Issue 108: July/August 2016 www.FamiliesOnline.co.uk FREE North West London Including North Middlesex, South Hertfordshire, North Hillingdon, Brent, Harrow and South Barnet (Queens Park, Wembley, Edgware, Stanmore, Northolt, Northwood, Watford and all the areas in between) WE’VE GOT SUMMER Childcare, Camps, COVERED! Days Out, Theatre and Local events PLUS Competitions, What’s On and much more inside! WATFORD BUSHEY RICKMANSWORTH M1 STANMORE M25 HATCH END NORTHWOOD EDGWARE HARROW WEALD HAREFIELD PINNER KINGSBURY HARROW WEST RUISLIP HENDON WEMBLEY ICKENHAM DOLLIS HILL SUDBURY PARK NORTHOLT BRONDESBURY PARK WEMBLEY UXBRIDGE A40 QUEENS PARK WILLESDEN KILBURN Welcome to the IN THIS ISSUE: July/August issue! 4 Families News 8 Starting Primary School 12 Summer Camps CONTACT US: www.facebook.com/ FamiliesNWLondon 18 Family Days Out Families North West 20 What’s On London Magazine @FamiliesNW 28 Clubs and Classes Circulation 30,000+ copies every issue. Editors: 30 What’s New and Published seven times a year. For families Competitions Heather Waddington from birth to twelve. and Janine Mergler P.O. Box 2378, Watford WD18 1RF UPCOMING ISSUES: September 2016: Clubs/Classes and Activities T: 01923 237 004 and Back to School! Deadline: 12th August 2016 Cover image: E: [email protected] October 2016 Education and Schools Depositphotos.com Deadline: 10 October 2016 www.FamiliesOnline.co.uk Send in your news, stories and advertising bookings to the details left. Feature images used under license from depositphotos.com. Other images have been supplied by independent sources. Where is Families North West London? Families North West London Magazine is distributed bi-monthly throughout north west London. An area bordered by the A40 to the south, by the A5/M1 to the east and out towards the M25 in the north and west. You can collect a copy FREE from scores of outlets: schools, nurseries, play groups, clubs and classes, sports centres, children’s libraries, family doctors and baby clinics, theatres, your local council offices and children’s shops. If you would like to stock copies to give to parents, please let us know. Distributed to over 30,000 families! Email: [email protected] North West London JULY/AUGUST 2016 3 NEWS Exciting events at Stagecoach! More ways to perform with FREE online club for young Stagecoach! As part of Stagecoach’s performance dinosaur enthusiasts! programme, lucky students are being Membership of given the opportunity to take part in the Club gives several national and regional events children access this year. Students from Harrow to fun dinosaur and Uxbridge have been selected games and factoids, to perform on stage at Birmingham each designed to Symphony Hall in June with 8 other help children and Stagecoach choirs from across parents expand their the country. The schools will form dinosaur knowledge. choirs which will sing with a 96 With colouring piece orchestra to a packed venue of sheets to download, family and friends, as well as enjoying dinosaur brain singing workshops on the day. This is teasers and quizzes – there’s loads of fun to be had. just one of the many events planned; The What’s so Special Club has been created by dinosaur expert including several showcases in the Nicky Dee and supports the ‘What’s so Special About?’ series of West End and at regional theatres dinosaur books for children. The site is designed to complement such as The Swan in High Wycombe. the information in the books, but can also be used as a stand-alone Also creating ways to perform are their Summer Workshops coming resource to help children (and adults) learn while having fun. to a venue near you! Membership of the Club is free. To join, simply go to www.stagecoach.co.uk/holidayworkshops to search for your www.specialdinosaurs.com and click on the link. nearest school. Labels4Kids New First Aid Courses Launch in Ruislip because kids lose stuff Get ready early for back The Direct Steps Training First Aid courses are to school this year with running at The Windmill Studio Centre, Ruislip stick on name labels Manor, at regular intervals throughout the year. for clothing, ties and A variety of curriculums will be covered including uniforms. Stick on labels Paediatric 6-hour and 12-hour first aid courses , 1-day is an easy way to label Emergency First Aid at Work course, the 3-day First clothing - no ironing or Aid at Work and a number of 3-hour workshops for sewing necessary! Just stick parents who want to learn what to do in a medical the adhesive name label, emergency are also set to run. developed especially for clothes and with strong Judy McPhee, Director of the Windmill Studio Centre, adhesion to last many said: “It’s great to have Direct Steps Training on washes, onto the care label of what you want to label board. Their courses are well-run and enjoyable plus and you’re finished. Labels4Kids is an award winning it means that local people will no longer have to family business that has been selling name labels online travel for miles to get their first aid certificate and peace of mind that they know since 2004. Since 2014, Labels4Kids also supplies John what to do in a medical emergency.” Lewis with school name labels. Order early, beat the www.directstepstraining.com www.thewindmillstudio.com rush and get some peace of mind this summer. www.labels4kids.com/fam Tell them you saw it in Magazine! 