - free book extract

Case study- a day in the life of an Ofsted inspector

Case study - child-centred and led learning – dispensing with the circle time

Case study - Supporting Children’s Experiences of Loss and Separation - free book extract

Case studies

Best practice

Long read

Renewing your early years insurance: things to consider

sarah.evans — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 11:58:51 +0000

Time to renew your nursery, childminder or other early years setting insurance? In this blog, Vikki Mondovi, insurance manager at the ��, covers the key things you need to consider when renewing, and shares a case study on how reviewing what is covered when your renewal comes around can save a lot of hassle (and money!) should you ever need to make a claim.

We are often asked by childcare providers for help with choosing or renewing an insurance policy.

Many providers will decide to renew their policy without making any changes but it is always worth considering whether the insurance cover is still appropriate, to ensure your setting doesn't get caught out should you ever need to make a claim.

Case Study: Under-insurance (or do I have the right level of cover?)

One provider called us recently because she had just moved into a larger venue and had purchased tablets and two interactive tables. We were able to advise her to recalculate the level of contents cover needed and she increased from £5,000 to £10,000. If she had not done this, and there had been a claim for some of her equipment — maybe because of a break-in at the nursery or flood affecting one room — our insurers would not have been able to settle the full amount claimed. That's because when under-insurance occurs, a market standard condition known as the ‘average’ clause can come into play (see the example in our infographic). We were able to explain that this is a principle applied by most insurers, and to make sure the setting had the level of cover they need to protect themselves and their contents, should they ever need to make a claim.

Before you renew your childcare insurance, consider what changes there may have been in the past year.

Other things to consider are:

Extending opening hours — increasing your income
Change of venue
Opening an outdoor venue
Extending the age range of children you care for
Change of Ofsted registration
Enforcement action by Ofsted
New equipment which increases overall value of your group’s equipment
Outreach work or work with adults
New activities that you might be considering, such as an unusual fundraising event, some sports, training or animal rides
Child with medical condition that may involve invasive or life saving medication
Buying a building

The ��'s insurance scheme is very versatile and we can find a level of cover that suits your needs.

Find out about our comprehensive insurance packages for all early years settings:

Nursery and daycare insurance

Sessional pre-school insurance

Childminding professional insurance

Baby and toddler group insurance

Crèches’ insurance

Children’s centres insurance

Play schemes and clubs insurance

Case studies

Celebrating the wonderful world of books!

sarah.evans — Thu, 22 Mar 2018 11:56:23 +0000

Here's our round up of World Book Day celebrations, including some of the fantastic creative activities �� member settings enjoyed on the day, with the classic We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen this years' particular favourite story for settings to celebrate. We also asked the ��'s senior management team to share their own best-loved children's stories. Despite some less than co-operative weather across much of the country, lots of �� members shared their creative World Book Day celebrations with us - read all about them below!

Pebbles Pre-school
"Here at Pebbles Pre-school we chose to celebrate World Book Day, and went on our bear hunt a week late so that all our children were able to join in (as due to the snow we could not do it on World Book Day).

Our children and staff all dressed up as their favourite book characters and brought in their favourite books to share with each other, we also had very special guest (one of our nanny’s) come in and read to our children which they are thoroughly enjoyed.

As part of our bear hunt day everyone came to pre-school in their wellington boots and the children were read We're Going on a Bear Hunt before going on a bear hunt of their own, then later the children also had bear hunt themed activity’s to enjoy."

Paul Donaldson, Director of Human Resources chose Nail Soup as his favourite children's story:

"This is a traditional folk story about a traveller who wanders through the forest looking for a place to stay. A woman offers him her floor to sleep on for the night. He convinces the woman that he can make soup from a four-inch nail. My sons and I really enjoyed reading this story over and over again. It remains a favourite in our house – even the dog likes it."

Woodside Nursery
"To celebrate World Book Day Woodside have been on a ‘bear hunt’ in the garden...
They came across lots of obstacles along the way, long wavy grass, a deep cold river, Thick oozy mud, a big dark forest, a REAL swirling whirling snowstorm and a narrow gloomy cave.

The children couldn’t go over it, they couldn’t go under it so oh no, they had to go THROUGH IT!!!

They had lots of fun, following the story as they went around the garden exploring the different areas of the bear hunt. They splashed their way through the deep cold river, they squelched on through the thick oozy mud and they tip toed through the narrow gloomy cave.

