WEBVTT - This file was automatically generated by VIMEO. Please email info@talestoolkit.com to report problems. Hello everybody, and this is the first webinar of the year and I'm really excited that we've got Monet with us tonight. And, um, Monet has got loads of fantastic experience. Um, not only is she a lecturer, an awards winning trainer, um, worked in all sorts of different, um, seminars and conferences that you all heard of, and I'm sure lots of you may be gonna see her speak this year. But she's also, um, written a book, which is fantastic, and it's won an award, um, as the Highly commended Nursery World Awards, which was brilliant. Um, she was one of the top five most inspirational people, um, in the childcare awards. And also she's working on some really exciting new projects at the minute. So she's the founder of a cash endorse learning program, and we're gonna be hearing a little bit more about that at the end. Um, and also we've been having lots of discussions over the last few days about the big fight for play and creativity. So what I'm really excited about tonight is that, um, Monet is gonna be talking about a lot of the neuroscience that kind of fits behind the things that we really know work for children, which is a lot of that play and chat and interactions, which is what we do a lot of with Tell's toolkit and we endorse right across our training. Yeah. So we've, we've been having lots of talks, haven't we? And lots of, lots of venting. Yes, yes. Word off said it's come up a few times. Tick. Yes, indeed, Isn't it? That's it. So, so I'm gonna hand over to you and let you chat, um, and then we're gonna have some questions at the end, so if anyone's got any questions, but also type in if you've got bits that you wanna pick in away when we, when, uh, Monet's talking. Um, and then we're gonna have some questions at the end and chat. So I'm gonna hand over to you. Thank you very much, Kate. Just want to say a massive hello to the foundation degree students at Bathing Stoke Uni. So hello from me and Kate. Hello. Um, okay, so I'll start this presentation. It's a whistle stop tour of early brain development with some neuroscience, uh, in for good measure. I'd like to start by saying it is very heartening to see that the dialogue and the debates have moved in early years practice from what is neuroscience to how can we, uh, embrace the findings and, and why it's important to do so. Because up until a few years ago, a few months ago even, it was all, what is that? You know, I'm quite scared of it. It's a concept that I don't get. We've been told that it's not for us, it's for the professionals, the medical professions, and, and it's, it's very off-putting because it can be complex. There are a lot of myths surrounding neuroscience and a lot of untruths and misconceptions that people can understandably latch onto. Like Brain Gym is one example of these. So I'm, I'm hoping that the more we can talk about neuroscience and it's relevant, the more we can make it relevant to what we do on a daily basis. And that goes for parents and practitioners alike. Not only those who work with children directly, but those who support parents in a capacity one way or another. The police force child minders, all of us have a, a key role to play in supporting healthy brain development right from the start. And I think until, you know, neuroscience is embedded consistently, meaningfully across the board in terms of qualifications and training, unfortunately, although it is an exciting prospect, it's up to us to take this knowledge forward. So I'm hoping that I will be able to facilitate this process because it's very important just as we expect the calm mechanics to understand, you know, what's going on beneath that uh, level. We need to understand the mechanics of the brain and the mind, because it's not just about what we see in babies, children, and young adults. It's actually what has caused this what's gone on before, instead of just troubleshooting with what we are seeing, that it's like I, you know, encourage people to think of it as an iceberg, if you will. We see the top mid in 10% and actually the way the brain is wired up, uh, is, you know, why that child is the way they are. So hopefully I'll unravel some of that as we go on. Now, these are just some snippets that I want to get across because I don't have much time and I could talk all night to be honest. So why we should work from a neuroscientific perspective. You know, neuroscience is now affording us incredible insights into the origins of autism and, you know, to understand the brain regions it impacts and how, and also an earlier age, say from 3, 4, 5, 6 months, this is huge. This is a huge step for us, and I think we need to understand this information so that we can tailor the way we work with each child who has autism, not just thinking, right? Well, you know, it's a one brush stroke for all. It just simply doesn't work. But the, the evidence finding can be complex. Of course the language is technical and it's up to, you know, I suppose conduits like me to help break it down and make it manageable and understandable for those that work with children. Because I think there is much room for improvement in terms of how we work with children with autism and what we expect of them, which is too much. And it's from a perspective of not understanding fully at the level of the brain what actually is different neurotypical and how we can work with them in a way that is comfortable to them. It also, for me, neuroscience and understanding early brain development enables us to, uh, move away from misconceptions and labeling children's behaviors as problematic. And, you know, the whole concept of time out and putting them on the red card and the purple card, this is all wrong. And I think so many of our children enter the nursery with complex emotional issues, unfortunately a result of trauma, neglect, abuse, and we are not understanding it fully enough at the level of the brain. And then what manifests as those behaviors. And they're being labeled at younger and younger ages. We are seeing far more exclusions happening from 3, 4, 5 years of age psychotropic drugs given to five year olds because their behavior is unmanageable. And I think a lot of this, if not all, can be avoided if we understand exactly what is happening at the level of the brain and then how we can address that and truly work from a child centered position as opposed to expecting the world from them with those academic outcomes and giving nothing in terms of investment in their psychological, mental wellbeing. And, and this has to