supporting parents and
children to learn together
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peeple education and childcare policies
You can download Peeple Early Education and Childcare policies below by clicking on the links, or see signed copies in Little Peeple Nursery. These explain what we do in each of these situations. Some general Peeple policies also apply to Little Peeple Nursery, such as the Safeguarding policy - you can find them on the Peeple policies page.
The polices are reviewed every year, and updated as necessary. If you would like to discuss anything, in confidence, then please contact Lindsey Hart, Peeple Early Education and Childcare Manager, on 01865 397972 or email lindsey.hart@peeple.org.uk.
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making the most of health centres in Moray
The North-East Scottish Moray coast is home to Baby Peep groups in Lossiemouth, Elgin, Buckie, Keith, Dufftown and Forres. Health visitors give a Peep leaflet to all parents during the primary visit, and last year over a hundred families attended. Most of the groups are led by community nursery nurses, who are part of the local health centre team and already have contact with nearly all local families. Peep delivery in the area has extended to become multi-agency, with volunteers, council and third sector staff also having completed Peep practitioner training.
An important element of Peep groups is the opportunity to meet other parents and make new social networks. This is especially so when becoming a parent for the first time and finding that existing friendship groups change, or in an area like Moray with both an RAF and an Army base, where it’s easy for Service families to feel isolated. The families all found that their Peep group helped extend their social networks, for both themselves and their children. By the end of the 8 week course, most parents were also singing and sharing books with their baby every day. They enjoyed recognising how their babies responded: making ‘happy’ squealing and giggling noises, maintaining eye contact and getting visibly excited, and trying to join in with some of the actions. Many parents also joined the library with their baby, as well as attending other groups such as baby massage and baby swimming.
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feedback from moray health visitors
'As health visitors we think that Peep is really good and benefits parent & baby/child. It helps parents see the simple things, and that their time and attention is what matters, rather than expensive toys. It's about going back to basics, going into your kitchen cupboard and using what's there. Peep is good for building bonds, and the time spent with baby is quality time. Peep makes parents more confident, we certainly get fewer phonecalls from Peep parents, and it helps them to do things that they maybe didn't experience in their own childhood.'
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peep or peeple?
Peeple
Peeple is the name of our organisation (i.e. the charity); Peep is the name of our programmes (see below).
Peeple is used when we refer to who we are and what we do (e.g. ‘Peeple is a charity which supports parents and children to learn together’) and how we work (e.g. ‘Peeple is guided by a set of principles that underpin our work’).
Originally Peep stood for Peers Early Education Partnership (the Peers catchment area in Oxford is where we started) then Parents Early Education Partnership. As we now use the names Peep and Peeple on their own, Peep is no longer written in block capitals.
The Peeple Centre
The Peeple Centre is our head office in south Oxford. We also have Peeple staff based in Scotland.
Little Peeple Nursery
Our nursery in Oxford is next to the Peeple Centre.
Peep Learning Limited (PLL)
Peep Learning Limited is the trading subsidiary of Peeple. It sells training and resources on behalf of Peeple. It can be abbreviated to PLL.
Peep
Peep programmes
All our programmes (that we deliver to families, or train practitioners to use) are Peep programmes.
Peep Learning Together Programme
The most established of our programmes is the Peep Learning Together Programme. It is often called ‘Peep’ by families and practitioners to describe how it is delivered – e.g. a Peep group or session, Peep stay and play or Peep home visits.
Other Peep Programmes
We also have a Peep Antenatal Programme and a Peep Progression Pathway, which offers qualification units to parents/carers, based on their involvement with the Peep Learning Together Programme.
Peep logo and strapline
Trained practitioners delivering the revised Peep Learning Together Programme use the Peep logo on any publicity or materials that are produced. Our strapline – ‘supporting parents and children to learn together’ - accompanies both Peep and Peeple logos, and provides a quick and simple description of what the organisation and our programmes do.
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antenatal - dad quote
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'I didn't realise my baby would be able to hear when he was born...' Dad
the home learning environment - how it helps children's development
Research highlights the importance of a stimulating Home Learning Environment (HLE) in supporting children’s early learning and development.
how play supports the home learning environment
Children play in many different ways depending on their interests and age/developmental stage. The different types of play often overlap, and children switch between them randomly and rapidly as they explore and try out new ideas, feelings and relationships through their play.