They finally stumbled across something that had 2 big furry ears, 2 big googly eyes and 1 wet shiny nose... IT WAS A BEAR!!! They quickly ran back through everything and got indoors, hid under the covers and said...
"We’re not going on a bear hunt again!"

We made our very own bear hunt sensory bottles and bags - the babies loved exploring and playing with these. We also made bears out of chocolate playdough. The toddlers explored the bear hunt sensory tuff tray, interpreting the story themselves. The pre-schoolers practiced their writing skills from different phrases from the story. They also drew their own pictures from the book."

New woods Childcare

"Here at New Woods Childcare we ended up having 2 weeks of bear hunt activities due to having snow part of last week- we have had a few bears visit nursery and have left paw prints all over!

The children have all had great fun hunting for bears both inside and out, we had a teddys bears picnic in our pyjamas and made some yummy teddy bear crispy cakes."

Neil Leitch, our chief executive, chose In the Dark, Dark Wood by Jessica Souhami as his favourite children's book:

"In the Dark, Dark Wood by Jessica Souhami is my favourite children’s story. It’s based on a traditional rhyme that will be familiar to many ‘in a dark, dark, wood, there was a dark, dark house and in the dark, dark house' etc... I particularly like the suspense in this book, it really keeps the children on the edge of their seats and of course we all love the scary surprise at the end."

Oxhey Children's Centres

"Unfortunately the weather wasn’t great on the actual day but we managed to make masks with the families in our ladybirds session. We also read the We're Going on a Bear Hunt story with families in our busy babies session, using props to recreate the story. All the parents read the story alongside the staff member and this was a real success."

Round House Pre-school

"The snowy weather didn’t put us off from celebrating at Round House! We created indoor stations for the children, focusing on the different descriptive words in the story We're Going on a Bear Hunt, listening to the sounds and exploring the textures. We looked at light and shadows within our ‘cave’ and the children created a storyline from memory. At the end of each session the children went on an actual bear hunt on the field, in our real life snowstorm to find our ‘bear’- then of course to warm up we had hot chocolate and marshmallows."

Katharine Heeps, ��'s Director of Finance, chose Harry and Horsie by Katie Van Camp as her favourite children's story:

"My favourite children’s story is a picture book called Harry and Horsie by Katie Van Camp about the adventures of a boy and his beloved best friend, Horsie. I was given this book because I was inseparable from my toy ‘Horsie’ when I was small. It’s an exciting story of space adventure but I think it is the illustrations that make the book stand out. As you can see, I still have the book - and Horsie!"

St Mary's Pre-school

"While the snow put a stop to the planned hunt round the nearby nature reserve, the children were still able to read their most treasured books while dressed up as their favourite characters. Among those celebrated were The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, The Super Smile Shop, and Michael Rosen’s We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. Parent Demi Cutting said: “Although the weather wasn’t great and we couldn’t go on the bear hunt in the nature reserve it was still a lovely session which the children enjoyed. “The layout of the nursery and the activities that were set out were really good and they made a few of the children’s favourite books into activities, which engaged the children and kept them involved.”

��'s Director of Quality Improvement, Michael Freeston, chose Room on the Broom as his number one children's book:

"I love all the Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler books. The rhythm of the text, the glorious illustrations and each with a gentle moral message that children engage with instinctively.

My favourite is Room on the Broom. The story follows a friendly witch as she offers a ride on her broom to a range of animals. The witches kindness is repaid when they combine to scare off a hungry dragon who is about to eat her. I chose this book simply because there are a range of characters that allow me to practice lots of different voices as I read the story out loud. Also the line at the end of each chapter ; "the witch tapped her broomstick..." leads the children to shout the response ..."and whoosh they were gone." The book is fast paced and thrilling, definitely not one for calming down time in the setting."

Where next?

Happy children — taking care of young people's wellbeing

Planning an early years event - Picnic in the Park (part 1)

Planning an early years event - Picnic in the Park (part 2)

Hungry Caterpillars cooking group — Small Grant, Big Difference

Books mentioned in this blog

We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen

Nail Soup

In the Dark, Dark Wood by Jessica Souhami

Harry and Horsie by Katie Van Camp

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

The Super Smile Shop by Joy Cowley

Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson

Case study - a day in the life of an Ofsted inspector

sarah.evans — Wed, 21 Feb 2018 15:09:30 +0000

This article originally appeared in the ��'s Under 5 membership magazine. Jude will also be joining us for the ��'s Annual Conference on the 31st May, to share her experitise and advice on what Inspectors are looking for and how providers can give themselves the best opportunity to achieve Outstanding.