4 North West London JULY/AUGUST 2016 NEWS Pinner mum launches Pampering Parties for children Mum of 3, Sonia, put her legal career on the back burner to start a family at the age of 35. Five years and 3 children later she found herself turning 40 and wanting to get back into work, but doing something that fit around a young family. In search for that equal balance, Sonia designed a business that utilised her child care training, beauty qualifications, creativity and passion for photography. The brand ‘TotallyPamper.me’ was created after Sonia ordered a pamper party for her daughter’s 6th birthday. “I’ve seen many parties, but this one was different. The girls a.k.a ‘clients’ were NEW Drama classes at Bushey ecstatic at the idea of being pampered! As I intently watched the excitement unfold, I could see room for improvement. With a Country Club with reader offer! plethora of ideas I said “I’m going to recreate this concept whilst adding extra value, attention to detail and my own twist” This September, Perform is opening a NEW class for 7-12 year olds at Bushey Country Club on a Wednesday afternoon. Brought to you TotallyPamer.me is catered for girls aged 4 to 12. They transfer by Perform, the children’s drama school, these unique drama classes your living room into a chic salon. Following treatments, clients are designed to boost coordination and communication, improve attend a glamorous red carpet, cocktail event. concentration and give children confidence. Photography also included! Perform is offering Families readers an exclusive £30 off [email protected] their first ten sessions. To secure your spot this September simply call 020 7255 9120 or email [email protected] quoting code FAML300916. Hurry, spaces are limited so early booking is recommended. Expand your Vocabulary with Families and Farquhar’s Vocabulary Flash Cards: Verbose adj – using more words than are necessary. Synonyms: talkative; circumlocutory, garrulous, long- winded, loquacious, prolix, rambling, voluble. Laconic adj – using very few words. Synonyms: terse; brief, brusque, concise, curt, monosyllabic, pithy, short, succinct. For more information visit www.vocabularyflashcards.co.uk Ruislip, Northwood/Oxhey, Pinner, Harrow (HA2), Harrow on the Hill and Watford call: 0208 123 9346 email: [email protected] Harrow (HA3), North Wembley and Bushey call: 0208 422 0676 email: [email protected] North West London JULY/AUGUST 2016 5 NEWS Local Girls reaching for the Stars with Dani Harmer and Bobbi Davro! Local dancers Sasha Bailey (15), Leah Brown (17), Jemima Colin (13), Danielle Gordon (13), Annabel Leach (12), and Olivia Walshe (13) all from Rickmansworth and Chorleywood, were dancing alongside professional dancers and a celebrity cast at the Watford Colosseum in April! Their dance and Performing Arts school, RISE Studios was selected from all the local dance schools to provide and teach the dancers for the Easter tour of the Wizard of Oz in the Hertfordshire area. Principal, Claire Greenwood, said ‘We were all (local dance and performing arts schools) asked to submit video auditions of our students to the director, and RISE Studios were chosen to provide the dancers for the show. You can imagine our excitement, such an honour to be picked! The girls acted like true professionals, and really held their own on stage alongside the professional dancers and celebrity cast. Words can’t describe how proud I am of them all!’ Rise Studios are also offering two Summer schools this year. A Performing Arts one w/c 22nd August and a Professional Dancers Course starting Tuesday 30th August. For more information or to book, visit www.rise-studios.com New Vocabulary Classes for 11+ pupils Children planning to sit the 11+ exams are now increasingly required to have a broad vocabulary. The CEM style 11+ papers focus heavily on vocabulary and can mean the difference between NEW Website for Families! your child passing the 11+ exam or not. VocabMasters, part of the 11plus Ltd group, now runs Vocabulary Look out for the launch of the fantastic new Families classes teaching children a mixture of intermediate and advanced website in early July. words they should know by the age of 11 using its unique ‘DEARSAP’ This new hyper-local approach will allow Families Online to bring you method.