® South West May 2017 180 LOCAL EVENTS AND THINGS TO DO! What are Mind Palaces? Half-term activities Brilliant local services 26 REALLY USEFUL INFORMATION FOR PARENTS OF 0-12+ YEAR OLDS IN SW LONDON YEARS CHECK OUT OUR HYPER LOCAL WEBSITE! WWW.FAMILIESONLINE.CO.UK 2 Contents 4-5 Local news 6 Families Top Five activities this month 7-15 EDUCATION Learn to use Mind Palaces to remember anything 7 Ways to make homework fun! Five signs your child might need a tutor Education news School Open Days Special Education Needs Feature © NT Jonathan Buckley Sissinghurst Gardens The Nuttery 17 FREE activities Families®SW|Issue 266 18-24 Clubs and classes Your local club news WEBSITE: www.familiesonline.co.uk TEL: 020 8696 9680 Taming fussy eaters EDITORIAL: [email protected] Jennifer Siegeris on dance NEWS: [email protected] 25-27 BABY FEATURE ADVERTS/ARTWORK: Baby play is not just for fun! [email protected] Brilliant local services: Osteopathic Centre for children, EVENTS, DIARY DATES, WHAT’S ON: REDI First Aid training, Modern Montessori nursery [email protected] and Waterbabies. NEXT ISSUE: June 2017 DEADLINE: Early May 2017 28- 30 May half term ISSN 1354-9553 Activities listing Arts and craft, sports, music, drama, dance, languages All content ©Families SW 2017 34-39 What’s On • ‘Families SW’ London, established in 1990, is part Diary dates of Families Magazines Ltd, a franchise company. Events All franchised magazines in the group are independently Babies and toddlers owned and operated under licence. Families® is a Theatre Did you registered trademark of Families Magazines Ltd, Art activities know? Remenham House, Regatta Place, Marlow Road, Museums & Exhibitions You can now enter your own listings Bourne End, Bucks, SL8 5TD. Special Needs • Printed by OSC Print, Middlesex FOR FREE on • Designed by Shirley Trimmer Familiesonline.co.uk • We take every care preparing this magazine, but the publishers and distributors cannot be held responsible for the claims of advertisers nor for the accuracy of the contents nor for any consequence. • Paper used to print Families is from fully-managed sustainable sources. Find us on Facebook and Twitter ADVERTISE IN OUR NEXT ISSUE Contact us on 020 8696 9680 FamiliesSW Familiesonline.co.uk | 020 8696 9680 | May 2017 3 NEWS TRY A WEEK WITHOUT MEAT Go veggie for National Vegetarian Week this year, running from 15th to 21st May, and get tasty recipe inspiration from bloggers, chefs and foodies at www.nationalvegetarianweek.org. Sign up to newsletters, discover delicious PARENT POWER IN FULL BLOOM discounts and find fun fab freebies too. Go on - Parents at Alderbrook Primary School came together as a dedicated team of green-fingered get stuck in! Find out more at www.vegsoc.org. volunteers, helping to create a hidden oasis in the heart of the urban environment. More than Keith Squires author of the Ayurvedic recipes in 20 parents took part in a ‘ground-force’-style day that saw Alderbrook’s outside spaces totally the cookery book Cooking with Love says: transformed. Until very recently the rooftop of Alderbrook Primary School was a completely “The thing to remember, when eating more derelict, underused and uninviting concrete slab but now it is a green haven of plants, flowers vegetarian food, is that pulses in themselves are and vegetables and pupils will have the opportunity to get their hands dirty as they take part in all not a complete protein. in fact, some of the stages of the plant growing process. What a great idea! Alderbrook Primary School, Oldridge amino acids (the component parts of protein) Road SW12 8QA www.alderbrookprimaryschool.co.uk can be in short supply. This is also the case for most proteins found in grains, nuts and seeds. Mother nature has made it easy though; you can simply combine them. When combined, grains, seeds, nuts and pulses form complete proteins, WANDSWORTH SCHOOLS TO LOSE ALMOST £16M and provide the right balance of amino acids for Schools in Wandsworth are set to lose £15,612,273 by 2020, as a result of the Government’s our needs.