Bright Little Stars Nursery Group, based in North-West London are providing extra support for parents and carers by running a program of workshops that offer up to date advice and guidance on how they can assist their little ones in areas regarding their wellbeing.

From keeping children safe online to integrating mindfulness into family life, the workshops are led by a variety of external providers who are experts in their field. The workshops are run throughout the year over zoom, which enables parents to join from the comfort of their home. They offer guidance and support to parents and carers on many aspects of parenting that they may not have come across before, when raising a child under five.

Bright Little Stars head of teaching and school relationships, Gill Baldemor explained:

‘Whilst BLS traditionally run workshops that support educational learning at home, wellbeing is equally important and comes with many difficulties that parents are often unaware or unequipped to deal with.

‘After receiving feedback from parents, we came up with a program of unique workshops to each cover a specific area that not only can improve the quality of children’s home lives, but increase educational attainment and support good mental health. These ultimately improve their child’s wellbeing to live happily and healthily.’

As well as wellbeing workshops, Gill herself provides additional talks to guide parents with school applications. Choosing a school that is the most appropriate for a child is not an easy task and Gill works particularly closely with local independent schools to share her knowledge to all parents to help them make an informed decision.

Gill also assists learning room practitioners in providing high quality learning experiences and to ensure children are ‘school ready’ when it’s time to move on. Gill’s ‘school ready’ workshops give parents the skills and confidence in supporting their child’s learning at home, with the aim of working together to give their child the best possible preparation for ‘Big School’. This is provided in conjunction with conversations in person and information sharing, that helps prepare both child and parent for this important next step.

To further support children’s wellbeing inside their nurseries, BLS run weekly Young Mindfulness Extra-Curricular Sessions for pre-schoolers and toddlers, as part of the bespoke Bright Little Stars Learning Programme. The aim is to provide children with vital coping mechanisms as they grow and develop. Sessions include mindful activities and games, exploring emotions to develop emotional intelligence and creative activities. These are all delivered in a fun and engaging way.

By investing in children’s physical and mental health, a lifetime of benefits is brought to themselves, their families, communities, and the economy as a whole and BLS are proud to be assisting parents and carers in these areas.