Whenever it is time for staff to leave, I feel sad, especially when some of them have either been with us a long time, or if they are really key to our work. However, every cloud really does have a silver lining and it is exciting to make changes and seek out new team members with new skills and a fresh outlook. The upside of this econonomic recession is the availability of high quality staff at the moment; having recently advertised a part-time administrative post, I had over 20 applicants, most of whom were more than qualified for the job.

This week we welcome a new Operations Manager to our team, so I will be spending the next few weeks taking her round all our sites and introducing her to all the staff. It will be a busy time but a great excuse to get out and about and really focus in on every nursery and club and discuss their issues and celebrate their successes.

As a sector we are well used to change, so I know that all our staff will take the changes in senior personalities well. We still have the revised Early Years Foundation Stage to look forward to, which is not due to be publised until the end of March, so we will have a busy few months over the summer making sure everyone is up to speed on that. The code of practice for the Early Years Funding is also being revised and Professor Cathy Nutbrown is carrying out a review of workforce qualifications right now, so it seems likely that yet more change will come our way.

However, there seems to be an air of acceptance and readiness for new challenges across our nurseries as we come to the end of January and this is a great time to look ahead at what else we hope to achieve this year. If you are part of our team or one of the parents whom we value so much, do let us know what you think we should be focussing on and help us to steer the ship in the right direction.

That leaves me to wish you all a Happy Year of the Dragon!

In India the market in pre-school education seems to have exploded in just a few years. There are now several large chains offering franchised pre-schools, with growth from a handful of sites to several hundred, but at the same time there seems to be a level of dissatisfaction amongst franchisees, who are not rushing to sign back up after their minimum 3 year tie-in. This could be because the franchisors see pre-schools purely as a money making venture, so the passion which makes a setting more than just a business is lacking. The fundamental premise of the franchise model is that both sides gain from the relationship, so it will be interesting to see how these groups fare in the long term.

I did not visit any of the large groups, but instead met owners and operators of single site or small group operations and I could not have been made more welcome. Despite the fantastically awful traffic in Bangalore, which made getting around a real challenge, I was greeted like royalty and the owners seemed genuinely interested to see what I thought of their settings and how they compared to what we do in the UK.

What struck me most was the level of child-initiated play, or rather the total lack of it in some settings.  Most were what we would consider to be quite old fashioned, with almost totally adult led activities, including some little desks for children as young as 2. The prevalence of worksheets would have made the average OFSTED inspector turn in his or her grave, but these are diligently prepared by staff and completed by children, in order to show parents that children have been learning.

Most resources were stored out of range of children and were selected by staff, there was very little free access or self-selection. I was also not surprised to see the amount of plastic that was in evidence, as this is seen as being modern and ‘Western’, yet the availability of craftsmen and cheap labour could so easily be harnessed to create lots of wonderful natural material resources. However, I guess that might look like a cheap option to parents, who seem to like the colourful plastic offerings. So, the same challenge exists in India as here, when it comes to educating parents about how we can help children’s development.

I suppose one of the major differences is that for us the main cost of delivering care is staff salaries, and any increase in ratios can be very expensive. In India labour is much cheaper, but rents and building costs can be very high in metropolitan areas. There were two very different groups of staff within every nursery we saw, those who were teachers (all graduates, some with masters degrees), and then domestic assistants, who appeared to provide the cuddles and personal care, whilst teachers were much more focused on academic achievement.

I did visit one nursery which was run by a fantastic lady who had lived and worked in Lewisham, London and hers was the only nursery which would have been close to something we would operate here. Interestingly, it has a fantastically multi-cultural group of children, including a lot of US and European children, whose parents work in the IT businesses which are such a feature in Bangalore.  There are groups who are beginning to recognize the importance of a more homely environment, especially for the youngest children, but in a culture where education is so highly prized, and good schools are so competitive, it must be a struggle to convince parents that learning through play really is the way forward.

It will be interesting to see how the childcare market in India moves forward; there is huge potential for growth, but no regulation whatsoever and unlikely to be any in the near future. Even schools are only  partially regulated and many parents don’t seem terribly bothered whether they are or not. Will demand see growth of quality provision, or just growth in numbers, and will parents become more choosy about what they want – and more importantly, can afford? Time will tell, but I did come home feeling good about the progress we make year on year here in the UK and the very real focus on child-centered provision which recognizes the needs of the individual.

