leyf news, autumn 2010

8/8/2019 LEYF News, Autumn 2010

1/9

Newsletter Autumn 2010

UpdateNursery frst or theHouse o Commons

Out & AboutLie as a LEYFapprentice

Get ConnectedSocial enterprises

join orces

LEYF sta supportWar Child in Uganda


2/9

A warm welcome to our secondnewsletter or parents, sta andpartners. Time has certainly ownby since our frst edition and a lot

o things have changed.Since his visit to see us last year,David Cameron has becomePrime Minister and I hopehis appreciation o what wedo at LEYF will be reected ingovernment policy. CertainlyI am doing everything I can toensure children remain at the verycentre o such developments. Wehave invited Graham Allen MP tospeak at our 4th Annual MargaretHorn Lecture, this year aiming todebate the coalitions review intothe power o Early Intervention.For us, this means providing greatnurseries.

In the past year, there has beenmore research supporting parentsthat choose to send their childrento nursery. The EPPE project led

by Proessor Kathy Sylva at OxordUniversity has ound that allchildren beneft rom attendinggood nurseries, and children who

come rom more vulnerable anddisadvantaged backgroundseven more so. Our shared aimthen is to help all children reach

their potential, be ready andable to succeed both at schooland later on in lie, in what is anincreasingly ast changing world.

More importantly, our ownindependent research now clearlyindicates that what we do andhow we do it is also making a realand specifc dierence, helpingchildren and parents make themost o their crucial, early years.

So however you come to knowor work with LEYF, I thank youor your support and encourageyou to continue helping us builda better uture or Londonschildren.

I hope you enjoy reading aboutall the great things we haveenjoyed being a part o in recentmonths. Until the next edition,have a great autumn andwinter!

June OSullivan

Chie Executive

New Head o ChildrensServices

Karen Walker has joined LEYF

as Head o Childrens Services.

Former director o West Yorkshire

daycare group, Childrens Place Day

Nurseries, Karen has an outstanding

track record o achievement in the

sector. Previously National Policy

Director or NDNA, she also writes

a regular column or Nursery World

magazine.

inbrie

Outstanding Carlton HillCongratulations to our Carlton Hill

Community Nursery in Maida Vale.

They had plenty to celebrate earlier this

summer, when Osted awarded them

Outstanding status. Inspectors praisedtheir excellent outdoor play, great

parental relationships, well-maintained

learning journeys, as well as career path

development or sta.

Nursery rst or Houseo CommonsOn 1 September we were delighted to

ofcially open the frst ever nursery in

the Palace o Westminster. Catering or

up to 40 children (FTE), the brand new

nursery has been created exclusively orthe children o MPs, their sta and other

employees o the House o Commons.

As an organisation born and bred in

Westminster, we are thrilled to have

been awarded such a ground-breaking

opportunity, said June OSullivan, LEYF

CEO.

In this issue

Welcome

Ouronlinehomeatwww.leyf.org.ukhashadamakeovertelluswhatyouthink!

didyouknow?

Out & About What do you do?

My LEYF experience

Marsham Street dads

Time & Talentspartnership

Get Connected Fundraising

Diary dates

Top tips

Update Making a difference with War Child

Sector training gets a boost

Nursery rst for House of Commons

Summer fun

Fresh food for thought


3/9

LEYF nursery practitioners,Maria Goncalves andTania Silva, spent twoweeks volunteering atthree childrens centresin Uganda earlier thissummer. We speak to Mariaabout their experiences.

Tania had wanted to do somethinglike this since she was a child, explains

Maria Goncalves, on a busy Tuesday

morning at Fitzrovia Community

Nursery. Thats where the idea started.

When we approached LEYF or support,

they suggested we contact War Child,

an organisation they already had some

links with.

The international charity War Child,

which protects children living in the

worlds most dangerous war zones,

currently runs projects in our countries:Uganda, Aghanistan, Iraq and the

Republic o Congo. Ater meeting

Programmes Director Wayne Bleier,

Maria and Tania decided to go to

Uganda. They received fnancial help or

the trip rom LEYF and also rom parents

at their respective nurseries, who were

keen to support their voluntary work.

