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
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 …
The Benefits of Pets to Children
The Benefits of Pets & Regular Interactions with Animals
At a deeper level, animals and pets can teach children a huge amount about nature, the similar sentience of non-humans and ultimately also about themselves. Looking after and living with animals can teach children countless skills and new pieces of knowledge. It can also encourage feelings of responsibility, empathy, compassion, loyalty and happiness — indeed, a pet can be the very best friend a child or indeed adult could ever dream of having. They can be a huge source of comfort when a child needs it, for example when facing one of life’s many challenges. Pets are someone a child can confide in, knowing they can trust them to keep their secrets safe. In fact, children often form deep bonds with pets, often just as deep as they would be with a brother or sister. More often than not, pets simply become part of the family.
Familiarity with animals and closeness to pets also teaches children respect for other individuals (whether human or non-human), including recognition of the consequences of their actions towards them. It shows them how to care for others too. It can also teach them patience (e.g. when training) and even …
20 Ways to Childproof Your Home
15 Ways to Manage a Fussy Eater
1. Be Patient
It may take as many as 10-15 attempts before a child will accept and trust a new food, particularly if it has a taste and texture that’s new to their palette. The secret is for them to keep trying it over a few days and weeks. More often than not, they’ll eventually accept it and indeed even realise that they like it if you’ve added it to their plate multiple times over an extended period.
2. Make Allowances for an Acquired Taste
3. Change the Format
Children will refuse some foods based purely on what they look like. For whatever reason, how they look may not appeal to the child. When this happens, one easy solution is to disguise the particular food type next time around. Examples would be chopping it up smaller, mixing it in with something else or even blitzing or liquidising it to use in soup, purée or sauce. They may then not even realise that they’re eating the food they refused previously.
4. Sneaky Pairing