Celebrating success
Nursery World Gala Awards Dinner
At this year's exhibition Nursery World is hosting a special event to honour the people and organisations who exemplify the very highest-quality early years practice. Throughout the last year, Nursery World organised a number of rigorous awards schemes to find the most accomplished and deserving candidates. To celebrate the winners, there will be a gala awards dinner at the Business Design Centre on the evening of Friday 30 September, where we will formally present the following awards.
Nursery of the Year
A new award, this is for a full-day care setting that meets thorough criteria and provides evidence that its approach to care and learning gives children and their families a top-quality service. The award is sponsored by insurers Morton Michel, with prizes for the first, second and third-placed nurseries donated by Community Playthings.
Nursery World Equipment Awards
Now in its third year, this award puts the top-rated equipment and resources from our Nursery Equipment supplement through further tough testing in the workplace to determine whether they receive a gold, silver or bronze award, for both Birth to Threes and Foundation Stage categories.
Outdoor Challenge
Run with Learning Through Landscapes and now in its third year, this award examines the entrants' approach to outdoor provision and their plans to develop this aspect of their setting. The winner receives equipment from NES Arnold and Hand Made Places, consultancy to help them plan future developments, membership of LTL's Early Years Outdoors service, and a year's subscription to Nursery World. There are prizes for ten runners-up too.
Student Essay Competition
We asked early years and childcare students to write an 800-word essay on a topical subject and we have selected three winners who receive prizes of Pounds 1,000, 500 and 250 for the first, second and third placed essays. This award, now in its fourth year, is sponsored by Reflections on Learning.
Nursery World/Heinemann Childcare Student of the Year
This award has run for six years, with Nursery World hosting it jointly from last year. Tutors nominate outstanding students, and four finalists partake in a day of interviews at Heinemann to decide the winner. There are cash prizes for the winning student and books for the winning college.
Nursery World Website of the Year
This brand-new award is to recognise leading websites in a sector with increasingly impressive webpage standards. First, second and third prize winners will receive a framed certificate and the right to use and display the Nursery World Website of the Year Award Winner logo on their homepage.
Becta, the government's agency responsible for ICT and Education, is sponsoring the award.
Nursery World Award for Outstanding Contribution
Another new category, sponsored by Parenta, this award celebrates an individual who has made a real difference to the sector with his or her exemplary contribution.
Creative approaches
Montessori Schools Association conference
The second annual Montessori Schools Association National Conference takes place at the Early Years and Primary Teaching Exhibition. Last year the MSA launched its maiden conference at the exhibition and it is back this year with a new theme, 'Creativity'.
'I was really keen to choose creativity,' says Georgina Hood, London MSA regional chair. 'It will bring everyone together and it means that it can benefit teachers with on-going training for themselves, and also bring added things to the classroom for the children to do.'
Two big names in Montessori early years education are lined up as keynote speakers - Dr Marlene Barron from West Side Montessori School, New York, and Peggy McClatchie from St Nicholas Montessori College, Dublin. 'Having the international speakers is great,' says Georgina. 'It brings new blood into what we've been doing, and new ideas.'
'Last year was very much about communication and telling people about the new organisation, the Montessori Schools Association,' says Georgina. 'This year we have hands-on workshops, which is very much what everybody wanted.
We've really listened to the members with what we've provided.'
The day will feature three creative activity workshops: Musikgarten, June's Yoga and MakeBelieveArts. All these workshops will run concurrently at two different time-slots during the conference, allowing Montessorians to try more than one of them over the day.
Musikgarten is an early childhood music education company, aiming to provide teachers with ways to understand how children from birth to age nine learn music, and help them consider such learning in the holistic context of a child's development.
June's Yoga is a fun way to incorporate yoga in a Montessori education programme and help children explore the advantages of yoga and extend their focus and concentration.
MakeBelieveArts uses storytelling and acting to develop children's imagination, vocabulary, listening skills and self-confidence, teaching practitioners how to enable children to understand every aspect of storytelling from actors to audience.
'With all the people we have chosen, it is very much a Montessori way of bringing it to the classroom,' Georgina explains. 'With Musikgarten, for example, when I did the initial workshop, I just thought it was so in-tune that it could have been written by Maria Montessori herself. It is tailor-made for Montessori teachers and it can empower them so that they can do it themselves, rather than have them feel that they have to get a specialist teacher to come in.
'But it is definitely not just for Montessori teachers,' adds Georgina. 'It can be for parents who have children at a Montessori school, or just people who are interested in learning more about the method.'
Tickets cost 40 for MSA members and 75 for non-members. For further information and tickets, call 01923 690 646 or visit www.teachingexhibitions.co.uk.
Meeting place
Professional Nanny conference
The Professional Nanny conference this year offers lively discussions and informative workshops. Nursery World editor Liz Roberts will give a welcome address, followed by presentations from a number of organisations, including the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and the Association of Nanny Agencies. There will be workshops from the Professional Association of Nursery Nurses, Nannytax and Piccolo Music, among others.
PANN professional officer Tricia Pritchard will join a group of early years figures on the panel of a question-and-answer session at the end of the day. Also taking a seat on the panel will be the second-ever Professional Nanny of the Year, just after being awarded the title and prize from BBC weather presenter Helen Young.
'We shortlisted four finalists in July,' says Tricia Pritchard. 'We had an excellent field.' The finalists face a rigorous day of testing at Chiltern College, where they will be observed in supervised practice with children, produce evidence of their childcare work and face an interview with a panel which will include Tricia Pritchard and also last year's winner Louise Kirk, who has been heavily involved since picking up the inaugural award last year.
Louise says, 'I was really pleased when I won just to hear that there was such an award. Nannies really are the behind-the-scenes support of many high-powered people. These people couldn't do their jobs without feeling confident that their children were in good hands. It was really good to get some recognition for nannies.'
As holder of the title, Louise has made numerous appearances and been involved in many of PANN's endeavours. She even sat down with children's minister Margaret Hodge at a roundtable discussion. 'I was trying to corner her about the details of the tax-credit scheme,' she says. 'I've had an amazing amount of input in the award, and a very busy year!'
Tickets for the conference cost 20 per person, including refreshments and a sandwich lunch, and can be booked on 01923 690 646.
