Top tips: Conducting productive team meetings
Effective team meetings are essential. Well-structured meetings help staff stay informed, feel valued and work together more efficiently.
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Early years activity: Fruit Salad
Developing confident mathematicians with a positive attitude and interest in maths starts in a child’s earliest years. Before children can understand and count purposefully, they need to develop a sense of number (what numbers are, what they mean, what different numbers look like as a physical concept and what they can do with them) and singing number rhymes will support children’s to do this.
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Top tips: Menu planning
Menu planning in nursery settings helps ensure children receive healthy, balanced meals that support their growth and development. A well-planned menu provides a variety of nutritious foods, allowing children to experience different flavours, textures and food groups while developing positive eating habits from an early age. Explore our top tips for successful menu planning.
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Early years activity: Outdoors dance time
Bring movement, music and imagination together with this fun outdoors dance time activity. Children are encouraged to explore creative expression as they move like elements of the natural world - from swaying trees to fluttering butterflies. This activity supports physical development and gives children the freedom to express themselves in fun and imaginative ways.
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Farewell Purnima
After more than two decades leading NDNA, we waved goodbye to Purnima Tanuku CBE at the end of March 2026. In that time she has guided NDNA through many challenges, including funded childcare policies, debates about ratios and the Covid pandemic.
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Top tips: Following the child’s interests
On average, early years settings have over 100 policies in place that set out the setting’s practice. Polices are underpinned by legislation and should reflect a setting’s daily practice. Read our top tips on how you can ensure all staff know and understand your policies.
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Early years activity: Number rhyme time
Developing confident mathematicians with a positive attitude and interest in maths starts in a child’s earliest years. Before children can understand and count purposefully, they need to develop a sense of number (what numbers are, what they mean, what different numbers look like as a physical concept and what they can do with them) and singing number rhymes will support children’s to do this.
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Top tips: Ensuring staff know and understand your policies
On average, early years settings have over 100 policies in place that set out the setting’s practice. Polices are underpinned by legislation and should reflect a setting’s daily practice. Read our top tips on how you can ensure all staff know and understand your policies.
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Early years activity: Loose parts art-faces
This loose parts art activity encourages children to create faces using a variety of open-ended materials. They are then able to describe their faces and perhaps their emotions that they have included in their art.
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Early years activity: Little scientist explore…Magnets
Magnets feel magical to young children. Exploring what ‘sticks’ and what doesn’t encourages curiosity, prediction and early scientific thinking while supporting language and problem-solving skills.
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