War Child asked Maria and Tania to

train parents and sta at three o their

brand new nurseries or Early Childhood

Development centres in Pader, Uganda.To deliver training that would make

sense to them, we had to know what

materials were available, says Maria. It

wouldnt make sense to use examples

or talk about situations that werent

relevant. The truth is, their reality is

completely dierent to ours.

Nowhere was this more evident than

in the childrens relationship with play.

The children have some toys donated

by western countries, but they are not

used to playing, explains Maria. They

were more amiliar with spending their

time outside, where they fnd their own

toys building cars with bits o plastic

and iron.

Some o our work there involved

explaining how we teach the children

and how they learn to play, she

adds. They really enjoyed playing

and we ound parents were equally

interested and soon took part in the

activities we were doing. You have to

remember this is a country that has

been at war or most o the past 30

years, so there are a lot o people

who have never had time or play their

entire lives.

To prepare or their workshops,

Maria and Tania were advised by the

Ugandan War Child programme to

visit the communities and ask as many

questions as possible. We talked to

the centre coordinators, along with

English-speaking parents, Maria says.

We exchanged a lot o inormation and

used this in our work.

As a result, they learned about the vitalimportance o nurseries within each

community, which in the three villages

they visited was primarily to protect

children rom harm. Parents have to

leave their children when they go to

work and, in areas where ritual murder

and child sacrifce are not unheard o,

nursery is simply the saest place or

children to stay.

Experiences like this make you reassess

many things, says Maria. Beore I only

saw these situations on TV. Now I have

a very real sense o how people live. It

makes me value the things we have here

so much more.

For Wayne Bleier at War Child, it was

also a mutually benefcial arrangement.

Maria and Tania really know what

theyre talking about, he says. They

had to use local materials and work

with the local teachers. And I know the

experience was very helpul or them

too. I hope this is just the start.

Looking to the uture, LEYF is already

working to develop a sustainable plan

to support the Ugandan project, while

Maria and Tania remain in touch withWar Child. We really started something

there in Uganda, says Maria. I would

like to go again someday and see i we

really made a dierence.

Todelivertrainingthat

wouldmakesenseto

them,Ihadtoknowwhat

materialswereavailable

MariaGoncalves,FitzroviaCommunity

Nursery

A safe placeTania greets childrenin Uganda

3

Making a difference

with War Child


4/9

ThegreatoutdoorsTeachNursery

IsyourToddlertuckingintochipsorsardinepate?TheTimes

SteppingstoneforyoungunemployedNurseryworld

Youarewhatyoueat!BabyLondonMagazine

EarlyyearspoliciestoocrucialtodropCommunityCaremagazine

WillwelovetheBigSocietybeat?SocialEnterprisemagazine

Inthenews

theheadlines

Margaret Horn LectureEarly Intervention and the Big Society is

the theme o our Margaret Horn Lecture

this year, as always to be held on Social

Enterprise Day (Thursday, 18 November).

Intended to provoke debate, this years

keynote speaker will be Graham Allen MP,

chair o the frst independent commission

into early intervention.

Fresh ood or thoughtHighly Commended as a group in this

years Nursery World Awards, LEYF

was also fnalist in the Foodcategory.

Fighting or improved nursery ood

standards, we submitted our National

Qualifcations or Proessional Cooking

in the Early Years to City and Guilds

and have recently interviewed six

potential che apprentices. We are also

delighted to be shortlisted or this years

Good Food on the Public Plate award,

celebrating caterers with a sustainable

approach to ood.

Abbots ManorResponse has been overwhelming since

Abbots Manor Community Nursery

switched to term-time only last year.

Now ull and with 20 amilies on the

waiting list, the nursery also organised its

frst play scheme this summer.

SectortraininggetsaboostFrom delivering sta developmentprogrammes through to innovativecommunity engagement, our newCentre or Research, Learning andDevelopment (CRLD) is already provingitsel to be an invaluable resource.

