To find out more about the range of services we provide, or to explore ways we can work with you, do please get in touch with us: 

londonandkent@eyalliance.org.uk

or phone our main office in Lewisham: 020 8695 5955

VAL POPE SERVICE MANAGER

val.pope@eyalliance.org.uk

LISA SCOTT KEEN — ASSISTANT MANAGER

lisa.scottkeen@eyalliance.org.uk  

KATE ELLINSON — FINANCE OFFICER

kate.ellinson@eyalliance.org.uk

Our vision

Our vision is a society where every child enjoys the opportunity to learn through play. We believe families should be at the centre of policy-making and empowered and supported to become fully involved with their child's learning and development.

The way we work

We champion childhood and children’s right to play and want to ensure that all children, regardless of background, are given the best possible start in life.

We work to support families and early years providers to enhance children’s life chances, by raising standards and quality of childcare, encouraging safeguard-led practice and providing high quality training, support and advice.

Below are some of the programmes and services we provide. For further details about any of these, or to explore how we might work together with you in your area, please contact VAL POPE, Service Manager for the Alliance in London and Kent val.pope@eyalliance.org.uk

Children’s Centres

We can deliver a clear seamless borough wide children’s centre offer for families, working alongside health visiting, midwifery, schools and public health services.

Our community-based approach offers families access to a range of health, education, play, parenting, adult education, employment support and family support services right across the borough, including a digital offer.

Crèche Services

We offer a mobile crèche service, providing a high standard of childcare in your choice of setting.

Our experienced crèche teams travel to your venue equipped with a range of resources and activities to suit all ages involved. We also offer a crèche and bank staff service to deliver in children’s centres, early years settings and schools where resources are already available.

Family Support

We offer 1:1 family support in the home or in the community, and a wide range of different parenting courses and support programmes to help parents develop a stronger, happier and more positive relationship with their child, building confidence, and skills as a parent.

Evidence-based Parenting Programmes

We are able to deliver Triple P, Teen Triple P and Incredible Years.  We can also deliver Incredible Years aimed at specific groups, e.g. children with conduct disorder or oppositional defiance disorder, and we have the PIPT Programme (Personalised Individual Parent Training) for complex cases who benefit from a 1:1 approach.

Domestic Abuse Recovery programmes

We can deliver 2 main programmes to support families recovering from the impact of domestic abuse and prevent recurrence:

Community Groups Programme – a therapeutic programme for children  and their mothers who no longer reside with the perpetrator and are not in crisis, which is offered on a group or 1:1 basis

Freedom programme – a group for women who are at risk, have experienced or are experiencing Domestic Abuse

Support for early years settings

We offer information and support for early years’ settings including:

• specialist up-to-date information and training on various topics 
• paediatric first aid courses
• bespoke workshops and support for individual settings on site or as a cluster group, including topics such as Making the most of your outdoor area and Supporting early language
• safeguarding audits, Pre-Ofsted audits and business support packages
• regular forums to encourage local providers and professionals to get together to share their ideas and experiences and access information

Roots of Empathy

Roots of Empathy is an evidence-based programme that has shown dramatic effect in reducing levels of aggression among school children while raising pro-social behaviour such as sharing, helping and including others.

At the heart of the programme are classroom visits by a parent and baby. Through guided observations of this loving relationship, children learn to identify and reflect on their own thoughts and feelings and those of others – developing emotional literacy and empathy.

Volunteering and Parental Involvement Programmes

We can deliver a range of short courses to support parents and community members to feel confident to volunteer in pre-schools, nurseries, children’s centres and other projects.

We can also train parents to become ‘action researchers’ in their local community, helping to develop, shape and evaluate services, including ‘mystery shopping’.

'I have found our working partnership with PSLA to be a most rewarding professional relationship which enriches our work with our local community.

Health Visiting Team Leader

The Alliance directly manages 80 childcare services across England. Visit the Find Childcare page on the Alliance website and enter your postcode or town below to find the   nearest nurseries to you. 

We have a range of directly managed childcare settings across the London and Kent area.

For further information on any of these settings, please follow the links to each individual setting website below which give full details about each setting.