The day before

It begins with a phone call. The day before a scheduled early years inspection, I call the setting and speak to the person in charge to say I will be in tomorrow. This call is an opportunity for me to establish a relationship with those I’ll be inspecting in less than 24 hours’ time. It’s a chance to put leaders at ease, as best I can.

I know that the relationship between the inspector and the inspected can be complex. No one could ever claim that accountability is fun. But I think we can all recognise that the professional judgement offered by Ofsted does help to raise standards, and that mutual respect is important.

Yet it is undeniable that a fear factor still exists. I think this explains why some of the myths about what Ofsted wants and doesn’t want have come about. Late last year, a childminder told me that she’d heard that Ofsted demanded socket covers in their home to prevent little fingers coming to harm. Yet, as far as we are concerned, it’s up to childminders to assess and reduce these – and other – risks in their own way. We’d never prescribe any particular way of doing this or indeed anything else.

In my phone call to the setting, I discuss the logistics of the inspection. I outline what I’ll do throughout the course of the day to find out what it is like to be a child attending this setting. It’s also my intention to begin a professional dialogue with this phone call. I am a qualified primary school teacher and have worked with children aged between three- and seven-years-old before joining Ofsted in 2015, so I know what it feels like to be inspected.

On the day

I arrive at the setting at about 8.15am on inspection day. I try to talk to parents before they dash off to work, so I can find out what they think about the setting. Those short conversations can provide valuable insights. Indeed, parents’ views are invaluable when it comes to inspection.

Do they feel their children are happy and safe there? Are their children beginning to gain the skills they need to prepare them well for school? My conversations with parents tend to focus on personal, social and emotional development as well as communication and language skills and physical development. I often ask how active their children are and if they’re tired when they get home.

"The sector has come a long way... fewer than three-quarters of early years settings were good or outstanding in 2012. That proportion has risen to 94% of the 65,000 early years providers in 2017. Of course, this is down to the hard work of early years managers and staff. But I do believe that inspection has had a role too."

There isn’t much data available to inspectors in the early years that specifically details outcomes for children from each setting. I can’t take into account primary school tests or GCSE results and what happened after their college course. So, like inspectors in other areas, we have to inspect. I have to observe children learning throughdifferent activities to form a judgement.

The sector has come a long way. As we said in our recent Ofsted Annual Report, fewer than three-quarters of early years settings were good or outstanding in 2012. That proportion has risen to 94% of the 65,000 early years providers in 2017. Of course, this is down to the hard work of early years managers and staff. But I do believe that inspection has had a role too.

OBSERVING
After I have spoken to parents, I talk to the setting leader or manager. We talk about the staff and I check that all the registration details are correct and up-to-date. I tell the registered person that this is their opportunity to showcase what they are doing. It is important that inspection is robust, certainly, but if an early years setting is confident about what it is doing then they have no reason to be anxious about Ofsted.

Next is the thing I like most about my job: watching how young children are enjoying their day in the setting. Those moments make the job worthwhile. I think about how children are progressing and, if appropriate, what kind of external support is available to help the children.

The Department for Education sets standards through the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). Ofsted sets out what it will inspect, and how, through our inspection framework. Inspectors will always take a setting’s context into account: visiting a childminder in their home is very different to inspecting a large setting with more than 100 children. I have to tailor the inspection accordingly.

Throughout the day I talk to the manager and members of staff. If I see something that concerns me, I ask staff to explain it. Sometimes my concerns will be allayed but sometimes they won’t. Either way, the emerging judgements will not come as a surprise.

The day after

The day after an inspection, I write up my inspection report. I work to distil my notes, which amounted to some 16,000 words on a recent visit, into a clear and concise inspection report. My report will then go through a thorough quality assurance process. As part of this, my line manager asks probing questions about the reasons behind my judgements. This ensures consistency and a fair inspection process for all early years providers.

The report is then checked by the early years setting itself before it is published. The inspection report will then be uploaded on the Ofsted website less than a month after the inspection.

