NSPCC calls on EY practitioners to promote Look, Say, Sing, Play
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is calling on early years practitioners to help promote their new campaign that encourages better childhood brain development.
The charity launched Look, Say, Sing, Play across the UK on 3 June which aims to provide tips to help parents boost their child's development and encourage them to turn everyday moments into brain-building ones.
Early years practitioners can access a whole host of resources for their setting to highlight the campaign to parents and will also find a guide for running a Look, Say, Sing, Play session with families to help them understand how different brain-building activities can be incorporated into their daily routine.
Parents themselves can access lots of different resources too including different activities that they can try at home when interacting with their children.
Further information can be found at the links below:
Outstanding result for The Links Day Care Centre Ltd, Nuneaton
Congratulations to all the staff at The Links Day Care Centre Ltd Nuneaton who recently received ‘Outstanding’ judgements across all the four Ofsted inspection areas - leadership and management; quality of teaching, learning and assessment; personal development, behaviour and welfare; and outcomes for children.
Ofsted stated:
"Staff closely observe children's play and interactions. Their excellent knowledge of what children know and can do enables them to plan an extensive range of exciting activities. Staff skilfully adapt their interactions to build on and support individual needs."
"Learning and progress of individuals and groups is rigorously monitored by key workers and the manager and any gaps are quickly addressed. For example, when a weakness in mathematics was identified, staff received focused training, and resources were enhanced to include items such as measuring tapes and scales."
"The very high quantity and quality of interactions between staff and children has a positive impact on language development. Extremely stimulating activities and resources support conversation and the introduction of new vocabulary. The early language development of two-year-olds, children with additional needs, and those who speak English as an additional language is skilfully supported. Staff repeat words and rephrase children's speech into short sentences. Parents provide key words in children's home language to support their transition into the setting."
"Activities provided for children consistently encourage them to experiment and think for themselves. For example, when children make dough, they consider what to add to make it less sticky. Children eagerly wait in anticipation to see if a programmable toy moves as they intended. They delight in the marks it makes on paper and suggest it looks like a map. Later they compare it to a real map and push cars along the roads."
"Children are superbly supported to learn to care for themselves and develop their independence. They understand why they cannot prepare their own snack at the moment and the importance of washing their hands well. Outdoors, children are fully involved in managing risk assessments. They discuss and record how to use equipment safely, such as, 'You must be careful on the steps', and how to jump safely from climbing equipment."
"Children develop their literacy skills in real and meaningful ways. Non-fiction texts, such as recipe books, construction books and magazines support all areas of learning. Children often choose to look at books themselves. Staff demonstrate their shared interest to children as they read with enthusiasm and enhance children's thinking with comments and questions. Children thoroughly enjoy developing their drawing and writing skills using different materials. They draw and write on large paper on the floor, in notebooks, on whiteboards and with chalk."
"Staff talk about and celebrate the differences and similarities between children and families and model highly respectful interactions. Children's understanding of other communities is enhanced by tasting foods and learning about festivals as part of their continuous provision."
"The managers and experienced staff team work closely together to provide a consistent and coherent approach to learning. They rigorously evaluate and improve their practice. Current developments are focused on reviewing group times and improving the outdoor area. The manager prioritises the well-being and professional development of staff."
You can read the full report on Ofsted's website here.