When Mine Conkbayir joined LEYF to help

launch the centre last year, she was one

o only two sta members on the project.

Today, the team is six strong and the

centre oers a wide range o continuing

proessional development (CPD) courses,

based on research with our very own

nursery sta.

Amongst the many new courses on oer,

the one-year Leadership and Management

programme is accredited by the ILM, and

the team hope all uture courses will beneft

rom similar proessional recognition.

As well as oering CPD, the centre also

runs apprenticeship and youth mentoring

programmes or young people.

Many o the 30 or so students enrolled

in the centres frst three apprenticeship

programmes are aged 16-18, come

rom the local community and are no

longer in ormal education. Mine quickly

recognised that academic learning alone

was insufcient or this group. So as well as

receiving 100 per week, each apprentice

now benefts rom additional pre-

programme classes. These range rom

building trust to managing fnances, and

are crucial when it comes to them being

able to succeed in the outside world.

I recently heard a student tell another

how shed bought a laptop ater ollowing

the savings advice in our Money Matters

course, Mine explains. It makes all the

dierence when you hear theyre listening

to what we say.

The students are also encouraged to

contribute outside o the course. We

held an event to show external nurseries

what we had to oer, says Mine. Two o

our apprentices gave presentations, and

were then interviewed by Nursery World

magazine.

Beyond CPD and apprenticeships, the CRLD

also oers bespoke consultation, visiting

other nurseries to create tailored support

packages.

The eedback has been great and we

have lots o plans or the uture, says

Mine. Were moving to Churchill Gardens

Community Centre, with plans or an

ofcial launch in January 2011. We also

hope to deliver our own oundation degree

in early childhood studies next year, so its a

very exciting time.

Summer unThis summer has seen another packedprogramme o activities across ourgrowing amily o community nurseries.

For starters, an incredible 200 amilies came

to the Fun Day put together by Furzes

Children Centre and Nursery in Chadwell

Heath, Barking & Dagenham. Despite the

rain showers, the beach in the nurserygarden proved especially popular.

In August, Queensborough Community

Nursery organised a trip to Broadstairs,

which was enjoyed by parents and childrenalike. Some o the youngsters were so taken

with the seaside they quickly asked their

parents to move there!

Eastbury Children Centre Nursery celebrated

National Family Week with a busy

programme o un activities, including ace

painting, an art competition, a messy play

and stay session or the whole amily and a

story brought to lie with interactive props.

Over at Ford Road, the week included a

amily tea and strange sports day packed

with unusual events, such as bean bagsprints, bucket flling and apotato and spoon

race.

At Micky Star, dads took centre stage with

Daddies do Breakast!, arranged by the

Childrens Centre and nursery team. The

dads in question helped the children to make

a healthy breakast o porridge with berries

and delicious ruit smoothies.

.


5/9

Nicola Finch was one o 12graduates on LEYFs rstApprenticeship Programme lastyear. Here she talks about herexperiences and future goals.

I started as an apprentice with

LEYF back in October 2009, based at

Marsham Street Community Nursery. I

provide children with a un and excitingexperience in the nursery, where I care

or them, carry out observations and

support them during activities.

Lie skillsI also help to teach them lie skills,

promoting their sel-worth and

confdence, so they hopeully leave

nursery and go on to become well-

balanced individuals who want to go on

to achieve great things in lie.

Although its a air way or me to

travel rom home to the nursery, I love

commuting it makes me eel mature

and independent. Some days are

incredibly stressul, but thats lie! Most

o all, I think I still enjoy my time here

because I have made such great riends

with the sta - and have built such

great relationships with the children.

Study essentialsYou have to leave personal problems at

home when you start work, and thats

fne. But its a great eeling when you

see the children are so happy to see

you and spend time with you!

