Plym Bridge Nursery School and Day Care

𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐃
PIAS are running some information sessions for parents/carers of children with SEND and for children with an EHCP, for choosing a primary school for September 2025.

𝐌𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐃 – 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓
📌Face-to-Face (Jan Cutting Healthy Living Centre) – Monday 18 November 2024, 10:00am-12:00pm
📌Virtual (Microsoft Teams) – Wednesday 20 November 2024, 10:00-11:30am

𝐌𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐄𝐇𝐂𝐏 – 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓
📌Face-to-Face (Jan Cutting Healthy Living Centre) – Monday 11 November 2024, 10:00am-12:00pm
📌Virtual (Microsoft Teams) – Wednesday 13 November 2024, 10:00-11:30am
Join us for this free session for parents and carers.

Please note: no créche facilities.

Where sessions are duplicated, you only need to book one session. For the virtual sessions you will be sent details of how to join the workshop a few days before the event.

To book, visit:
👉 https://www.plymouthias.org.uk/workshops/choosing-a-primary-school/

Starting Childcare in 2024: How to prepare your child Whether it is your child's very first day or their first day back in childcare, we have some top tips and advice to help them settle and adapt to new environments.

�Toot toot! Have you heard about our Toilet Train Summer Challenge?

If your child is starting school this year, and you think they need a little extra help, why not hop aboard the toilet train and get a head start!

You'll receive helpful, easy-to-follow advice & tips to get your child ready for school.

Sign up using the link in comments to get started!

� Please tag and share with friends who've got little ones starting school soon.

ALL ABOARD!

EARLY YEARS LEVEL 3 POST
Full-time, All-Year-Round (£23,000 annual salary)

We are recruiting for an experienced Level 3 Early Years practitioner to work in our 0-3 Day Care unit. We are a Plymouth City Council setting and offer a competitive salary, excellent training opportunities and PCC benefits.

Interviews are due to take place on Tuesday 9th July with the post due to start in September 2024. Please use the link below to see more details or to apply for this post. Alternatively, search for Plym Bridge on Indeed.com.

https://teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/jobs/nursery-day-care-assistant-all-year-round-plym-bridge-nursery-school-and-day-care

Nursery / Day Care Assistant (All year round) - Plym Bridge Nursery School and Day Care Nursery / Day Care Assistant (All year round) job from Plym Bridge Nursery School and Day Care. Apply by 19 Jul 2024.

This is a great safety guide for children swimming in lakes and swimming pools. The color of the bathing suit can make it easier or more difficult to see children while they are swimming. This is a good reminder to always have adult supervision when children are swimming. (Thanks to Praire Lakes Healthcare System.)

As the weather starts to hot up again this week 🌞 a reminder that children need 6-8 water based drinks 💦 each day to remain hydrated and encourage healthy bowels & bladders.

But when your child is a drink-dodger this can be difficult!

Here's some tips and tricks that might help.

1. Make ice lollies using well diluted squash. Don’t add sugar and avoid using blackcurrant squash which can irritate the bladder.

2. Draw lines on drinks bottles. This gives kids a visual goal of how much they should drink at different times of the day, which helps when they’re at school and it’s hard to keep track of how much they’re drinking.

3. Jazz up their water with ice cubes, umbrellas and slices of fruit.

4. Buy or customise your own funky straws.

5. Let them choose their cup and fill it themselves.

6. Make sugar-free jellies that contain the equivalent of one cup of water.

7. For younger children let them use a play tea set and fill up the teapot with water and ask them to make some ‘cups of tea’ to drink the water from tea cups. Hold a ‘tea party; and get them involved pouring the water and drinking it.

8. Fill up a water dispenser with an easy tap on the front at home and fill with water and slices of citrus fruit and encourage them to use it throughout the day to get their own drink.

9. Talk to your child's teacher about encouraging pupils to drink during the day. Their teacher could keep a bottle of water on their own desk and sip from it during the day, or have a ‘carpet time session’ where they explain why water is good for their health & concentration at school.

Have you got any more tips or tricks for encouraging children to drink more? Let us know!

Child Safety Week:

Road Safety:
When you cross the road remember:
- Think
- Stop
- Look and Listen
- Wait
- Look and Listen again.

Residents in Estover will be supported to live their healthiest lives with the launch of a new Wellbeing Hub, located at ELM Community Centre.

Wellbeing Hubs aim to improve people’s health and wellbeing by building a greater sense of community and bringing local services together in one convenient location. People can access the hubs for support to improve their physical and mental health, reduce social isolation and take part in new activities that support their wellbeing.

Find out more at https://ow.ly/bCtO50S0aUe

Let's Get Chatting

Is your child going to school in September?

Daily chatter really matters! When talking and listening during everyday routines, children hear and use new words. This helps them to learn about the world around them. It can be as simple as counting as you are doing up your child’s buttons or talking about the birds you see in the park. Making something together, like a sandwich, gives you lots to talk about! Use action words like cut, spread, slice and sequence words like first, next, then, finally. Daily chatter builds confidence to talk. Then children will feel able to let their new teacher know what they want, ask questions, and talk to other children.

Did you know the National Literacy Trust have amazing resources for ideas on talking to your child. Find The Words for Life information here:

Activities | Words for Life

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 - 𝐅𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐇𝐮𝐛𝐬 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐲!
Help Plymouth Family Hubs shape their service and make a positive impact across the city by completing their Start for Life - Family Hubs Survey!