Overall changes to tax and benefits for families over the last 18 months have mostly been detrimental to those who want to work, so this is certainly a welcome step. However, the detail of how the Universal Credit will work is still to be published and much lobbying is still taking place to ensure the most disadvantaged are protected and those who want to work really do find it financially worthwhile.

We will keep you updated as details are released and can only hope that families see the benefits of being in work and that childcare can eventually become more affordable for all, without providers having to lower fees by providing lower quality.

Neil started the day (after a very humourous introduction) by telling us that currently in the UK 1 in 4 children never have a book read to them at home. Even for those of us who think ‘that’s not me’, I bet many of us are guilty of saying ‘hurry up and choose a book’ or complaining at reading the same story for the umpteenth time?  Reading with a child can be such a pleasure and by treating books as something special and something to be treasured, we can inspire a love of reading in our children. At nursery we have the same opportunity to inspire young minds, so Neil challenged us all to think again about how read to children in our group settings, and how to make it a really exciting experience.

One of the cardinal sins we became aware of is to be a reading snob. If Heat magazine is your thing, then be proud of it! It doesn’t have to be a Charles Dickens novel to interest a child, and if they see you reading regularly and with pleasure, they will also see reading as an enjoyable pass time and something to be enjoyed, rather than a school based activity that they have to do. All of you who have endured the tales of ‘Chip, Biff and Kipper’ in the school book bag will know that a dull book read because you have to, can be a massive turn off. Instead, embrace what your child is interested in, be it bugs, diggers, fairies or Peppa Pig!

Have a look at our Facebook Page to see how Neil inspired our staff from Faringdon, Filkins, Benson and Innsworth and do ask them to tell you more about it. We hope to run the same training in the Lincoln area shortly, but in the meantime, do have a look at Neil’s website if you’d like some great reads to enjoy with your children. www.cornertolearn.co.uk

The discussion this time arose from an article on the website of controversial psychologist Aric Sigman. He quotes studies showing that cortisol levels rise in children in daycare up until they are 3 years old. However, he also said that only mum could counteract this, so babies cared for by fathers, grandparents or other carers could also suffer from stress. http://www.aricsigman.com/

A welcome opposing view (for all mums who occasionally need to be parted from their babies for whatever reason) comes from Professor Dorothy Bishop, from Oxford University, who questions whether stress is detrimental to children’s development. She suggests that mild levels of stress can be good for development and provides increased resilience. http://oscci.psy.ox.ac.uk/people/dorothy-bishop

Whatever your view, or that of the academics, the fact is clear that parents do need day care (or childminders or grandparents) to help them to juggle their busy lives, so surely we all need to work as hard as possible in developing close relationships with the children in our care. We need to constantly reflect on the environment in which we care for babies and reduce any factors which can cause stress. At The Old Station Nursery Group we have worked with baby expert Mary Barlow, to create the most homely environments possible for our under 2s in particular. We don’t have a ’sleep room’ but a bedroom, and where possible have a comfortable chair in there with a box of books and a little lamp, so that feeds can be given as they would be at home, before a quiet sleep.

Day care is here to stay, so let’s use this academic research to help us to improve our practice, rather than giving parents yet another guilt trip!

We all recognise that childcare fees are a huge cost for parents, but in the UK, where the Government does not see Early Years care as a high priority, parents have to pay the majority of fees. As a nursery provider, we see about 70p in every pound paid by parents go directly out on salaries, so with the running costs of the buildings rising for us, as for every household, the scope to be financially viable is ever more challenging. Yes, in some areas nurseries can charge a premium and have waiting lists for places, but it is far more common for a lot of nurseries to be working hard to increase occupancy and reduce costs, whilst paying staff a fair wage.

There are many things that could be done to help reduce the cost of childcare, including a review of business rates for nursery buildings, which are currently charged in the same bracket as retail premises. Nursery businesses still pay VAT on new builds, whereas school premises don’t. Employer childcare vouchers have been reduced to only cover lower rate tax payers, leaving the ’squeezed middle’ who may be paying a large percentage of salary on childcare fees wtihout any help. Tax credits have been reduced, which certainly hurts those on the lowest incomes.  All in all, it is a bleak picture out there, with many parents considering whether it is worth going back to work at all.