NEXT STEPS
After a ‘good’ inspection, the setting is unlikely to see Ofsted for another three years. For those who are given less favourable ratings, we’ll be in sooner. We visit inadequate settings between three and six months later, for example.

If you’d like to get more involved with Ofsted, please join in with your local Ofsted Big Conversation events where you will be able to join the dialogue about the early years. Find out more at
www.thebigofstedconversation.co.uk

More Information

Jude Sanders will be joining us for the ��'s Annual Conference on the 31st May, to share her experitise and advice on what Inspectors are looking for and how providers can give themselves the best opportunity to achieve Outstanding. Find out more and book your place here.

This article originally appeared in the ��'s Under 5 membership magazine. Find out more about the magazine, request your free taster copy, or sign up to the newsletter mailing list here

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Child-centred and led learning – dispensing with the circle time

sarah.evans — Fri, 26 Jan 2018 16:48:59 +0000

Jessica Gosling, founder of Step to Pre-school, has years of experience teaching in both the early years and primary schools, in the UK and internationally. In this blog, she talks about how her recent experiences of running a stay-and-play parent and toddler group has brought new opportunities for learning, and how children are never too young to engage in child-led learning through play.

Today I had an epiphany. One of a few in fact, which has come in my current practice. I have opened my own Early Years parent and toddler class, where I specify the maximum students, the resources, the environment and, for my part, the interactions.

I am currently researching how best to facilitate optimal learning for very young children, paving the way for my development and understanding. In fact it’s a little bit ‘I’ but a lot of collaboration with the participants in my sessions.

Prior to working in this setting, I had been a teacher, with a minimum of eighteen but often as many as twenty-eight children to keep on task, ensure they were learning what they should - what I had been told they should. Always in this fast-paced environment, it was what’s next? What’s next…? On overdrive in my head and vocalized by my children. At this feverish pace, I felt I did not observe the children as I should, or really get to ‘know’ them. The first parent’s meeting would take place and yes I could talk about how I had tested the number recognition and so and so could count to twenty… but what did I really know about them?

"...yes I could talk about how I had tested the number recognition and so and so could count to twenty… but what did I really know about them?"

My current setting, I’ve come to realise, has been about learning from others. The class size is small, between 6-8 children with one parent or carer per child. I have encouraged carer feedback which has been fantastically helpful in improving the sessions. I received feedback which I knew already, but I was dissapointed that I had failed to change. However, I needed someone to say something, to make the change.

Let me explain. The session comprised of two circle times, at the beginning and end. This is how a pre-school setting I had attended with my daughter had scheduled their circle times. Traditionally, in teaching, a lesson has a ‘starter’ and a ‘plenary’. However with my group of little ones, the children often did not want to sing and dance in that second circle time and would show me this by leaving the circle. Stuck on what I had observed and practiced for years, I had acknowledged it but had not changed the schedule. I tried to bring the children in the circle or pick them up to dance with me (as other parents also did). Children, being fabulous, would humour us but would often suck their thumbs, lean their heads into their carer’s shoulders.

Anyway, a parent had shared this issue with me. Her child preferred to look at the animals on the walls than join in the dancing. As I was introducing teeth brushing after snack at the end of the session, I thought this a good time to adjust the session. With snack including stories and teeth brushing, this was - in my view - long enough for children to be seated. Thinking the issue through, I decided to include the songs in the first circle time.

"More and more, as I have time to reflect and alter my practice, I am amazed by the ability of young children to show us the way to help them learn."

However, as the children were enjoying games, it was obvious in my first session that to start singing and dancing after playing several games in the circle would just be too long for children to be kept back from activities and free-play. As a responsive practitioner (and one keen to keep any adult-directed teaching to the minimum) I did not want to lose their focus, so I did not use the songs.

I felt a little disappointed about this. I knew some of the children loved the songs and dancing. Toward the end of the session, I looked around the room and noticed one child bending her knees, dancing and smiling. Her carer was singing a song to her. I rushed over with speaker and a song and we began dancing and singing. As I looked around the room, the children in free-play were looking over and came to join in, smiling and laughing. There was my answer, and presented by a child. Dancing and singing doesn’t need to be contained in a circle time. Why not do it when children are motivated, then if they choose to join in they can. She showed me what I needed to ‘see’. More and more, as I have time to reflect and alter my practice, I am amazed by the ability of young children to show us the way to help them learn. We just have to have the time, space, energy and inclination to ‘see’ it.

