After all the frenzy it set off with its arrival, the European General Data Protection and Regulation (GDPR) turned a year old on the 25th of May 2019. GDPR was intended to unify the existing data protection regulations put in … Continue Reading
Early Years Organisations Launch Survey Ahead of Government Consultation
A new coalition of the UK’s leading early years organizations including the NDNA, PACEY and Early Years Alliance have launched a survey ahead of the Government Consultation on Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) later this year. The coalition was founded … Continue Reading
Why Should You Encourage Children to Read?
There was a time when the regal hardbound encyclopaedias, dictionaries and atlases were looked up to as supreme sources of information. They offered fascinating nuggets of wisdom, enriched our vocabulary and enlightened us with answers to mind-boggling questions. Mark Twain, … Continue Reading
5 Ways to Reduce Your Nursery’s Waste Footprint
From recycling cardboard boxes and paper waste for craft activities to maintaining compost pits, most childcare centres follow a solid waste management routine these days. However, with the climate crisis looming large above our heads, every bit of extra effort … Continue Reading
Cheqdin’s Childcare Digest: May 2019
From the announcements about the all-important Ofsted inspection framework to the latest OECD figures on the countries ranking the highest for childcare expenses and the most recent reports from the Nursery World, here’s a peek at what’s been happening in … Continue Reading
5 Fun STEM Activities for After School Clubs
With technology-addiction gnawing away on attention-spans, it can be a challenge to come up with activity ideas that are exciting enough to capture the children’s fleeting attention. Including STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) activities in your after-school activity line-up … Continue Reading
How to Get Started with Heuristic Play
Now, now, now, before you conjure up the picture of some fancy pedagogic approach that will get you scrambling for funds, let’s give you a heads-up, it’s nowhere near as complicated ( or expensive) as the name will have you … Continue Reading
Ofsted’s Education Inspection Framework 2019 to go live from September
Ofsted’s new education inspection framework and the accompanying handbooks will come into force from September 2019. The new framework is expected to bring down the pressure on teachers and early years practitioners to produce masses of data and paperwork for … Continue Reading
Forest Kindergartens: Beyond Logs, Leaves and Free Play
When Friedrich Froebel first came up with the concept of kindergarten (children’s garden), what he envisioned was an enriching environment that offered unstructured time and joy for the little minds. But as the educational landscape evolved and competition stiffened, the … Continue Reading
Things to Remember when Recruiting Early Years Staff in the UK
One of the most important boxes to tick when starting a new childcare business is building the right team. As children are often unable to vocalise their feelings or seek help when needed, it is vital that childcare providers adopt … Continue Reading