Research shows that the early years are crucial for brain development (though it's never too late to make a difference, so never give up!). Opportunities to explore and discover through play help with this process. Positive and supportive attachments between children and their parent/carer help them to feel confident in exploring and making choices.
When parents/carers observe their children playing, they discover what their children are interested in. Providing play opportunities that reflect these will encourage children to engage with activities and build their concentration. Being alongside children, so they can see that their parents/carers are interested, will also encourage children to stay focused. Children who are able to explore freely, can use their senses to discover how natural and everyday objects look, sound, feel, smell and taste, what the objects do, and how they can play with them. Babies will learn that there is no right or wrong way to play with things. They gradually learn that some things work and some don’t!
Coping with strong emotions resulting from success or challenges can be difficult, especially for young children. Play can be serious or fun, and it allows babies and children to find out about themselves and their world. Play should provide a safe opportunity to practise for life.
Peep Learning Together Programme sessions are play-based, with lots of ideas for activities that parents/carers and their children can do together which are fun as well as supporting learning and relationship-building.
how songs and rhymes support the home learning environment
Singing and using rhymes are great ways for parents and carers to share and explore language with their babies and young children. Research shows that from birth babies are ready and able to communicate with and mimic other people. Singing together supports this. Becoming familiar with the sounds and rhymes in songs’ words and phrases is an important part of language development and (later) of learning to read.
When singing near their baby, parents usually have a softer, more emotional tone, sing more slowly, and leave pauses to see what the baby will do in response. Research shows that when parents/carers sing to them, the baby will often be attentive and engaged, listening with more alert concentration than to the spoken word. Singing and chanting songs and rhymes can draw people together as well as encouraging them to be expressive individuals. Letting children choose songs to sing helps to build positive self-esteem.
Music underpins all of the Peep Learning Together Programme strands. In Peep sessions we sing familiar and new songs. Parents and carers sometimes need support and reassurance to sing with their babies and children, especially in group situations. Many of us (including practitioners) feel embarrassed singing in public, especially if we think that we're not very tuneful. Understanding that babies and children (or others in the group!) don't mind how tuneful we are - just as we're not put off by other people's singing - but that it's great fun, can make a difference.
how conversation supports the home learning environment
Babies try hard to communicate, and they need recognition of their efforts. Parents and carers are often best placed to show this, as they usually understand their baby’s ‘speech’ long before others are able to do so. Babies and young children also need opportunities to hear sounds clearly, and it can help not to have background noises (such as television) some of the time. Babies and young children need to hear lots of language to build up a bank of words and meanings before they start to talk.
Research tells us that children’s language development is really important to how well they do, at school and beyond. For example, we know that children’s language development at age two predicts their performance on school entry, and that children's vocabulary at age five is a key predictor of reading ability, mental health and employment challenges as an adult. However, research also tells us that the communication environment at home (the quantity and quality of everyday conversation) is a better predictor of early language than a child’s social background (Law et al, 2009).
Children who learn more than one language will benefit from hearing their ‘mother tongue’ because this is bound up with cultural identity and sense of belonging. Once this is established children are able to pick up other languages more readily.
how sharing books and stories supports the home learning environment
Sharing books and stories provides opportunities to:
- be together
- recognise and value how children engage with the story or pictures
- look and talk together about what characters are doing and feeling
- explore emotions and feelings, and encourage empathy
- enhance imagination and creativity
- extend children’s vocabulary and language, including story language (e.g. ‘I’ll huff and I’ll puff…’ ‘And the wild things roared their terrible roars…’)
- show how books work by turning pages, pointing to words, using pictures
- develop a life-long love of books and reading
Books include all types of reading materials – catalogues, board books, picture books, electronic books etc. Books and stories are a key element of the Learning Together programme and are an integral part of every session.
Click the links below to download two leaflets about it:
> Learning Together at Home handout for parents: PDF to print or PNG Image for screen
> How the Home Learning Environment supports children's learning - more detailed leaflet
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- the positive impact of the everyday things that families do together
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Peeple Centre-led Peep in Oxford
There are Peep-trained practitioners in many parts of Oxfordshire, working in education, health and social care, family support and the voluntary sector. South Oxford is the only part of the country where Peeple as an organisation employs our own practitioners, based at our Peeple Centre and our Little Peeple Nursery.