Away rom the children, I even enjoy

the study too. The debates and

discussions I love them! They go

really quickly. As or me, I am more

determined than ever now to go on

to university and study to become a

primary school teacher. I love thinking

o new ways to bring out the best in

children, support their learning and help

them to grasp new concepts.

out

aboutWhatdoyoudo?NicolaFinch

Having just relocated abroad,Chris and Susanne Gargiulorecently refected on the caretheir two children received romQueensborough Community Nursery.

We had the ortune and privilege o

having both o our daughters attendthe nursery, says Susanne. Our

oldest went rom the age o 2 to 5

and our youngest rom 18 months

to 2 years. We are now moving the

amily to Denmark, and it is with a

heavy heart that we say goodbye to

Queensborough.

The nursery, explains Chris, has been

an amazing place or the children to

spend their ormative years. They have

elt happy, comortable, sae, loved and

cared or every step o the way. Our

entire amily has come to see and love

the sta as our extended amily.

The skill, knowledge and understanding

they bring to their work with young

minds has been an important and

immensely positive orce, both or the

children and us as parents.

The Gargiulos point to the high sta

retention rates at Queensborough as a

key reason or their positive experience.

The nursery is run with consistency and

creativity, says Susanne. What little

turnover weve experienced has always

been handled seamlessly and with

proper thought to the children.

I have always elt secure in theknowledge that my children were

completely sae and in the best care

possible. I would highly recommend

Queensborough Community Nursery to

any parent.

Ourentireamilyhascometoseeand

lovethestaffasourextendedfamily.

ChrisandSusanneGargiulo

5

Ihavebuiltsuch

greatrelationships

withthechildren.

NicolaFinch,MarshamStreet

CommunityNursery

My experience

ChrisandSusanneGargiulo


6/9

Situated at the heart of a bustlingchildrens centre, with a range

of professionals including familypsychologists and speech therapistson site, Marsham Street is a thrivingand much-loved community hub forlocal families. But one group hastraditionally been conspicuous byits absence, says interim manager,Michelle Samuels: fathers.

It can be hard or a dad to walk into a

room ull o women and children, she

explains. Thats why we wanted to

break the ice. To encourage more dads

to spend time at the nursery, Marsham

Street had a Daddies Day this summer

in support o Fathers Story Week.

Held in the evening, athers, as well as

grandathers and uncles, were invited

to have un in the nursery with their

children.

It wasnt just about playing ootball,

explains Michelle. We did hand-

painting, involved them in malleable

play such as making playdough with

their child, which they got to take homeas a souvenir, and used ICT equipment

everything that the child normally does

here that they dont get to see. The

evening was a success,

and many more dads

now come to the nurseryon a regular basis.

Daddies Day is just

one example o proactive

parental engagement

at Marsham Street. One o the most

popular things we do with parents is our

story box workshops, explains Michelle.

We have a crche and invite the parents

to come in and work with us. We talk

with them and help them to create story

boxes which they then take home and

explore with their children. Its especiallygood or amilies who have moved here

recently and dont have many riends.

Marsham Street has also been looking

to broaden its childrens activities. It

began when June, our Chie Executive,

took me to the Benjamin Franklin

Museum, explains Michelle. I realised

that we do a lot o growing subjects

with the children but not chemistry or

the other sciences. I wanted to change

that.

As a result, the sta at Marsham Street

decided to run a science month a

ull month ocusing on science-based

activities with the children. At the end

o this time, they held a science air,

where children showed parents how

to do experiments, such as exploring

the wonders o cornour and volcano

eruptions.

There were two big benefts, says

Michelle. We enabled the children to get

involved in science, and we also helped

our team to eel much more comortable

in setting up a science area. It was a

huge success.

LEYF teamed up with long-term partner Time and Talents,an innovative skills-matchingvolunteering organisation, toprovide apprentices with the bestpossible preparation or the jobmarket.An award-winning, not-or-proft

partnership, Time & Talents or

Westminster transorms lives through

volunteering. Run by Volunteer Centre

Westminster, it provides community

groups with valuable time and

expertise to help them do

things they could otherwise

not do on their own.

