Our Blog.
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.
Contact Us
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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Latest Posts
Little Cedars Nursery: Super-Charging Children for Success!
Somewhere Safe for your Child, While You Work
Yes of course, in the most simple analysis, a childcare nursery or pre-school is somewhere for babies, toddlers and under-fives to be safely looked after in a parent’s absence. And, as a high quality, Ofsted-registered childcare setting, Little Cedars Nursery will only employ trusted, trained and fully-vetted staff to look after little ones. All the appropriate safeguarding measures will also be in place in a professional childcare setting such as ours. This allows parents to continue with their careers, safe in the knowledge that their little ones are being cared for well, in a safe and trusted place.
A Home-From-Home Environment & Beneficial Interaction
Our early years practitioners will also ensure that children feel at home at the nursery/pre-school right away. The home-from-home atmosphere and warm, deeply caring staff mean that your little one also knows that they are safe, loved, valued and is being looked after well.
A Good Early Years Education
Extensive Outdoor Areas & Facilities at Little Cedars Nursery
Outdoor Facilities & Equipment for Babies
Babies can enjoy sensory toys and equipment, soft play, sand play, water play and even a baby slide. They also have their own baby garden, which is lovely and shaded, to keep them out of direct sun.
Outdoor Equipment for Toddlers & Preschoolers
Toddlers and preschoolers can enjoy equipment like climbing frames, multiple slides along with lots and lots of bikes, trikes, cars and scooters. They even have a basketball area, hoops and lots of footballs for budding soccer players.
Outdoor Facilities for Everyone
Children also have access to a lovely, shaded, grassy area in the amazing garden, where they can get closer to nature and all of the benefits it brings to little ones.
Children at the nursery can also play “parents” with the prams that they can wheel around. Or, there are play tunnels, climbing frames and other exploration type activities for the more adventurous.
Animal Enclosure & Vegetable Patch
Interaction with animals and pets is important during the early years. Therefore, children also have access to quite a wide variety of well-kept creatures. For example …
Bilateral Coordination in Children – What’s it All About?
What is Bilateral Coordination?
Bilateral coordination refers to the developmental skill of accomplishing one or more activities, using both sides of the body at the same time. Examples might include using one hand to hold paper still and the other to draw, or coordinating each foot in a different way in order to successfully propel oneself on a scooter or bicycle.
“Crossing the Midline”
Why is Bilateral Coordination Important?
As adults, we take bilateral coordination very much for granted, forgetting that we weren’t born with such abilities. Being able to coordinate both sides of the body to accomplish tasks, activities or even just movements is incredibly important. If children don’t learn the skill, they may appear clumsy and uncoordinated and will struggle with a variety of physical tasks.
Signs of Possible Difficulty
Parents/carers can watch out for signs of possible difficulty with bilateral coordination in children. Signs could include …
18 Reasons to Choose Little Cedars Nursery
If you’re choosing a nursery or pre-school for your child in or around Streatham, Furzedown, Tooting or Balham, making your final choice may not be as hard as you think. Take a look at 18 compelling reasons to choose Little Cedars Nursery below. You’ll soon see why we’d make an unbeatable choice for the childcare of under-fives in the area.
1. Superb Parent Feedback
Ofsted also remarked that parents gave them wonderful feedback about the nursery in their recent Ofsted inspection.
2. Rated as a “Good Provider” of Childcare by Ofsted
In Ofsted’s recent appraisal, they consistently rated Little Cedars Day Nursery as “Good” — in every category. The Ofsted report sang our praises across the board. Here’s how they rated each of the core, specific areas in their opening synopsis:
Learn more about the excellent Ofsted report for Little Cedars Day Nursery, here.
3. A Home-From-Home for Under-5s
4. Exceptional Resources, Equipment & Facilities
5. Affordable Childcare Fees
For those childcare hours that are not covered by Government schemes, our nursery and pre-school fees are very good value. What’s more, prices are discounted for children attending all five week days each week. Siblings attending at the same time also receive a 13% discount, making childcare services at Little Cedars Day Nursery even more affordable.*
6. Free Childcare Funding Schemes …
24 Quotes to Amuse Every Parent
As we research and write our blog articles each month, we often stumble upon amusing quotes by parents along the way. So, today we share 24 that made us smile or even laugh out loud. We hope you enjoy them as much as we did. Some resonate in ways that are perhaps not totally ‘PC’ (but that’s what makes them funny), while others are just plain hilarious because they so accurately highlight the challenges parents can face. The Ryan Reynolds quote at the start always brings a smile to our faces but the ‘toddler with a Sharpie’ quote near the end is our outright favourite in this particular collection.
If viewing on a tablet or desktop screen, click any quotation to see it larger, then use the forward/back arrows to scroll through them all at that size …
Click the ‘Read More’ button to see more …
Little Cedars is a Good Nursery — It’s Official!
Little Cedars is a good nursery — and that’s now official! The Ofsted Report for the nursery was published on 15th July 2022, based on Ofsted’s inspection of the childcare setting in mid-June.
We’re delighted to confirm that Ofsted rate the nursery as ‘Good’ in every single category. It’s wonderful to have official recognition of the high quality childcare service that we offer at the Streatham nursery. Parents of children at the nursery/pre-school will also, no doubt, be pleased to receive independent confirmation that their children are receiving high quality childcare and early years education provision, with good safeguarding measures being in place. So — approval across the board.
A ‘Good’ Ofsted Rating in EVERY category
Click here to download the full Ofsted Report for Little Cedars Day Nursery, Streatham or read the key findings below.
What Ofsted Says About Little Cedars Day Nursery
As you’ll see, the inspector sang the praises of staff and their relationships with children. They were clearly impressed with the way they reassure, encourage, keep them safe and nurture appropriate behaviours.
In regard to the early years curriculum, the Ofsted Inspector said:
They also commented about the nursery’s wonderful outdoor area and its benefits:
The Inspector also remarked on the …
Sleep Safety for Babies & Infants (New Guidance)
Things to Avoid:
According to the new 2022 report, parents and carers of babies/infants should follow the following guidelines:
Nature & Its Incredible Importance to Children
Nature’s Benefits for Children, Particularly in their Early Years
So, let’s take a look at some of the many benefits of nature to children, especially in their early years.
Time spent in nature, even for just a short time, has been shown to restore children’s cognitive abilities, improve attention spans and boost mental resilience. Studies even showed this to be the case when just a view of nature was available from the classroom. For this reason, experts have suggested that education settings will benefit children more if they are made into more ‘green’ environments in terms of there being flowers, grass and trees nearby.
Another study showed that test results from children were improved after they’d spent time in a woodland environment. Improvements were seen in both accuracy and speed of answers. That’s an amazing result, when you think about it!
Stress is also reduced on both a mental and physiological level through exposure to a natural environment. In studies …