Here's a snapshot of Peep group delivery over a range of sessions, from our Peeple Centre practitioners:
Playing 'What's in the bag?', exploring schemas (play patterns) and Peep parent qualification unit
It was lovely to see how excited our Little Peep group was, to get back to finding out 'What’s in the bag?'! The red bus and the rowing boat still seem to be their favourite finds, and we sang a rousing version of ‘Wheels on the bus’.
In this group we’ve been talking about schemas - play patterns that children like to repeat again and again. We set up a variety of play stations – rolling balls (Rotation); tucking up dolls (Enveloping); cars (Positioning); building bricks (Connection); pegs and pine cones with little bags to put them in (Transporting) - and enjoyed watching to see what the children were drawn to. And Bartholomew Bear’s antics in John Prater’s Again! is a story we can all relate to, and fits really well when thinking about schemas…
Other groups have been getting started on the Peep Progression Pathway in Supporting Early Learning at Home. The chance to make a keepsake book which records a child’s learning and development is a really special reminder of those precious early years.
Early mark making
We enjoyed a great session making marks: we taped black and white paper to the floor and let the children explore coloured chalks on black paper and paint dobbers on white paper. The results were wonderfully expressive, lively and colourful. We were surprised how long they spent swirling, scribbling, writing and drawing. Some of our younger children spent a long time making dots and curves, while one or two of our three year olds made a mixture of straight lines and curves which begin to mimic first letters.
By coincidence this week we were asking parents and carers for feedback on our sessions. The power of modelling was clear to see, as the little people were very happy to be copying their important adults, who were also busy writing away on the feedback forms.
As usual our songs included actions with a mixture of gross and fine motor skills (large and small movements). These are really helpful for developing muscles in the shoulders, arms, wrists, hands and fingers which are needed for mark making and later writing. We sang Ready and up and down… while we were sitting around the paper, and used the chalks and inks to mimic the words as we did the actions: up and down, side to side, around and around, backwards and forwards.
Counting, shapes, patterns, routines and everyday maths language
We’ve been counting in our Peep groups: fingers, toes, shoes – you name it, we’ve counted it! Our 3 little ducks have been busy, and we’ve also been thinking about shapes, patterns, sequences, distance and space. There are lots of lovely stories with numbers, but we’ve also been thinking about ‘all gone’ and singing Peepo!
From their earliest days, babies seem fascinated by black and white high-contrast patterns. We talked about how routines of the day such as meal times, nappy changes and bedtime can introduce and extend the idea of patterns and sequence.
All the maths activities are great for supporting language development too:
This teddy is small but that one’s enormous!
Parents liked the Peep activity sheets which have great ideas to take home (Clapping Games and finger rhymes and Building a chimney pot/ tower together).
Treasure hunt and ORIM
It’s a great time of year for picking up apples and spotting squirrels. We have been taking advantage of the late summer sun to be outside on a treasure hunt looking for squirrels, hedgehogs, autumn leaves and conkers. ‘Pick up a conker and put it in the basket’ is a great song to make tidying up fun – you can substitute conkers for anything else!
Apples have been a big inspiration. As well as encouraging us all to eat more fruit they have inspired one Stay and Play group who painted giant apple cores.
As usual all our Peep sessions have used the ORIM framework:
- Talking about what Opportunities the children have had over the summer break as well as what might be in store for the new term.
- Practitioners and parents/carers have been working hard Recognising what sort of activities would suit their children and groups while we plan for the weeks ahead, as well as offering lots of encouragement to our enthusiastic young learners.
- Interaction: it’s useful to think about the ways we can encourage our babies and children – songs, stories and sharing books feature in all our Peep sessions. What better way to Model to our little ones – doing things together is a great way to show them new things, help them reach their next steps, and build on their instinct to copy what’s going on around them.
Preparing and eating food together (mixed age group) and balance and co-ordination (babies)
In our mixed age Peep group we’ve had a healthy start to the year, exploring fruit and vegetables and talking about where they come from. We also chatted about how buying, preparing, cooking and eating food together supports children’s learning and development. While whizzing up bananas and milk to make delicious milkshakes we were able to talk about cleaning our teeth and handwashing; ‘Here we go round the Mulberry Bush’ is great for modelling the actions.