The report published yesterday calls for the Government to ensure a minimum of 80% childcare costs are covered under Universal Credit up to current weekly limits and that over time this be increased to 100%.  We all know that in the current economic climate there are limited funds to go round, but if we want to support parents in returning to work and keeping their heads above water financially until their children go to school, we will have to think hard as a society about how we can do this.

To read the full report, visit www.daycaretrust.org.uk

Storytelling with Early Years

The following are some pointers you should use when story telling to young children the first thing that a teacher/educator should do is identify the children’s interest. Identify the children’s interest. Examples of topics that children maybe interest are animals, stories where children their age are heroes’ stories about things children like to do, getting dirty, playing with an adult around, trying something new for the first time, etc.

Another question that often comes to light especially with new teachers is “where do I find good and appropriate stories for young children?” The stories can be from your head that you have remembered from childhood or have  made up. The stories can be from picture books particularly useful if trying to encouraging reading.  Libraries have many collections of folktales often compiled in easy format books, or adaptable to your needs. Stories that deal with families are also often very effective.

There are some key elements that you must engage with to make story time successful. You must know and like your story, know and like your audience and make sure the story and audience match each other. Another important point is that you must be flexible.

The next important step is you must learn to tell  a story. First you must learn the bare bones plot (3 pigs left home and each built a house: one of sticks, one of straw, one of bricks. A wolf came and blew down the straw and stick houses. He tried to get into the brick house but got boiled when he went down the chimney into a pot of water. The End; a fox made a crow drop some cheese by flattering her into opening her mouth to sing. The End. Etc.)  Practice it and tell it to yourself while driving. You should tape it and listen to it and if you want look at yourself in the mirror while practising so you can see your facial expression and body language.

You must make the stories  exciting and fun. The following are the tools of the teller:

• Voice
• Body
• Face
• Imagination

Voice
A good voice exercise is to write some sentences on a blackboard, and have each person say them in different situations. For instance, say “I want a cup of coffee” as though you were tired, happy, angry, disgusted, humiliated, etc. Then change this to an entire situation: you are in your boss’s office and he has just fired you. Let them choose the emotion and the voice.

Body language
Have two people hold up a sheet, and two more stand behind it, the sheet covering their torsos and upper legs. Whisper an emotion into their ears, and then say “go.” Have the students point out what made them know which emotions they were imitating. This is called cultural knowledge. We know when people are angry, sad, excited, etc. We don’t always know why we know, but we do know. So do children in fact, they are sometimes quicker to pick this up because they need it for living by adult rules. So be careful with your face and body language; the children are reading it.

Imagination
There are many old theatre games that work well here. One I like is the Magic Box - an imaginary box that goes around the circle, each person pulling out and using an object until everyone has guessed what it is. This involves the next tool: cooperation. Someone will choose something complex , and no one will be able to guess. Then we have to cooperate with the audience, help them, give them clues. It is our responsibility, not theirs, to provide the communication needed to make the link to our thoughts.

Remember: you’re not just telling stories; you’re teaching them to be an audience

• Intersperse with rhymes, fingerplays, prop stories
• Sing
• Keep stories short

Some examples of good storytelling activities are as follows:

Game: Pop-up Story Book

• Age: 3 years +
• Minimum number of participants: 2
• Resources needed: Clear space, a story book.
• Other Benefits: This is an excellent listening game that can be played with any number of children. It helps them to engage in the storytelling process.
• Instructions: The teacher chooses a story to read that the children are familiar with. Each child is given a word. For example if the teacher was reading ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’, child A is given the word Goldilocks, child B, baby, child C, porridge, child D, bed and so on. When each child has been given a word the game can begin. All the children lie on the floor. When the child hears his/her word s/he must jump up. If they miss their turn they are out and can’t pop-up anymore.

