Bridgit and Chloe are OFSTED Registered Childminders based in Worthing, West Sussex, offering a professional and individual service for children and their families 0-8 years. Pebbles Childcare was started in 2015 by Bridgit to provide a holistic, educational and healthy home from home setting for your child. Collectively we have over 30 years experience in the…
Emotional Resilience and Intelligence
As practitioners we know only too well how important supporting children’s personal, social and emotional development is, particularly in today’s soceity where children’s mental health (and mental health in general) is so prevalent. There are staggering statistics from the Mental Health Foundation that say at least 1 in 10 children (aged 5 – 16 years)…
Pebbles Turns 2
As many of you may know Pebbles Childcare celebrated it’s second birthday this week with the most beautiful (yet blustery!) beach party on Friday, joined by our children and their families, spending the afternoon on the beach doing all of the things that encompasses our Pebbles’ favourite things; play, dig, learn to fly kites, paddle,…
Risky Play
Risky play can be defined as a “thrilling and exciting activity that involves a risk of physical injury, and play that provides opportunities for challenge, testing limits, exploring boundaries and learning about injury risk” (Sandseter (2007; Little & Wyver, 2008). At Pebbles Childcare, children are given access to risky play to extend their learning and development whilst being supported by…
Pebbles In The Community
As home-based childcarers, the thing we love most about what we do, is the level of flexibility we have in the learning opportunities and experiences we provide for the children and the way in which we are able to bring our learning experiences to life for the children; providing them with hands-on, learning experiences relevant…
Childminder Champions
As many of you may know, we were recently honoured to be shortlisted for one of the most prestigious award ceremonies in the education sector, the TES (Times Education Supplement) School Awards. We were shortlisted for ‘Early Years Setting of The Year’, the first time in which a childminder/home-based childcare provision has ever been shortlisted…
Food and Nutrition
As the BNF launch their ‘Healthy Eating Week 2017’ to focus on healthy eating, drinking and physical activity in order to encourage healthy living (to read more about ‘Healthy Eating Week’ take a look at the the BNF website https://www.nutrition.org.uk/foodinschools/programme/healthyeatingweek.html ) we will be talking about how we promote healthy living within our everyday practice and…
Parent Partnerships
In our previous post on Attachment, we touched briefly upon parent partnerships and how these support the attachment process with the children, as well as supporting the children’s learning and development whilst in the setting. Here we will look more in depth at what we do as a setting to develop strong and lasting partnerships with…
Attachment
Whether you’re a practitioner or a parent, everyone has heard of and knows about Bowlby’s theory of attachment. But what does attachment really mean in a modern society? How do we as practitioners interpret and implement attachment theory in our practice? What is the impact on the children? What does this mean for parents? And…
The “P” Word.
In Early Years, the one word every practitioner dreads more than ‘OFSTED’ is ‘Planning’. We’ve all been there haven’t we? Whether you’re a Nursery Manager, Early Years Practitioner or a childminder, the word ‘planning’ is one that instantly makes people groan. On training courses, one of your first questions to your neighbour is ‘So what’s…
Intergenerational Relationships
Loneliness and social isolation in our older generation is now only too common here in the UK, with The Guardian reporting last month that over three quarters of our older people are lonely. These are staggering figures and here at Pebbles Childcare, we value and respect our older generation profusely and as a result we…
Childminders: Myths and Stereotypes
Society has always had, and sadly still appears to have a negative view of Childminding as a profession. It appears that childminders are considered to be a less ‘professional’ childcare option than nurseries, nannies and other early years settings. Despite qualifications, regulations and OFSTED Inspections and gradings being obtained in the same way as other…
Maternal Mental Health
This week saw the launch of the UK’s first ever ‘Maternal Mental Health Week’ to raise awareness for one of the most common occurrences during the maternity period, yet one that is still very much shrouded in stigma; antenatal/postnatal depression. Whilst having a baby is a wonderful and exciting time, it can also be a…
