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Welcome to our blog. Here you’ll find news, updates and events relating to Little Cedars Day Nursery along with useful articles and information about childcare, parenting, nursery life, Streatham and early years education.
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Little Cedars Day Nursery
27 Aldrington Road
Streatham
London
SW16 1TU
020 8677 9675
Email us here
Opening Times
The nursery is open
7.45am to 6.15pm
Monday to Friday
(Except Bank Holidays,
Christmas Week &
1 inset day per term)
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A Nursery Near You
Little Cedars is an outstanding nursery & pre-school in Streatham SW16, offering quality childcare near Streatham Hill, Streatham Common, Streatham Park, Upper Tooting, Tooting Bec, Tooting Common, Furzedown & Balham.
Statutory Paternity Leave & Pay (Rough Guide)
/in Babies, Childcare, Early Years Education, Nurseries, Nursery, Parents, Paternity, Pre-schools, Preschool, Streatham, SW16, Tooting, Under-5s /by MarkStatutory Paternity Leave
An eligible father/partner of the mother can take just one or two weeks of Statutory Paternity Leave off work when their partner has a baby — so, significantly less than the mother. The length of time they’re entitled to does not increase if twins, triplets or more are born — it remains at 1 or 2 weeks total. It’s also worth noting that the paternity leave needs to be taken in one go, not split up into smaller chunks of time.
We should also clarify what counts as a week. This is however many days they work in an average week in their employment.
Timing
Statutory Paternity Leave must end no later than 8 weeks after the date of the birth (or due date if born early) and must not start until …
Statutory Maternity Leave & Pay (Rough Guide)
/in Babies, Childcare, Early years, Maternity, Nurseries, Nursery, Parenting, Pre-schools, Streatham, SW16, Under-5s /by MarkWhen women have a new baby, they will need to take time off work to give birth and to look after the newborn during their first weeks or more. It’s a precious time for both mother and baby and the good news is that employed mothers are legally entitled to maternity leave under UK employment law.
Today, we’ll take a look at how much time and money mothers are entitled to under Statutory Maternity Leave and what the eligibility requirements are. We’ll concentrate purely on the rules for mothers who are employees in this post. However, we will follow up to cover paternity leave, shared leave and support for self-employed mothers separately, in future guides.
Statutory Maternity Leave Entitlement
Eligible mothers are entitled to take up to 52 weeks of Statutory Maternity Leave:
These are the statutory maximums, i.e. mothers do not need to take all 52 weeks off. However, they must take off the first 2 weeks from the date of birth as a minimum, or 4 weeks if they’re factory workers. (They can also arrange to share some of the remaining 50 weeks of their leave with their partner under Shared Parental Leave (‘SPL’) rules, which we’ll cover in the future).
Timing
Statutory Maternity Leave can begin up to 11 weeks prior to the baby’s anticipated due date. It must, however, begin no later than the day after birth if the baby is born early. For eligible mums, Statutory Maternity Leave (& Pay) must also start automatically in the event that the mum-to-be is off work for a medical illness, related to pregnancy, during the 4 weeks prior to the week the baby is due.
Eligibility
The good news is that, to be eligible for Statutory Maternity Leave in the UK, just two main rules apply. You need to …
The Benefits of Messy Play – for Under-Fives
/in Activities, Childcare, Early years, Early Years Education, Early Years Foundation Stage, Education, EYFS, Learning through play, Nurseries, Nursery, Pre-schools, Preschoolers, Sensory Play, Streatham, SW16, Tooting, Under-5s /by MarkMessy play is enjoyed universally amongst children, especially the very young. In fact, there is probably not a child in the UK that doesn’t enjoy it!
Being let loose with coloured paints, art materials and creative opportunities is sure to bring a smile to their faces and a sense of enormous fun, creativity and discovery. No doubt too; they’ll be proud to show others their creations!
Is messy play all about having fun and being creative, though? Well, that’s important and it is partly about that. However, messy play also has a whole host of other benefits and purposes. In this article, we’ll take a look …
Learning Instinctively About the World
There’s something inherently natural about messy play — it instinctively appeals to children, giving them spontaneous ways to discover new aspects of the world and the properties of the things in it. Getting ‘hands-on’ with malleable media and colourful pigments surely is one of the most natural, fun ways for children to learn through play and discovery. Who doesn’t remember playing with wet sand on a beach, or being drawn to the joys of wet paint, mud or clay as a child? It simply is great fun and a way for children to let loose and get really messy — something they’re usually discouraged from doing.
Advancing Creativity & Self-Expression
As well as being enormous fun, messy play allows children to express themselves in unbounded creative ways. That’s important. Self-expression and creativity will …
Screen Time for Children – How Much is Too Much?
/in Activities, Childcare, Early years, Early Years Education, Early Years Foundation Stage, EYFS, Nurseries, Nursery, Parenting, Parents, Pre-schools, Preschool, Preschoolers, Streatham, Under-5s /by MarkThe big question for parents is: is all this screen time healthy for children? In this article, we’ll take a look …
First, Some Recent Statistics
According to Childwise, the leading research experts for children and young people, children are spending more and more time on connected devices. These are devices like mobiles, tablets, smart TVs, virtual assistants like Alexa and so on. Most feature a screen but all can connect to the Internet, to other devices and/or to people via Wi-Fi or data connection.
Here’s what the recent research has to say about children’s use of connected devices:
Rough Guide to Dyspraxia & ‘DCD’
/in Activities, Childcare, DCD, Developmental Co-ordination Disorder, Dyspraxia, Early years, Exercise, Health, Learning through play, Nurseries, Nursery, Parents, Pre-schools, Preschool, Preschoolers, Special Needs, Streatham, SW16, Under-5s /by MarkWhile most people have heard of dyslexia (see our recent guide), fewer are aware of a condition called dyspraxia. In this rough guide we give an overview as to what dyspraxia is, how it affects children, how to spot the signs of it and what can be done to mitigate its effects.