Camelot Pre-school and Family Learning Centre 

2 - 5 years

50 Meliot Road SE6 1RY

020 8461 1615

email: camelot.centre@eyalliance.org.uk

website: Camelot Pre-school

"We feel so lucky that we found out about Camelot, my daughter and I have loved her time here.  You run a magical place." - Parent 2018

Charlton Family Centre (In the Royal Borough of Greenwich) 

2 - 5 years

41-43 Shirley House Drive

SE7 7EL

020 8856 9906

email: charlton@eyalliance.org.uk

website: Charlton Family Centre

"I want to increase the number of hours my child attends because the progress he is making is clearly visible". - Parent 2018

Cherry Blossom Pre-school 

2 - 5 years

Beckenham Place Park

118 Old Bromley Road

BR1 4JY

020 8460 0223/07963 248280

email: cherry.blossom@eyalliance.org.uk 

website: Cherry Blossom Pre-school

"Love this pre-school best choice I ever made for my child! I love how they have the outdoor space, it’s my child’s favourite place as we don’t have a garden, so I feel like she doesn’t miss out". - Parent 2018

Ladywell Pre-school 

2 - 5 years

30 Rushey Mead

London SE4 1JJ

07896 761467

email: ladywell@eyalliance.org.uk 

website: Ladywell Pre-school

“The staff and experience of Ladywell Pre-school have provided a safe, stimulating and enjoyable introduction to our sons education. Our whole family have benefitted from such a positive experience and we are truly grateful” - Parent 2018

Northend Nursery

0 - 5 years 

4A Lincoln Close

Slade Green

Kent

DA8 2EB

Tel: 01322 331168

email: northend@eyalliance.org.uk

website: Northend Nursery

July 2018 - "In the last 10 years we had all of our 4 children at Northend. You have always provided outstanding care and they all had the best start in life because of quality of education you provide. We want to say thank you very much to all the staff that looked after our 4 children throughout the years!!!" - children aged 1 to 4

Sunshine Corner Nursery

0 - 5 years 

Attlee Avenue

Aylesha

Kent

CT3 3BS

01304 842223

email: sunshinecorner@eyalliance.org.uk

website: Sunshine Corner Nursery

"My Child has a clear and strong bond with his keyperson. He is exceptionally cared for, supported and nurtured by all the staff". ( child aged 20months - 2017)

Storkway Neighbourhood Nursery 

0 - 5 years

Storkway Children's Centre

Ridgebrook Road

SE3 9QX

Tel: 020 8856 2277

email: Storkway.Nursery@eyalliance.org.uk

"Our daughter has learned so much at Storkway Nursery, the staff care about her well-being and make sure to encourage her in all she does." Laurie (Daughter aged 1, 24/08/2018)

Yarnton Way Nursery 

0 - 5 years

Harris Gerrard Academy Grounds

Yarnton Way

Erith

Kent

DA18 4DW

0208 3207872

email: yarnton@eyalliance.org.uk

"I am truly amazed at the progress my chaild has made at Yarnton Way Nursery. Thanks to everyone who works here. Keep up the good work. You are all a gift from God". -  Parent July 18

The Alliance is working together with Clyde Nursery School, Beecroft Garden School and Kelvin Grove/Eliot Bank and Downderry Children’s Centres to deliver a clear seamless borough wide children’s centre offer for families in the London Borough of Lewisham, working alongside health visiting, midwifery, schools and public health services.

Lewisham Children and Family Centres offer families access to a range of health, education, play, parenting, adult education, employment support and family support services right across the borough.

For full details of the children and family centres provided across Lewisham, please follow the link below to the Lewisham Children’s Centres website

https://www.lewishamcfc.org.uk/ 

The live up to date calendar showing activities daily across the borough can be accessed at https://www.lewishamcfc.org.uk/live-calendar/

A downloadable copy of the current timetable can be accessed at https://www.lewishamcfc.org.uk/timetables/ 

Children’s Centre Management Team:

DAWN WILSON-DARKE Programmes Manager - dawn.wilsondarke@eyalliance.org.uk

LOSCINIA SMARTH Outreach and Data Performance Manager - loscinia.smarth@eyalliance.org.uk 

NASHRIN MCCONVILLE Family Support Manager - nashrin.mcconville@eyalliance.org.uk

JO COOPER Resources and Communications Manager -

jo.cooper@eyalliance.org.uk

Parenting is rewarding but can sometimes feel challenging, difficult and exhausting! At times all parents might need just a bit of extra support. 