change, um, again, our third bullet point here. Neuroscience provides us with covered cutting edge evidence based information that when you sensibly, because we can be, be dialed by the bright images, the colorful graph, et cetera, but looking beneath it and knowing which sources to go to. When we look at how the brain is built bottom upward with those most complex regions being built at the very last stage, and some of these not until our early twenties, we will understand more and be more patient and giving to our children and affording them far more opportunity to express themselves and just be, instead of expecting, you know, the reading, writing, that's all of this. And really, we haven't invested in the downstairs brain stuff, and I think this is what we need to now harness and take forward in our practice linked to this. I'm saying again, that that window of opportunity represents an unmissable opportunity never to be repeated again across the life course for investing in that child's holistic development and wellbeing. And what does that mean? Well, everything we say we do, how we do it, what we provide builds those brains yet, you know, you'd like saying, well, no pressure there then, but I take that as a brilliant opportunity and a healthy fantastic challenge to put those right foundations in place with our children. The best start when we think of the amount of children that are coming in with so many complex issues and they dunno how to manage those massive feelings, and we're expecting the world of them, but we are not giving them the tools in that emotional toolkit, if you like to go forward and know how to be effective learners, know how to enjoy those learning opportunities, we are setting them up for failure. Double again, the brain and body are inextricably linked. We need to understand what happens at a neur level before we, you know, address what's happening in terms of their behavior because that's only part of the sum. And we, we can't operate like that anymore. Uh, otherwise I believe that we are gonna be failing far too many children and it's all avoidable. Perhaps the most important point for me here is this last point that toxic stress damages the brain's developing architecture. We need to understand exactly how trauma and toxic stress damages the developing brain and what we can do to help ameliorate against this. Because I think if we don't, we are going to be creating these children that then get, because we're not understanding their clients, we're not able to support them to co-regulate these big feelings. If we don't encourage the co-regulation to help them to self-regulate these big, intense feelings, we are definitely setting them up. Failure because a child who is caught in that fight or flight brain or state of being, it's draining both mentally and physically. And this is something that I'll come onto, uh, shortly. Uh, something I like to discuss with all my learners online or otherwise is that of the, uh, baby's brain at birth, typically, uh, containing about 86 billion neurons or brain cells. That's almost as many planets as there are in the Milky Way galaxy. I find that just mesmerizing and astounding. So while we, that number of neurons doesn't change across the life course, apart from, you know, those of us that enjoy alcohol or, you know, we have been exposed to traumatic experiences in childhood, especially. These things do kill off neurons. They do change the brain's architecture. But generally speaking, 86 neuro, 86 billion neurons from birth takes it to while death, right? But what does change in the life course only in that early period from birth for say five, is the number of synaptic connections between these 86 billion neurons. What causes these changes is us, again, it's every single thing we do and how we provide these experience for our children. Now, this can be a positive force or it can be a force for evil, because what's happening is those synaptic connections are being formed and that brain is having one big conversation, ongoing connections being made across the brain based on that stimuli. So if that stimuli is generally bad, it's hostile experiences, negative, you know, hostile caregiving, not responsive at all, then that brain is being wired for stress. That is the three 4-year-old in our nursery who cannot calm themselves down easily. They're hyper aroused. They find it difficult to get along. That child's brain has already been primed for stress, okay? Whether there's some trigger in the environment or not, their cortisol levels and everything else else, therefore is cranked up to max. And it's difficult to work with, especially if you do not understand this and you are misinterpreting that child's behavior and inability to learn, to connect, to engage with what's going on. Or it can be a positive force. Of course, you know, parents, caregivers who are supportive, they really listen, they're attuned. Something that I know that you are very much into as part of sales toolkit. If all of that is there, the safe havens are there, that child feels confident and secure, that child can go on to then learn to communicate, to socialize and get on in their nursery, their school, their college, their relationships, their romantic relationships in the future. All is good, but again, it doesn't happen by osmosis. We have to put in that healthy foundation in order for that child trajectory to be a positive one. Again, I am not saying by any means it's do or die it by, uh, beyond the age of five, it's not. But what happens at the age of five is a necessary and healthy process for brain development. And that is pruning. So brain regions responsible for language, for social, emotional, physical development slowly begin to close down because the friends become adult like, and less mall, less plastic. So that rapid, uh, period of growth, all those connections being made, slows, wiped down, coming, wipe down as it's getting to be how it will be in adulthood. And you'll see in these, uh, range of brain imaging slides here, that synaptic connectivity is at it's most dense and prolific at two years old, not at 10, not at 15, at 20. This is fact, it's the science. It does not lie. Okay? And I'm just reporting it because I think we really owe it to every baby and every child that we work with to understand this and the power that we have. And that's not just the things we do, but also how we communicate with their primary carers parents who may be finding it really difficult to form bonds, to connect, to talk to them, you know, issues of PND depression. All of these can be barriers to actually, how do I love my