For LEYF Fundraising

Manager Elaine Angelis,

Time & Talents proved an

invaluable resource as she

considered calling on external help to

promote employment training or LEYFs

new apprentices.

Through our own training acilities, wehave been delivering Level 3 Certifcation

in Childrens Care, Learning and

Development, says Elaine. With some o

our apprentices coming near to the end o

their training, we knew that fnding a job

would be their next priority.

This is where Time & Talents came in.

Through Volunteer Centre Westminster,

Elaine was able to access a specialist

trainer via the Home Ofce, who worked

with the apprentices and gave them

advice on seeking employment. This workincluded tuition on applications, essential

dos and donts, mentoring and mock

interviews.

outabout

Itcanbehardor

adadtowalkintoa

roomullowomen

andchildrenMarshamStreetCo

mmunity

Nurseryinterimmanager,

MichelleSamuels

Parent engagementDads dive in with arange o projects

Nurseryprofle

MarshamStreet

CommunityNursery

CompanyprofleTime&Talentsfor

Westminster

Iamgladtobeinvolvedinsuch

aworthwhileprojectandIreallydohopethetrainingdaysp

rove

usefultotheapprentices.

Humaira,volunteerfromtheHome

Ofce(HRteam/Psychologist)


7/9

Every month, undraising activitycontinues to help LEYF grow.

Funds or our campaign A Better Future

have continued to grow in the past six

months. Donations have come in rom

the S.F.I.A Educational Trust (1,000),John Lewis (5,000), Westminster

Amalgamated Charity (7,500), The

Drapers Company (4,000), The Charles

Wolson Charitable Trust (8,000) and

o course proceeds rom Ray Holdens

Marathon Run (1,058). So ar we have

been able to provide our amilies with

childcare, helping them to access training

or look or work, securing a better uture

or them and their amily.

Elsewhere Katharine Bruce are moving

ahead with their sensory studio which willprovide a sae and stimulating setting or

the children to explore and so develop.

The acility will be designed with a wide

range o equipment such as a bubble

column, fbre optics, tactile panels,

sound to light units and wall and oor

cushioning. This is all thanks to unding

rom The Presidents Club Charitable Trust

(8,000), BBC Children in Need (8,000)

and The Goldsmiths Company (3,000).

We received a urther 6,691, this

time rom Land Securities, enabling

us to provide IT equipment, dyslexia

resources and additional specialist

childcare and development books or

our apprenticeship programme. We

also received 8,800 rom the Britannia

Foundation or literacy and numeracy

training, which will help apprentices

acquire more confdence and skills.

Back in the nursery, Micky Star benefted

rom a number o donations, including3,000 rom Strand Parishes Trust or

outdoor play equipment, 272 rom

New West End Company or sensory

resources and 250 rom City o

Westminster Charitable Trust or under 2s

equipment.

Meanwhile, Barking & Dagenham,

Camden and Westminster Childrens

Centre unding has enabled us to

improve the quality o our nursery andHead Ofce environments.

Rolls Royce recently donated 1,500 or

outings, John Lewis continue to give help

and advice to our Sta Forum, whilst

our employee volunteers rom Nike took

children rom Bessborough to Vauxhall

City Farm in July.

Finally, we were ortunate to receive

almost 13,000 or ever-critical running

costs.

Reaching out tosocial enterpriseWhen the national body or

social enterprise needed to nd avenue or a sta away day, LEYFanswered the call.

We oten do a mix o team-building

activities and strategic work on our sta

away days, says Olo Jonsdottir, Policy

Ofcer at the Social Enterprise Coalition

(SEC). This year, we thought itd be

good to do some cooking and make our

own lunch a un way to do some team-

building.

The problem or Olo was where tofnd suitable kitchen acilities or the

16-strong SEC team. I immediately

thought o schools and nurseries,

she says. I do a lot o work in young

services here and have worked with LEYF

beore. I remembered going to an event

last year and Neil [Hart] talking about

what they were doing to improve ood

standards. So I called him up.