In Lewisham borough, we offer 1:1 family support in the home or in the community, and a wide range of different parenting courses and support programmes to help parents develop a stronger, happier and more positive relationship with their child, building confidence, and skills as a parent.

For full details of our current offer please see family support on the Lewisham Children and Family Centres website 

For specific help of any sort please talk to the staff in our children’s centres or childcare settings or you can email our Family Support Manager on our confidential email, and/or self-refer for family support using the referral form below.

REFERRAL:

Lewisham.Secure@eyalliance.org.uk

Click here to download referral form – this form can be used to refer for family support, parenting course or domestic abuse recovery programmes.

We also have a wide range of parenting courses and programmes to help parents have a positive and rewarding relationship with their child.

Families impacted by Domestic Abuse will find support in Lewisham Children & Family Centres via a small range of group activities, aimed at supporting women and children. Our programmes  are delivered by our own staff alongside multi agency partners from Schools, Health and Social Care.

Our 2 main programmes are:

• Freedom programme – a group for women who are at risk, have experienced or are experiencing Domestic Abuse.
• Community Groups Programme – a therapeutic programme for women and their children who no longer reside with the perpetrator and are not in crisis, offered on a group or 1:1 basis

Alongside this there is a parent-led group for women who have completed the Freedom programme and would like to join other women to share their experiences and offer peer support, and access to employment support programmes and other help.

Programmes in Lewisham are free.

These programmes can also be delivered in other London Boroughs and in Kent.  For programme costs and/or further information, please email londonandkentsh@eyalliance.org.uk

If you would like to talk to someone about accessing one of these programmes or other support please contact us via our confidential email.



Lewisham.Secure@eyalliance.org.uk

 REFERRAL:

Click here to download referral form – this form can be used to refer for family support, parenting course or domestic abuse recovery programmes.

For details of other services and helplines which can offer support :

https://www.refuge.org.uk/

https://www.womensaid.org.uk/

Freephone 24-Hour National Domestic Violence Helpline: 0808 2000 247

Run in partnership between Women’s Aid and Refuge

Volunteering 

The Alliance in Lewisham has a long established volunteer programme called Me and My Community. We have many volunteers supporting staff across all of our settings undertaking various roles, from childcare through to administration. As part of our recruitment process, we arrange for volunteers to attend our volunteer training course, request 2 references and undertake a DBS check. Once complete, we place the volunteer in a setting with a mentor/manager.

Me and My Community

Train to be a volunteer at this free 5-week course, where you can develop skills and confidence in volunteering in your local community in a Children’s Centre, Pre-school or other local service. Free crèche available.

If you are interested in volunteering please contact

Chris Ellinson, Volunteer Support Officer on 020 8695 5955 or volunteer.supportofficer@eyalliance.org.uk

Parental Involvement

Want to influence services in your local area? Are you a parent, grandparent or other family member or a user of our services? Are you interested in doing volunteer research in the community to help shape and evaluate local services? Are you interested in joining our ‘Parents Connect’ Group?

Contact KAREN BALL at Impact Matters to join the next Community Conversations course karen@impactmatters.org

What is Roots of Empathy? 

Roots of Empathy is an evidence-based programme that has shown dramatic effect in reducing levels of aggression among school children while raising pro-social behaviour such as sharing, helping and including others.

The programme was developed in Canada by Mary Gordon with the first programmes launched in 1996 and has now reached over half a million children across the world. At the heart of the programme are classroom visits by a parent and baby. Through guided observations of this loving relationship, children learn to identify and reflect on their own thoughts and feelings and those of others – developing emotional literacy and empathy.

Check out the Roots of Empathy website for further details:

In 2012 the Alliance in Lewisham gained funding from the BIG Lottery Improving Futures programme to deliver a 4 year early intervention project called Family Pathways. As part of the Family Pathways funding we were able to deliver Roots of Empathy in Lewisham primary schools, one of the first programmes in England. The programme carries on with the support of local funding, including funding from London and Quadrant Housing in 2017-2018 and Phoenix Community Housing in 2018-2019.  This enables the cost to be subsidised for our local schools, giving a low unit cost and excellent value for schools’ currently stretched budgets. We have now reached over 4000 children across primary schools in Lewisham.