There are lots of songs to support this topic: ‘Pick up a fruit and put it in the basket’ and ‘Bouncing up and down on my little green tractor’ can both be sung to the tune of ‘Bobby Shaftoe’.
Our handwashing song is sung to the tune of ‘Frere Jacques’/’I hear thunder’, and parents were impressed (and sometimes surprised) at their children’s enthusiasm for washing while they sang…
Soap and water, soap and water
Wash your hands, wash your hands
Rub them both together, rub them both together
Wash them well, wash them well
In Baby Peep we’ve been thinking about balance and co-ordination. The babies have been bouncing, stretching, clapping and grasping and we’ve had fun playing with beanbags and balls. We have been singing ‘Row, row, row your boat’, ‘Heads, shoulders, knees and toes’ and the old favourite ‘This is the way the ladies ride’. It’s such fun (and not just for the babies!) when they get to know a song, and you can see them waiting for you to touch their toes (or trying to touch their own), or getting excited before they go down in the ditch!
A simple but fun activity to try at home that helps develop co-ordination is playing roll the ball.
Visiting the library and sharing books with babies
Our baby groups visited their local library this month. Not only can babies and children borrow up to 20 books, there are regular events for little ones to enjoy. It’s a great outing, there's an enormous range of books out there to be enjoyed, and it’s free!
Books are great for encouraging lots of things:
- babies reaching out for books helps their gross motor skills
- turning pages supports the development of fine motor skills
- sharing books with babies helps nurture early language
- from the earliest moments, black and white books will capture the interest of a newborn
- focusing on the pictures helps concentration too.
Parents in the groups talked about when and where is a good time for book sharing: books for quiet times, books in the bath, books before bed. Listening to stories is a great way for young children to hear all the sounds that make up spoken language. Stories introduce young babies and children to these sounds, as well as to the rhythms and patterns of language. There’s nothing better than settling down for a cuddle and a good book!
Exploring ORIM, routines and autumn sensory play
This term we have been enjoying using the updated Peep Learning Together Programme. It’s made it really easy to follow any themes and topics that parents have raised in my baby group. In the first weeks I introduced parents to ORIM, and in subsequent weeks we’ve talked about baby watching and Routines: using the Peep group to discuss why the routine helps babies to know what to expect, and to feel secure. Parents spent a lot of time thinking about the question ‘How did you feel before you came to your first Peep group?’. They could then relate that to how their babies might feel about new experiences.
In other Peep groups Autumn has been a big inspiration. ‘Pick up a Conker and Put it in the Basket’ (sung to any well-known tune that fits, such as Bonnie Bobby Shaftoe) reminds us all of the benefits of getting out and about. Children have had opportunities to explore gourds – delighting in their interesting colours and shapes and feeling their knobbly skins. Autumn sensory play with felt leaves, real leaves, pine cones and pasta not only looked (and felt!) a treat, but kept children interested, and supported our autumn songs.
Early mark making: Our mixed age Peep Group loved using fabric paint... Parents enjoyed getting involved too. This session was supported by singing ‘Ready and… up and down’ which introduces young children to the hand and arm motions needed for making letters.
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programme and website contributors
peep learning together programme
The Peep Learning Together Programme is the result of 20 years of research, practice and reflection. It has been created from the original programme written by Rosemary Roberts, Alison Street and others. The Programme is underpinned by the ORIM framework which was developed by Peter Hannon and Cathy Nutbrown at the University of Sheffield. Other contributors include (in alphabetical order):
Peeple:
- Katy Baker; practitioner and trainer, and lead author of the programme
- Carly Glover; accreditation coordinator
- Charlotte Holmes; communications manager
- Marie Mackenzie; training manager
- Louise Radford; practitioner and trainer
- Debbie Rudman; practitioner and trainer
- Sally Smith; chief executive officer
Consultants:
- Kathy Brodie; early years consultant
- Julie Cigman; early years consultant
- Franks and Franks; designers
- Debi Maskell-Graham; training consultant
Thank you also to other Peeple staff, trustees and members of our network of trainers, practitioners and managers (past and current) who have all contributed in different, but highly valuable, ways to the development of the programme, accreditation and training. These include: Nuzhat Abbas, Jo Aitkenhead, Jacqui Bain, Allison Collier, Sharon Clarke, Lisa Clissett, Sharyn Crombie, Moyna de Sélincourt, Amanda Godsell, Carol Gotheridge, Helen Griffiths, Jo Hammick, Lindsey Hart, Elina Helinius, Lisse Honeyman, Emma Hrubiak, Emma Jamieson, Alison Laing, Zoe Maré, Jill Mennie, Sue Prosser, Collette Pye, Soozin Rogers, Julia Shay, Ronnie Sinclair, Janet Sly, Paula Stallard, Christine Steer, Helen Stroudley, Catherine Thomas, Alison Wales
We are particularly grateful to all the parents, carers and children who we have worked with over the last 20 years – and from whom we have learnt so much.