Ater contacting some o the nurseries,it was decided that Katharine Bruce

was most suitable. Che David Neil was

not only happy to let the group into his

kitchen; he was actively involved on the

day with advice on what to cook and

help on how to do it.

It turned out brilliantly, says Olo. June

[OSullivan] also suggested we do some

activities in the nursery, so we broke into

two teams and took turns cooking and

then playing with the children getting

busy with gardening and crat making.

For LEYF this was not only a useul way

to bring in additional revenue, but also a

chance to reach out to the wider social

enterprise community. SEC, meanwhile,

enjoyed a great away day or their sta

and gained a valuable insight into how

LEYF works.

Being the Social Enterprise Coalition,

were always talking about the brilliantthings that social enterprises do,

explains Olo. So it was really nice or

us to actually see one in action and be

there while it was working.

Fundraisingor

connected

A bigthank you!

Team buildingSEC appreciateculinary talents

7

In the Spring edition oLEYF News, we stated

that afliate members o The Westminster

Collection receive discounts on venues. This was

incorrect and we apologise or any conusion.

Helping handsFitzrovia and The AmericanSchool in London


8/9

1. Early learning

Physical activities arent just good or

developing basic movement skills; they

also help to orm positive and long term

physical activity habits, such as physical

play and walking, early in lie.

2. Water babies

Whether youre splashing around in

the pool or taking a specialist course,

swimming is a rewarding and unexercise or young children.

3. Create space

Ofcial guidelines (NASPE, 2002)

suggest that children aged 35 should

build up 60 minutes o structured

physical activity every day, with regular

access to indoor and outdoor areas

where they have enough space to

perorm large muscle activities. Whilst

the same obviously cannot be expected

o babies or toddlers, it is never too soonto start the physical activity ball rolling

and your child will love it!

4. Win, win

We all know that regular exercise

improves balance, increases

coordination, builds strength, and

improves overall health or children

and adults alike. But did you now that

exercise also helps to relieve stress,

decrease anxiety, and helps to ward o

depression.

5. Ask at the nurserySta at any good nursery will be well

aware o the importance o physical

activity and acilitate your childs

movement skills based on their age and

ability.

With obesity and diabetes-related illnesses on the rise in children andadults, it has never been more important to consciously encourage

children to take part in physical activities. Here are ve great ways toget you started.

connectedGetout,get

activeand

getinvolved

Dontforget...

London Early Years Foundation121 Marsham Street

London SW1P 4LX

www.ley.org.ukEmail: [email protected]

Tel: 020 7834 8679

Registered charity number: 299686

Fivereasonswhychildrenshouldbedo

ing

therightamountophysicalactivity.

Toptips

Childrenaged35shouldbuildup60minutesofstructuredphysicalactivityeveryday.NationalAssociationforSportandPhysicalEducation(NASPE)

A better utureor Londons children

Heres a round-up o upcomingdates or your diary.

Calendar datesHalloween31 October

Guy Fawkes (Bonre Night)5 November

Diwali festival of lights5 November

Remembrance Day11 November

Remembrance Sunday14 November

LEYF Strategy & Development Day15 November

Eid al Adha (Festival of Sacrice)17 November

Social Enterprise Day18 November

LEYF Margaret Horn Lecture18 November

UN Universal Childrens Day20 November

International Volunteer Day5 December

LEYF Sta Forum10 December

Christmas Holidays begin(Westminster & Camden schools)20 December

Christmas Holidays begin(Barking & Dagenham schools)23 December

Bank Holidays27-28 December, 3 January

LEYF Christmas Closure29-31 December

LEYF News is your newsletter.I you think you, your child or your

nursery should eature on these

pages, do let us know. Wed love to

hear rom you i you have a story to

tell. You can contact us at our headofce address opposite.

LEYF News is a biannual newsletter published bythe London Early Years Foundation. This edition waswritten together with journalists at Society Media,(www.societymedia.co.uk) and designed and printedby Captiv8 (www.captiv8uk.com).


9/9

leyf news, autumn 2010

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