"Early Years Alliance are very experienced in project delivery and are very passionate (and successful)
in delivering outcomes for children, young people and families."...
The Early Years Alliance has launched a new campaign to highlight the valuable role that early years providers, and particularly private and voluntary settings, play in the local community.
For further details about the campaign and how you can get involved: https://www.eyalliance.org.uk/thisisearlyyears
The Alliance is here to support you in any way we can. Please do Email Us
FOR PRACTITIONERS:
We have such a lot to offer you: information, advice, tailored support, online networking meetings and online virtual classrooms - see information below
Our national Coronavirus page is constantly updated - so you know you are in safe hands and have access to the most up to date information for your setting: https://www.eyalliance.org.uk/coronavirus-early-years
FOR PARENTS:
We have online topic-based meetings for parents, and a range of family learning opportunities - see information below.
We also have the amazing FAMILY CORNER parent website, full of exciting activities and information: https://www.familycorner.co.uk/
You can also Email Us about anything here in the London and Kent Hub and we will do our best to help you.
Our Virtual Classroom offers a flexible approach to learning and has been designed for people working in the early years to ensure providers, staff and volunteers have access to training.
The Virtual Classroom sessions can be accessed via, smartphone, tablet, laptop and desktop.
How long are the courses?
Courses comprise either 2 x 90 minutes or 3 x 90 minutes depending on the topic.
How do I book onto a course?
All Virtual Classroom workshops and packages, including the various pricing options for individuals and virtual In-House sessions can be found on our Virtual Classroom page.
The Alliance offers opportunities for settings to access our workshops in-house for staff to be trained together in their own setting. We can arrange course delivery on weekdays, Saturdays or evenings with a range of courses tailored to meet your specific needs.
Enhance your training experience and take the learning further!
Workshop Plus+ has been developd to take the learning a step further. All participants now have the option of booking additional support alongside the training workshop which can be provided in-house to help embed the learning within your setting to:
All support would be designed to meet your individual needs to maximise the impact and ensure your time and energy is rewarded, and all from as little as £70.
We have had a fantastic response to our Alliance Connect networking sessions so we have put on extra sessions to accommodate as many people as possible, as feedback we have received has been really positive.The next round of networking meetings dates will be announced soon.
You can find out more information about our Alliance Connect meetings by clicking on the Alliance Connect on the above drop down list.
Story Box Session - Animals in the Night
Join Catherine from the Early Years Alliance as she takes us on a torch walk and sings songs to learn about some of the animals in the night.
Preparing for Ofsted Inspections in 2021
This webinar will update participants on Ofsted's plans for the coming months and consider the implications for the sector of recent announcement by Ofsted. Whilst inspection judgments and the criteria Ofsted use to make those judgments is unlikely to change, there is no doubt that some inspection activity will have a different emphasis as we move forward. This is an ideal opportunity for practitioners to reflect on their provision and prepare for the return of inspections in the new year.
Please visit our YouTube channel to access the wealth of content we have available, from story times and activities, family sessions and craft ideas to professional webinars
Family Corner is a FREE online resource by the Alliance, dedicated to supporting families with young children. Our website is packed full of useful articles, information on child development, learning through play, activity ideas and communication and language tips.
Why not visit our Competition Corner for the chance to win great prizes or to take part in our surveys, we are currently running a parent survey around childcare choices with the chance to win £30 of children's books.
Join Family Corner for FREE to receive our monthly e-newsletter.
"Early Years Alliance are very experienced in project delivery and are very passionate (and successful)
in delivering outcomes for children, young people and families."
LA Early Intervention Commissioner
"I have found our working partnership with the Alliance to be a most rewarding
professional relationship which enriches our work with our local community."
Health Visiting Team Leader
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, development, health and well-being.
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 and an opportunity to thrive and develop to their maximum potential.
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 or phone our main office in Lewisham 020 8695 5955 or our Croydon office 020 3417 6640.
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 and other venues to wor alongside your own teams.
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, or a bespoke package of services or programmes for your children's centre.
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.
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. We can also offer HENRY.
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 for all ages
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:
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’.
Important update: Because of the current situation due to the Coronavirus, all our workshops and Alliance Connect events will not be taking place at present.
We are currently exploring options of delivering our workshops and other events online and will send out more information to you through our newsletters and on this website soon.
Please do contact us if there is anything specific you would like to see.
And members can, of course, still access the online training the Alliance has to offer: https://www.eyalliance.org.uk/educare
We have been providing high quality support, advice and training to providers of early years education and childcare for more than 50 years. We offer practical early years advice and support including:
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.
Payslip service
Let us help your organisation fulfil its legal requirements when calculating employees pay and deductions and reporting to HMRC. The Alliance has been supporting members with a payslip service for many years and has many satisfied customers.
Our payslip service includes:- Calculating Tax and NI deductions / Statutory payments (including sick, maternity, paternity or adoption pay) / Enrolling eligible staff to your chosen qualifying pension scheme / Monthly submission to HMRC / Producing pay slips and payroll summaries / Processing new starters and P45s for leavers / all year-end reports including P60’s / On-line filing of year-end return to HMRC
For further information and a quote please email londonandkent@eyalliance.org.uk
The Alliance directly manages 75 childcare services across England. Visit the Find Childcare page on the Alliance website.
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 -
All our Children and Family Centres promote the key messages of Five to Thrive to support children's development - Respond, Cuddle, Relax, Play, Talk. For further information, click here:
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 strategies 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.
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:
We now have a new Home Office funded project - PREVENT-PROTECT-REPAIR which is developing a range of additional services to support the whole family.
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 londonandkent@eyalliance.org.uk
If you would like to talk to someone about accessing one of these programmes or other support for yoursel or a family you are working with i your setting or role, 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 :
Freephone 24-Hour National Domestic Violence Helpline: 0808 2000 247
Run in partnership between Women’s Aid and Refuge
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.
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?
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 call into any centre and ask for information or contact
Chris Ellinson, Volunteer Support Officer volunteer.supportofficer@eyalliance.org.uk
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:
What are the goals of Roots of Empathy?
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:
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.’
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 and schools where resources are already available.
We are dedicated to meeting the needs of all the children in our care, and we provide everything to ensure that all the children at your event are entertained and cared for to a very high standard.
The children will have fun in a safe and monitored environment during their stay with us.
Our mobile crèche includes:
All our crèche services are of course tailored to your own requirements.
We are currently able to deliver crèche services and bank staff in the following areas:
But do please contact us on lkcrecheservices@eyalliance.org.uk if you are outside these areas and we will work with you to try to meet your needs.
To find out more about the range of services we provide, or to explore ways we can work with you or support you, do please get in touch with us:
londonandkent@eyalliance.org.uk
or phone our main office in Lewisham: 020 8695 5955
or our Croydon office: 020 3417 6640
Or contact VAL POPE SERVICE MANAGER for London and Kent direct on
Details coming soon
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