Please note: Dyspraxia is a form of Developmental Co-ordination Disorder or ‘DCD’ for short. Indeed, because there are different forms of dyspraxia, medical professionals generally tend to refer to the condition as DCD rather than dyspraxia. For the purpose of this guide, we’ll use either of the terms interchangeably to mean the type of dyspraxia that people are born with or develop naturally (not other types that may be the result of physical trauma like stroke or injury).
What is Dyspraxia/DCD?
In essence, dyspraxia (DCD) is a condition that causes problems with movement and co-ordination. When children have this, they may appear more clumsy than their peers and the condition will adversely affect how well they execute physical activities. For this reason, they may reach some of their key developmental milestones later than expected. There are varying degrees of the condition, so children who have it may exhibit symptoms sooner, later or more/less severely than others.
How Does it Affect Children?
Although dyspraxia usually has nothing to do with intelligence or the ability to think, the condition can really hold children back. As well as the innate inconvenience of not being good at co-ordinating movements and physical tasks, it can leave children prone to
Streatham’s Famous People
/in Famous People, History, Nursery, Preschool, Streatham, SW16 /by MarkYou probably thinking “Brad Pitt … in Streatham?” … but bear with us! In our last post, we discovered that a Prime Minister was based in Streatham Park back in the 18th Century and Sir Henry Tate, founder of The Tate Gallery and synonymous with the Tate & Lyle sugar empire, also lived here. Continuing with our famous ‘Streathamites’ theme, we now take a look at some of the other famous, influential or important people who lived, worked, or were born in Streatham. As it turns out, it’s quite a long list with some very illustrious names — and yes — the list genuinely includes Mr Pitt! Take a look:
Famous ‘Streathamites’
Sarah Beeny, the TV presenter and entrepreneur, lived for a while in Streatham before moving to Somerset.
John Torode, the co-host of MasterChef, lived in Streatham.
Simon Callow, the actor famous for films like Four Weddings & a Funeral, was born at Pinfold Road in Streatham in 1949.
Actor Peter Davison was born and raised in Streatham, attending Granton Primary School and later, of course, becoming Doctor Who and starring in many successful films, TV productions in theatre and on radio.
Edward Stanley Gibbons, founder of the now famous Stanley Gibbons stamp catalogue used by most philatelists, lived in later life at Stanhope Road in Streatham.
Those who remember TV’s Ready Steady Go from the 60s will remember one of its co-presenters, Cathy McGowan, was also from Streatham.
Ken Livingstone was born at 21 Shrubbery Road, Streatham, in 1945 and also later attended the Philippa Fawcett Teacher Training College there. He was
Streatham’s Surprising History
/in Childcare, Early years, History, Nurseries, Nursery, Pre-schools, Preschool, Streatham, SW16 /by MarkStreatham has a long and interesting history stretching back almost 1000 years. On taking a look, we came across some interesting facts that we thought we’d share:
The Meaning of Streatham
Streatham was called Estreham at the time of the Doomsday Book (1086). The name meant The Hamlet on the Street, which was a throw-back to it lying on the path of an important Roman trade route, explained below.
The Roman Road to the South Coast
Image: Harper, Charles G. (Charles George) / Streatham Common
Streatham, as it’s known today, lies directly on the “The London to Brighton Way”, which marks the route of an important Roman road that stretched all the way from London (Londinium back then), through Streatham, Croydon, Caterham, Haywards Heath, Burgess Hill and Hassocks (then the site of a large Roman cemetery) to the south coast. It ended up somewhere between Portslade and Brighton. It’s highly likely that, during Roman times, the southern-most arrival point was at an important port, possibly then known as Novus Portus, but which has long since been lost to the sea. This route from Streatham to the south coast eventually influenced the route of what is now the A23 – an incredibly important route today.
Streatham was in Surrey
It may be a surprise to learn that Streatham used to be in Surrey. Subsequently, in 1889, it became part of the County of London and then later, in 1965, part of Greater London. Now, of course, it’s mostly part of the London Borough of Lambeth with a few parts of it extending into the London Borough of Wandsworth.
Streatham’s Springs & Wells
Image: Nicky Johns / Rookery Well, Streatham
Streatham boasts its own natural springs, first discovered when a farmer was ploughing a boggy field. Places like Wellfield Road are, indeed, so named because of their important position along the main route from the village to one of the busier natural springs. Another spring was located at the southern side of Streatham Common in the spot now known as The Rookery. These Streatham Wells, first became popular during the 18th Century. Although not pleasant to taste or smell, the spring water was believed to be good for health and soon the surrounding area began to be gentrified due to the popularity of the spa. Wealthy London merchants were attracted into the area from places like the City and soon many had what were then country residences in Streatham, this period being before
Dyslexia – How to Spot the Early Warning Signs
/in Childcare, Dyslexia, Early years, Early Years Education, Education, Health, Nurseries, Nursery, Pre-schools, Preschool, Reading, Special Needs, Streatham, SW16, Under-5s /by MarkA dictionary defines dyslexia as “a general term for disorders that involve difficulty in learning to read or interpret words, letters, and other symbols, but that do not affect general intelligence”. When it first came to the attention of doctors in the late 19th Century, it was more commonly referred to as “Word Blindness”, which pretty much sums up how dyslexia affects people afflicted by it.
The Adverse Effects of Dyslexia
Those are incredibly unfair ramifications and that’s why we are taking a closer look at how parents, carers and education professionals can learn to spot the signs of dyslexia early, so that dyslexic children can be helped as soon as possible.