“ so-called “Fairer Funding Formula” and other budget pressures, according to figures released by the National Union of Teachers (NUT). The Wandsworth Schools likely to be worst hit include: Belleville School, Hillbrook School, Ashcroft Technical Academy, Chestnut Grove and Graveney School. Labour’s Speaker on Education, Cllr Jeremy Ambache: “The proper funding of schools is a vital issue to get right as it affects the quality of teaching and the long-term future of our children. The government’s planned reductions in funding will mean larger class sizes here in Wandsworth for all schools which will inevitably erode the quality of our children’s education”. For more information visit the website: www.schoolscuts.org.uk to find all the projected budget cuts for all local schools. 20 YEARS OF EXPERT HEALTH ADVICE Still mourning Dandelion Health shop in Northcote Road? The Maitri Health Centre in Streatham is WALK TO SCHOOL WEEK totally brilliant. They are super knowledgeable and their qualified health professionals will readily give 15-19 MAY help and advice. They provide a wide range of We know that walking to school makes children natural health products, supplements and vitamins, feel healthier and happier, while reducing have fully qualified Herbalists in the shop with an congestion and pollution outside the school extensive range of herbs, custom blended teas and gates. Yet less than half of primary school children tinctures, ointments and creams for any condition. currently walk to school. Living Streets, who They also have a range of holistic therapies and organise the annual event want to reverse this organic health foods. decline and see every child that can, walk to school. 252 Streatham High Road, SW16 1HS, free parking in nearby streets. To order a challenge pack see: www.livingstreets.org.uk/what-we- maitrihealth.co.uk 020 8769 0065 do/projects/walk-to-school-week 4 May 2017 | 020 8696 9680 | Familiesonline.co.uk NEWS CHILDLINE LAUNCHES NEW COUNSELLING APP The NSPCC’s Childline service has just launched a new iPhone app to provide counselling for children directly through their mobile phones. The ‘For Me’ app allows kids to access Childline’s online services, including 1-2-1 live chats with a counsellor, the ‘Ask Sam’ problem pages and entrance to their private ‘lockers’ – areas where they can write down their own personal thoughts and track their moods. It was invented by four teenagers who wanted to use technology to address the urgent need for support among young people. Childline founder Esther Rantzen said: “We know hundreds of thousands of young people use our website for help and support, with more than half those visits coming via mobile devices. Now young people can get immediate access to our counsellors through this brilliant, innovative app.” Southside House during Open Garden Squares The App is free to download via iTunes and is designed for discreet usage. SECRET GARDENS - BOOK NOW! Read more at www.childline.org.uk Explore some of the capital’s most exclusive, private and secret gardens during Open Garden Squares Weekend, 17-18 June. There are over 200 gardens confirmed for this year, most of which are rarely open to the public. Children will love the roof gardens, gardens on the water, TLC FOR ANCIENT GRASSLAND even gardens in skips! Plus, the garden of Number 10 Downing Street A new ecological project breathes new life into Tooting Common’s will be available via a public ballot. There are some real gems here – ancient grassland. Funded by the lottery, the works will help restore the don’t miss out. www.opensquares.org lake as well as the rare and ancient acid grassland, which is an important habitat for many species of wildlife. As well as removing invasive species UNIQUE BALANCE, AUDITORY, such as bramble and scrub, some hawthorn trees and overcrowded oaks have been cut back to reduce shading and prevent leaf fall onto the VISION WORKSHOP grassland. Further to our article on why Rhythm can help children to learn, please note that from 2 to 4 June 2017 are three days of intensive Bal-A-Vis-X [email protected] training given by founder Bill Hubert. Bal-A-Vis-X is a series of more than 300 balance, auditory, vision exercises of varied complexity, all deeply rooted in rhythm. The workshop is for parents, SENCOs, OTs, TAs and healthcare professionals. Exercises all start at the point most suited to each individual and as the child progresses the exercises increase with complexity. Bal-A-Vis-X is used for Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, ADHD, ADD, Autism and many other learning difficulties. To see examples of the exercises and make a booking, visit www.integratedbrain.co.uk 07766 837 616. THE ARMY MUSEUM IS BACK! It’s back! 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