Participation/movement stories

Game: The Hungry Tree

• Age: 5+
• Minimum number of participants: 3
• Resources needed: Clear space.
• Other Benefits: This is an excellent introduction to improvisation as the children are free to explore their imaginations. It also helps with their co-ordination skills.
• Instructions: The teacher tells the children the following story and they have to improvise the movements in the story. The teacher gets the children to imagine they are an adventurer who wants to go on an adventure. They have to pack up their bags. The teacher asks what they need in the bags. Children’s answers are usually for example water, sandwiches, sun cream, and sunglasses and so on. The children mime putting all these essentials into their bag and then mime all the actions in the adventure below. The teacher says imagine you are walking quickly because you are so happy to be on your adventure. You see a mountain and decide you should climb it. The sun is getting hotter and hotter and you are getting tired. You get very, very tired. You wipe your brow to show how tired you are. You begin to climb slower and slower. You are very thirsty. You take out your water and take a drink. You put it back in your bag and climb the rest of the way up  the mountain. Eventually you get to the top. You are exhausted, very hot and very hungry. You decide it is time for your picnic. You see a lovely tree and you go and sit under its shade. You eat your picnic and go for a nap. Then suddenly you wake up and see the tree moving towards you. The tree grabs you and you realise it is a very hungry tree and wants to eat you. You scream. You struggle. You fight the branches but you are getting weaker and weaker. Then suddenly the tree stops fighting for a moment. You get your chance to escape. You quickly grab your bag, and run back down the mountain. You get to the end and you don’t stop in case the hungry tree is running after you. You run all the way home, lock all the doors and hide under the table.

Some advice on how to keep the children focused while storytelling.

Magic Glue  This is a basic scenario: “Okay, now everybody is standing up, right? Here we go. Pick your right leg up with your hands. Now stick it to the floor with the magic (or imaginary) glue. Push it down hard. Wiggle it around. Is it stuck? Oops, that one’s not stuck; better try again. Everybody stuck? Good, now the left leg. Okay, can you move your feet off the floor? Try.” All sorts of contortions as you show them your feet are stuck. “Okay, now let’s run with our feet stuck to the floor!” If you do it, they will do it.

If you wish to read more ideas about the different dram games that can be used with young children in early years settings and primary school, please go to Drama Start  and enter the coupon JG87H and you will receive a copy of the book for  a special price of  €1-50. Alternatively you can buy the kindle version of the book form amazon.co.uk or amazon.com

Julie Meighan is a lecturer in Drama in Education at the Cork Institute of Technology. She has taught Drama to all age groups and levels. She is the author of “Drama Start”.

Play England champions the right of children to learn to manage risk, rather than to have that taken from them, usually for an adult to tell them what they can and can’t do. As an organisation they also support parents and early years professionals, to help them to ensure that children can have opportunities to test themselves, feel fear, find solutions, to gain mastery.

I loved a quote from a child, who when asked what ‘play’ was, said,

‘Play is what I do when you stop telling me what to do’.  Out of the mouths of babes, and all that…..

So, I am not advocating that we let the little ones do whatever they want, but we will be working hard on developing our resources (often outside) to allow them to set themselves challenges and learn to master them. At our Faringdon nursery we have a climbing wall, which is hugely popular with the pre-school children, who start off tentatively edging along it, then build up confidence til they can pick their way along it with ease. At Filkins Nursery we have a fairly new firepit, which the out of school club love for toasting marshmallows over and generally poking with sticks. We will be looking at giving our younger children a taste of this, carefully overlaid with rules of fire, respect for flames and a sense of rightful danger.

The biggest challenge? Well, as always, us adults, not the children! We need to communicate what we are doing and why to our parents, to make sure they understand how we are managing the risks and how we are helping the children to learn to do that for themselves. Right, time to go and climb a tree………

www.playengland.org.uk

Linda is a patient, dedicated and consummately professional individual and I, along with our whole team, wish her all the best on Thursday night. It really is true to say that regardless of the outcome, she is a real winner to get this far, and I am sure everyone of the children who has passed through the doors of Filkins Nursery will be grateful for her ready smile and sense of fun.

I will keep you posted with how the evening goes, so keep your fingers crossed for Linda!

Claire Tickell’s final report appears to be a victory for common sense. She has listened to many different opinions and has consulted widely and the report makes a number of sensible recommendations, mostly around reducing the number of Early Learning goals and streamlining the amount of observations which practitioners have to record for each child. Overall, it recommends continuing with all that is good about the framework, whilst paring down some of the bureaucracy that surrounds it and recognising the need to work more closely than ever with parents.

The Government is now considering its response to the report and we are not expecting any changes which follow to take effect until Autumn 2012, but most people in the sector seem happy with the outcome. If you’d like to read more about the review, do have a look at http://www.education.gov.uk/tickellreview?dm_i=2MN,EBYU,5SBSA,15HRQ,1

We will keep you updated as and when the Government respond and will let you know how it will affect the care your children receive - if at all!