The Roots of Empathy programme is proven to:

• Support children’s emotional development, resilience and self-esteem
• Reduce aggressive behaviour and bullying
• Build a sense of class belonging

What are the goals of Roots of Empathy? 

• To foster the development of empathy
• To develop emotional literacy
• To reduce levels of bullying, aggression, and violence
• To promote children’s pro-social behaviours
• To increase knowledge of human development, learning, and infant safety
• To prepare pupils for responsible citizenship and responsive parenting

100% of teachers strongly agreed or agreed that as a result of Roots of Empathy, pupils are more inclusive or accepting of others who are different from themselves, including culture, race, special needs and gender.

For further information on the current programme delivery in Lewisham, or to request a programme in your school or your area, please contact:

Celia Akenhead, Roots of Empathy Co-ordinator, Pre-school Learning Alliance

celia.akenhead@eyalliance.org.uk

Impact of the Programme – Research Findings

Since 2000, the Roots of Empathy programme has been evaluated in both comparative and randomized controlled studies designed to measure changes in the behaviour of participating   students. Independent research has been conducted on three continents.

Consistently Positive Results

Key research findings show that children perceived a more positive classroom environment by the end of the programme (e.g. increased sense of classroom belonging and peer acceptance). Children also exhibit:

• An increase in prosocial behaviour (e.g. sharing, helping and including)
• A decrease in aggression, which is particularly significant given that children in the comparison classrooms showed increases in aggression across the school year
• An increase in social and emotional understanding
• An increase in empathy
• An increase in knowledge of parenting

Studies conducted by researchers at the University of British Columbia looked at specific types of aggression (i.e. proactive (bullying), physical, relational and reactive. All of these studies showed a significant decrease in aggression in the programme groups.

Lasting Results

In 2001, the Government of Manitoba commissioned a three-year follow-up study of Roots of Empathy, measuring prosocial behaviour, physical aggression, and indirect aggression. The three target grade levels were Kindergarten, grade four, and grade eight. The results of the follow-up study also indicate that improvements in prosocial behaviour and reduced aggression are maintained and enhanced for years afterwards.

Within a Roots of Empathy classroom, these changes in student behaviour translate into a community where helping, sharing, perspective-taking and peer inclusion are the norm.

Independent research in Scotland 2015, University of Glasgow stated that ‘The Roots of Empathy intervention tends to have its greatest impact for children with the lowest empathy and pro-social skills and who are the most aggressive. The programme appeared to benefit pupils experiencing personal, familial or health-related challenges, who displayed greater  resilience than was expected.’                                                                               

In addition, independent research in Northern Ireland, at Queen’s University in 2016  assessed the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of the schools-based social and emotional learning programme, Roots of Empathy. ‘The evaluation found that Roots of Empathy was well-received by schools, children and parents and did have a measurable and positive impact in increasing children’s pro-social behaviour and reducing their aggressive and difficult behaviour. There was also some evidence that the effects in relation to reducing difficult behaviour may have been sustained for three years beyond the end of the programme. The programme was also found to be cost-effective.’

Support for Alliance Member Settings 

The Alliance London and Kent Service Hub supports Alliance member settings across the London boroughs and Kent including pre-schools, nurseries, toddler groups, childminders and individuals.

We have been providing high quality support and advice to providers of early years education and childcare for more than 50 years.

We offer practical early years advice and support including:

• specialist up-to-date information and training on various topics including first aid
• bespoke workshops and support for individual settings on site or as a cluster group
• safeguarding audits, Pre-Ofsted audits and business support packages
• regular member forums to encourage local providers and professionals to get together to share their ideas and experiences and access information
• a newsletter for member settings

For enquiries about any of these services, please contact londonandkent@eyalliance.org.uk 

Our national Information Service team can also answer questions, give advice and generally offer expert support for member settings. The team is available 9am – 5pm, Monday to Friday, and you can contact them directly by phone on 0207 697 2595 or by email at info@eyalliance.org.uk (members also have access to the 24 hour legal helpline Law-call for specific legal questions).

Our members can also visit the members' area on the website to access free resources on a wide range of early years issues and common questions - our free mini-guides on a range of topics are really popular for this and are all located in the members' area.

Our special partnership with EduCare, the award-winning CPD-training provider, also gives Alliance members FREE access to valuable, distance-learning courses every year.