website
Our website shares ideas and information that all of the above folk have contributed to, which have been written and shaped in a (hopefully!) helpful way by us here at Peeple.
As well as the above we'd like to thank:
- our website designer Franks and Franks, verbal identity/writing consultant John Simmons and website developer Olamalu
- photographer David Fisher and all the Peep families who gave up their time and allowed us to use their photos, either attending a photoshoot at David's studio and/or being photographed by him at our pre-school, along with the Sutton Trust photographer and Peep families who were photographed at a Peep group. (Occasionally other photos have been used, which have been credited to Getty Images, Bigstock or Cartoonstock as applicable.)
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Privacy policy and Cookie Statement
We are committed to protecting your privacy and security.
This page explains our privacy policy and contains separate advice on each of our different charitable activities (how and why we use your personal data) and the use of cookies to help you remain informed and in control of your information.
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multi-agency Peep - health & community learning
pregnancy to babyhood: multi-agency work with Health (midwives and health visitors), Community learning & development workers (CLDs) and Voluntary sector workers
“The Health Literacy Project and Bump Start work with women with support needs, as identified by a midwife or health visitor. This might include having had children on the child protection register, housing issues, isolation or a history of domestic violence.
We work with women on a one-to-one basis, encouraging and accompanying them to use the following services, as appropriate:
Bump Start Pregnancy Café – which provides antenatal education, nutritional inputs and information on what’s available in the community, peer support and peer mentoring.
Bump to Buggy group - which continues to develop self-esteem and raise awareness of other community support, including looking at future options and choices.
Peep course with SQA accreditation - this is an ideal step back into learning for the mums. Over several months we cover topics including brain development, stages of development and how babies learn through play. To have an opportunity to apply the knowledge they have gained through being a parent reinforces good parenting skills, and helps them gain more confidence. The mums are able to gain a qualification in a nurturing environment – many have had a negative experience of school. It is an ideal spring board into considering future educational or employment options.”
Jacqui Bain, Health Literacy Project, Community Learning and Development worker and Peep practitioner
Jacqui.Bain@ea.edin.sch.uk t 0131 554 9951 www.edinburgh.gov.uk www.joininedinburgh.org
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multi-agency peep in Galway
"We’ve delivered more than 20 Peep groups over the past four years, including some with traveller communities, and lots with families from outside of Ireland. Many of the latter commented that singing the songs and interacting with other families had supported their learning of English and helped them become more involved in the Irish way of life - but that they'd also enjoyed singing songs and sharing food from their own cultures within the sessions.
In their feedback, lots of parents mentioned gaining confidence as they played more with their child, and how play helped them see the world more from their child's point of view. The greatest life improvement mentioned by many reflected the value of the time spent as they interacted with their child. One parent started recently as a special needs assistant in an autism unit - she told us that she is singing all of the songs which she was introduced to in Peep (she first started coming to Peep sessions a few years ago with two of her children and also completed a Peep OCN parent-child portfolio) and, in her view, 'Peep was better training than any college'.
In our experience, the Peep programme promotes the value of play and parent/carer-child interactions, supporting learning and social development in line with Sìolta and Aistear Principles. We’ve worked together with a range of agencies to deliver Peep with local families: Galway City and County Childcare Committee, Parent and Toddler groups, Family Support, Home Start, Vocational Education Committee, Home School Liaisons and School Completion Projects."
Practitioners Therese Reynolds and Mary Hannify