Little Cedars Nursery: Super-Charging Children for Success!

A childcare nursery should not be thought of only as a crèche, playgroup, or simply somewhere that looks after babies and children while parents go to work. Good nurseries and pre-schools like Little Cedars are so much more than that. It’s incredible just how much they benefit under-fives, families and society as a whole once you take a closer look at everything they do — and that’s exactly what we’re doing today…

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

What’s more, staff at childcare settings like Little Cedars will form close bonds with little ones. Studies show that regular interaction with adults helps children’s brains to develop optimally. Did you know that a million new connections form in a child’s brain every second when you interact with them?

“A child’s brain forms a million new connections every second when you interact with them.”

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

Good Ofsted-registered nurseries/pre-schools like Little Cedars also give under-fives a full early years education. That’s important to know. Through a learning and development programme that’s customised to each individual child, we ensure they achieve their own personal bests in all areas of the statutory Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum. Despite their young age, areas of their learning are huge in scope. They include communication, language, literacy, mathematics, art and design as well as physical development and understanding the world as a whole. Children’s personal, social and emotional development is also nurtured fully.

Through this comprehensive and tailored approach to learning and development, children benefit, far into their older years, in many profound ways. A good early years education is therefore incredibly important and beneficial to children and, indeed, many studies back this up.

Nurturing a Love of Learning

This early years education is also done in a way that’s fun, with learning mainly through play, in such a way that children love learning! They naturally explore, investigate, question and ultimately learn more throughout their lives because their early years education has nurtured a natural will to learn in them. That’s gold dust for little learners!

Social Development & Fun With Friends

Part of children’s personal, social and emotional development comes through active play with other children that they meet and get to know at the nursery. This is firstly great fun, of course, and that’s a hugely important part of any happy childhood. However, they’ll also learn many things through play. Without socialising with others, it would be more difficult to improve social skills, for example. Only by being around other children will they learn to account for the feelings of others, learn to respect one another and ultimately form close bonds, trust and friendships. Many such friendships will indeed continue long afterwards, as children move to schools at the age of five.

Improvement of Physical Skills

Children benefit from good nurseries and pre-schools like Little Cedars in other ways too. As well as helping them educationally, cognitively, emotionally and socially, children benefit physically from a good early years education. The learning and development programmes and activities at Little Cedars Nursery, for example, help children to master physical skills. They gain strength and fitness as well as improving coordination and motor skills. Both fine and gross motor skills will improve through both planned and free-play activities available at the nursery. This is all part of the plan for each child at the nursery. Indeed, everything at the nursery, whether it’s an item of equipment, game or activity, has a purpose.

Preparedness for School

Another key aim of good early years childcare provision is to prepare children thoroughly for school. Why? Because well-prepared under-fives are statistically likely to do much better at school — and beyond — than those who didn’t receive a good early years education. By preparing and educating them in their early years, children will be able to hit the ground running the moment they start school at the age of five. Grades will be better and they will then have more choices and opportunities when the time comes to apply for further education in their teens.

“15-year-olds who had attended some pre-primary education outperformed students who had not by about a year of achievement.” (OECD report, 2011)

Super-Charging Children for Success

It’s almost as if children are super-charged for success — the benefits of a good early years education are surprisingly long lasting. Some studies even show that the benefits last into people’s working lives, improving salaries (a US study even puts a figure on it), boosting careers and thereby also enhancing a person’s standard of living — well into adulthood. That’s incredible, when you think about it.

Independence and a Healthy Self-Confidence

Another part of a good early years education is for children to learn to be more independent and self-confident. That’s another thing that good nurseries like Little Cedars helps to nurture. We’ll help point them in the right direction, for example with solo tasks, group activities, personal hygiene skills, toilet training, good manners and much more. All of these skills will stand them in good stead in the real world, including when they leave us to start school around the age of five.

Early Warning of Any Issues

Working so closely with babies, toddlers and preschoolers allows us to continually monitor their individual progress. In so doing, we are in a prime position to spot any issues early and to make appropriate arrangements to mitigate them if needed. For example, we may spot that a child is finding reading challenging. If so, we can put extra effort and time into improving the situation for the child. On occasion, that may even include talking to parents about the possible intervention of a specialist of some kind, or it could simply be that they need to practise specific activities to overcome the issue. The earlier challenges or any special educational or developmental needs are spotted, the sooner the child in question can be helped.

Our Early Years Education Benefits Families & Society Too

As well as hugely benefiting children, the high quality childcare and early years education from providers like Little Cedars Nursery also helps families and society in general. Parents are freed up to go back to work and boost household incomes, boosting the family’s standard of living. Society also benefits from early years education through upward mobility, lower welfare dependency, reduced poverty levels and even lower crime rates. Learn more about the benefits of an early years education here.

An Outstanding Childcare Service in Streatham

Little Cedars Nursery is in Streatham (also close to Furzedown, Tooting, Balham, Norbury & Colliers Wood)

Rated by Ofsted as a good early years provider, Little Cedars Nursery gives babies, toddlers and under-fives the very best start in life. Why not come for a guided tour with your little one — or simply apply for a nursery place for your child.  Our nursery and pre-school is in Streatham near Streatham Hill, Streatham Park, Streatham Common and Furzedown. We’re also conveniently close to Tooting, Tooting Bec, Tooting Broadway, Tooting Common, Balham, Norbury and Colliers Wood. Choose a button below to get started with your nursery application or tour — or for help with any queries.