You can also enter an exciting giveaway for a free soft play session for your family or a 3 month gym membership at YMCA Plymouth.

Click the survey link below to share your thoughts and for a chance to win! (Please read T&Cs in form)

👉 https://www.bit.ly/familyhub-survey

Closing date: Monday 10 June 2024.

Let's Get Chatting
Over the next ten weeks we will be sharing top tips about supporting babies and young children to communicate and talk. Themes will include noticing and responding to your child’s communication, the importance of everyday chat, where to get help if you are concerned as well as how to help your child to be ready for school.

Follow our campaign and Let’s Get Chatting in Plymouth!

https://www.plymouth.gov.uk/family-hubs

Last day to complete our pre-campaign questionnaire: https://forms.office.com/e/ugAXhAwXSk

ADHD for Children Made with Padlet

𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐫
📅 Wednesday 22 May 2024, 10am-11am
Join Anne-Marie Harrison, Education Director from Ideas Afresh Education for a free webinar from the Witherslack Group, exploring how to create environments, systems and opportunities for autistic children so they can fully participate and engage to their full potential.

More info and sign up: https://www.witherslackgroup.co.uk/resources/supporting-social-inclusion-for-the-autistic-learner/

Free online courses for residents of Devon, Torbay and Plymouth:
- Understanding your pregnancy, birth, labour and your baby
- Understanding your baby
- Understanding your child
- Understanding your teenagers brain

These courses are for everyone who wants to be the best mum, dad, grandparent and carer that they can be. The Solihull Approach aims to improve emotional health and wellbeing by supporting relationships (www.solihullapproachparenting.com). The courses are written by Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) professionals with other health and education workers.

*Update: applications have now closed*

If you’re struggling with the cost of living and experiencing financial difficulty, there’s support available from the Household Support Fund. You could get help in the form of food, fuel or clothing vouchers.

To apply, your household will need to meet one of the following eligibility criteria:

• At least one child under 18 who resides in the property on a permanent basis
• Someone has a disability or long-term health condition
• Someone has reached pension age
• You live alone and receive help with housing costs.

Apply now via Citizens Advice Plymouth: https://ow.ly/VoFY50RjJCB

This will close when the maximum number of applications has been reached, so eligible households are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.

The Household Support Fund is provided by the Department for Work and Pensions.

We're continuing the conversation about 'Toileting support for autistic children' and today we're sharing tips for supporting toilet training.

Before you get going with a toileting programme, we recommend using our bladder and bowel assessment chart (link in the comments) to record your child’s bowel and bladder activity for a few days.

This information will be really helpful as you develop a toileting programme and work out timings that will suit your child.

It’s important not to delay toilet training. Autistic children do not like changes so by delaying, it may make it more difficult for your child to get used to using potties and toilets.

Here are some top tips to help with toilet training:
- Start early, and help your child get used to being in the bathroom. Learning skills such as sitting on a potty, and washing their hands will help later.
- Reward your child’s effort as much as their success.
- Break down the task into easy steps.
- Include toileting in your child’s regular daily routines, for example, by going to the toilet 20 minutes after meals, before bedtime and after waking up.
- Teach words and signs for toilets and wee and poo, using pictures too.
- Make going to the toilet fun – and not scary!

👀keep an eye out tomorrow, where we'll be talking about how to use & design a toileting programme.

Our next Dad's Group is coming up 13th April,

This group is for Dad's to be, Dads, Stepdads, Grandads and Male carers!! Come along and see what its all about! The lads look forward to seeing you there, The venue is in our Sure Start Community Room, rear of Ham Drive Nursery PL2 2NJ, if in doubt call 07969958205

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩: 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 & 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝'𝐬 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬
📅 Tuesday's 23 or 30 April, or 16 July 2024, 12:30-2:30pm
📍 at Jan Cutting Healthy Living Centre, Beacon Park Road, Plymouth PL2 2PQ

This workshop will support parents in understanding the importance of preparing their child for everyday changes that may occur in their daily routine. We will discuss and explore strategies such as visuals that parents can use to manage these transitions smoothly.

👉 Book at: https://www.plymouthias.org.uk/workshops/how-to-understand-and-support-my-childs-transitions/

Join us for this free 2-hour parenting workshop.

Please note: This workshop is for parent/carers only (not professionals) and we are unable to offer crèche facilities.

Following World , we're continuing the conversation about autistic children's continence...

Toileting support for autistic children: Behaviours & challenges

There may be a range of behaviours and difficulties that affect children in different ways including:

- Social communication
- Repetitive behaviours and dealing with change
- Sensory differences
- Intense and highly focused interests
- Extreme anxiety
- Meltdowns and shutdowns

Children communicate their feelings and understanding with their behaviour.

- Try to consider what their behaviour is saying before thinking of solutions.
- Consider the triggers that start their behaviour
- Notice the factors that might make their behaviour continue - these may not be the same as the things that started it.

How these behaviours can impact on toileting

These challenges can affect how your child learns to use the toilet and how they develop reliable continence. There can be implications for children’s social experiences, making friends, and their education.

However, it’s important to remember that some autistic children can learn to use the toilet at the usual time and may not have any problems.

👀keep an eye out tomorrow, where we'll be talking about the 'Causes of toileting challenges'.

Helping your child get ready to go out Getting ready to leave the house is the perfect opportunity to help your child learn key life skills. Encouraging toddlers to dress themselves boosts their self-perception, strengthens gross and fine motor control and can even boost language skills.