Jessica Gosling is the founder of Step to Pre-school and has years of experience teaching in both the early years and primary schools, in the UK and internationally.

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Case study - Supporting Children’s Experiences of Loss and Separation - free book extract

sarah.evans — Wed, 20 Dec 2017 12:32:34 +0000

This free extract from the �� publication Supporting Children’s Experiences of Loss and Separation, looks at a case study examining possible reactions from a young child to an experience of loss, how their experience and feelings may differ dramatically to any adults involved in the situation, and how the child could be supported through the experience.

How do we recognise that a young child may be experiencing loss and going through the grieving process? Reality can be very different to perception.

Children tend to have difficulty in accepting the permanence of a situation; timescales such as a week, a month, or six months mean absolutely nothing to a child. The effects of a loss, no matter what that loss may be, can trigger reactions such as grief, which can have a detrimental effect on the emotional well‐being of the child who feels ‘abandoned’.

For instance, adults may regard the loss of a child’s favourite toy as minor and just an inconvenience. However, for a child this can be completely traumatising and trigger a similar emotional response as a death would to an adult. A child does not have the ability to rationalise, and a very young child may not be able to articulate his or her thoughts and feelings. A favourite teddy or doll can be comforting and a friend to the child that is very real.

Simon’s story

(4 years old ‐ in his own words, if he could express himself in this way)

Simon’s perspective

"I am not feeling happy. Last week I lost my favourite teddy bear, Fred. I know he was a bit old and tatty, but we did everything together. He came to nursery with me every day and kept me company in bed every night. I have looked everywhere, but I just cannot find him.

I told Mummy and Daddy. They tried to cheer me up with my favourite pudding; it was really yummy and I felt a bit better for a while. But at bedtime I missed Fred again and kept waking up, so I was tired the next day. People at nursery asked what was wrong and one of my friends lent me his teddy bear, which was very kind but it wasn’t the same as having Fred.

Something has been going on with Mummy and Daddy; they were whispering a lot, and Daddy went out in the car without me and wouldn’t say where he was going. When he came back, he looked really pleased and I became really excited as I thought he must have found Fred. He handed me a bag and in it was a brand new bear ‐ he looked a bit like Fred, but was too new and the eyes were funny. I wanted to smile and say ‘thank you’ but started crying and ran to my bedroom, crying for Fred. Mummy and Daddy seem angry that I am not happy, and have told me that the new bear cost a lot of money and that Daddy made a special trip to buy him. I don’t like making them upset, but all I want is for Fred to come back.”

Keith’s perspective (Simon’s father)

“I can’t understand what is wrong with Simon. He is behaving like a spoilt child and it is all because he has lost the silly, old, worn out bear he kept carrying around with him. I know that poor Simon was upset, but the teddy bear was in such a state anyway that it was probably time to get a new one. I took the day off work and secretly went to the big toy shop in town. I couldn’t believe how expensive toy bears were, but I managed to find a brand new one that looked like the one he lost and didn’t mind paying the money as I wanted him to be happy again.

When he opened up the package at home, I expected him to be really pleased and excited, but he got even more upset and started crying. Now he is even worse than before. I can’t believe I have gone to all that effort for nothing. I don’t know what to do to make things better.”

So what does Simon’s story tell us?

The parents in this case study see the teddy bear simply as a toy – a plaything, which can be replaced easily. Simon, on the other hand, sees Fred; who is real, with a character, thoughts, feelings and emotions. In his mind, Fred is a trusted friend, who will cuddle him to sleep, wake up with him and take part in his play and daily life. Simon is experiencing a grief response and simply wants Fred back in his life. The parents do not recognise this and until they gain the understanding that his sense of loss is very real they will not be able to understand Simon’s behaviour, or comfort him, and will remain frustrated.

As adults, if we felt that our feelings were not being understood or listened to, we would feel indignant and insulted. We need to give the young child the consideration and respect that we would give to an adult. What is required here is some empathy for the way Simon is feeling and an acknowledgement that his sense of loss, though in many ways trivial, is still very significant to him.

This is a free extract from the �� publication,Supporting Children’s Experiences of Loss and Separation.
To find out more about the book, or to order your copy, visit our shop here

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