Officials gather for launch of the newly refurbished LEYF nursery

Shadow minister for Children & Early Years, Helen Hayes and London’s Walking and Cycling commissioner, Will Norman were among selected guests attending an exclusive breakfast event to launch the newly refurbished Deanery Road Nursery & Pre-School in Newham, part of London Early Years Foundation (LEYF), and to showcase LEYF’s research on the role of bikes in early learning

To mark the event, LEYF’s chief executive, June O’Sullivan calls on more nurseries to become social enterprises and give all children the benefits of high-quality childcare, especially for those living in areas of poverty and disadvantage.

Deanery Road Nursery & Pre-School (LEYF) – Newham

Having acquired Deanery Road Nursery & Pre-School and two other nurseries in Newham during the pandemic in April 2020 which saved 200 nursery places and 60 jobs – this expansion into East London reinforces one of LEYF’s core beliefs about the importance of social enterprise nurseries being both ‘the glue’ and the heart of local communities whilst, at same time, providing employment and careers for local people of all ages, especially amongst those living in disadvantaged areas.

LEYF / Bike Research

With statistics showing over 1 in 4 children (27.7%) start school Reception class as overweight or obese, LEYF’s chief executive June O’Sullivan, along with Leila Roberts and Saudaa Nadat, created an action research model which encouraged staff to initiate and lead small scale studies to review how bikes were used by children and the all-round development benefits that were emerging. The aim was to underpin LEYF’s strong emphasis on the importance of physical activity in the early years.

The research report: Rethinking How We Use Bikes in the Nursery concluded that staff do see many physical and sociological benefits to using bikes but the research reminded them of the multi usage of bikes across all areas of learning, especially communication, and there are barriers to usage including cycling surfaces and the state of bike repairs. In addition, parents clearly understand the physical benefits their children gain as they learn to ride bikes and they see bikes as a key part of their nursery life.

Together with LEYF’s continuous partnership with Bikeworks – a not for profit social enterprise which has generously donated over 200 children’s bikes to LEYF nurseries, including Newham – it is hoped that this new research will contribute in a small but important way towards tackling this national issue.

As a social enterprise which provides at least one third of its 4,500 available nursery places to children from poor and disadvantaged families/communities, LEYF uses a special social pedagogy concentrating on the health and wellbeing of children, particularly those who are at higher risk of child obesity. One idea from the research which LEYF is now exploring is a bike lending scheme so that parents can borrow a bike for their child at weekends to keep active. Bike riding not only Improves the health and wellbeing of young children but also encourages cycling as a healthy activity from as early as possible in their development.

June O’Sullivan MBE, chief executive at LEYF said:

“We are delighted to have been given the opportunity to expand LEYF’s 39 social enterprise nurseries into the borough of Newham and help create positive social change, especially amongst those living in disadvantaged areas. There’s no question that an individual’s experience in early childhood has a significant and long-lasting impact on their future health and wellbeing which is why it’s essential that we continue to provide high quality childcare, taught through our social pedagogy, to all children, regardless of their background.”

Shadow minister for Children & Early Years, Helen Hayes explained:

“It is fantastic to visit the newly refurbished Deanery Road Nursery and Pre-School and to see physical activity being placed at the heart of the curriculum here. Every child should have access to this kind of high-quality early education. Labour in government championed the importance of high quality, affordable childcare and early learning and we will again put this at the heart of our ambitions for children and families.”

Will Norman, London’s Walking and Cycling commissioner added: “I’m delighted to be visiting Deanery School. Enabling children to be more physically active is not only key to their good health and wellbeing, but it also sets them on a path for future success. Providing bikes to nurseries is great way of introducing physical activity and the fun of cycling at an early age. I hope these kids keep it up and carry on enjoying cycling for the rest of their lives.”

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