child? How can I give them a good time because my resources are, are running on empty when we understand what's happening at that level of the brain. And we can share this in a way that isn't patronizing, but in a way that is supportive. And I think we owe it again to every family to do that, especially those that are struggling to do so. So some of these neuro neuroprotective factors, this might seem deceptively simple, I apologize, but I think it needs to be stated because what I would ask you then is do you know the answers to these questions, those that are pertinent to you for the children with whom you work? Did mom have a healthy pregnancy? Was she stressed a lot? Was she depressed? Did she have a support network? What is the relationship between mother and child? Is the attachment experience a positive one? I know, you know, the, the stats are banded about very easily. You know, over 50% of children are insecure and attached, and that's normal. I don't think that's a good thing to go around saying. Personally, I think we need to do our best to support the attachment experience of every mother and child is to the best of our ability and within our reach, because that attachment is the foundation in which that child operates. Their internal dialogue, the way they interpret the world, the way they understand themselves, their self-worth comes from this attachment. And I believe that even children who experience trauma and adversity in childhood, if there is one secure attachment, one buffer against all that stress and turmoil, they can go on to make some repairs in adulthood. But if they never have that one person telling them, great, you are okay, I believe you, then it can go to pot. And I believe irreversibly. So absence of toxic stress. By this I mean those adverse childhood experiences. What's going on at home? Do you know their history? Do you really know what they're coming from and what shapes what they're today abundant social interaction. This is absolutely critical to every child, everyone. We are relational creatures. The more tech advances we are seeing, the less, you know, interaction. Our children are getting to the point where we're having schools having signs up saying, you know, no mobile focus beyond this point because it's become invasive, toxic and it's taking away from human connection. We need these human connections because children are learning from us how to behave. All those intra and interpersonal skills are, you know, are created by us, by what we do. But all of that is taken up with mobile phones and iPads and here have this, I'm seeing babies in bugs on a daily basis, having mobile phones to engage with, no, it's wrong, it's just wrong. Linked to this, we want to see more positive relationships. We want to see more child led provision going on. But what's happening is that practitioners are complaining so often that we could tell we've got to do this, this, this, we've got this box to tick, and the child is the last person on the agenda. And it takes away from those that time to just be with those children, to immerse yourself in what they're engaging in, what's giving them pleasure. Now, we know, again, as stated here, that high quality preschool provision can make an abundant difference to children that are coming to us from disadvantaged backgrounds. But where that provision is poor quality, a key person system isn't effective. The dialogue or what dialogue in some, you know, settings doesn't really take place. It's, you know, short, quick time is rushed. We've got to get through this, this, this part of the daily routine. And it takes away from genuine two way reciprocal dialogue from, you know, where the child takes you on their journey and you've got time to just go with them and explore and comment and dive right in and take it as far as they want it to go. There's less time for that stuff. The important stuff and more, you know, time given over to what said in the likes of the DFE deem as a, the priorities to read, to write, to get, you know, uh, proficiency in the maths. Of course, these were important as life lifelong skills, but what they keep missing and what I'm not seeing in policies or frameworks is that foundation mental wellbeing has to be at the core of every effective curriculum. Not like as stated in the Bold beginnings document reading. Reading is at the heart of every successful school curriculum. I be to differ. I say, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, it can't be. It mustn't be, it has to change stimulating experiences, yes, of course, sharing the stories, but these artificial phonics and everything else that so many children are just not getting, they can't connect with because that downstairs stuff isn't happening enough that downstairs brain isn't being nurtured so that child cannot miraculously tap into those executive functions and, you know, tick off those good levels of development. It's just not going to happen and it isn't happening, and we're failing to address it. Again, regular physical activity. I know we've been banging this drum for years, but the neuroscience shows us how exciting is this that new neurons are created in our brain's hippocampus. That's the seat for memory, memory recall learning. We create new neurons through exercise. So let's take it back to children. Those are the, those are the, that live in, uh, high rise blocks in dangerous states. How much exercise are they getting? Or is it being taken away from every aspect of their lives? Some children, their parents are too scared to take them out. It's a rough area. They can't go out after a certain time. They're scared to go out on their own. How is this being addressed? Last but not least, optimum nutrition. What's their diet like? Are they eating okay, are literally brain food, our salmon, cold fish, olives, walnuts, deep green leafy veg. All of these things to help the myelination process. Myelination is like, you know, the skin of a sausage. Each of our 86 billion neurons are coated in this myelin she, okay? And it's a protective thing. And it's also helping them that those neurons to connect to each other far more efficiently, which makes for improve cognition, which makes for a more effective learning journey. So what are the diets like of our children? And I know thankfully there's more emphasis given towards, you know, what's in the lunchboxes. You know, the parents understand about health and how to provide it on a budget because, you know, a lot of these fees can be very expensive. But we need to be addressing each of these factors for each of the children in our classrooms, because I don't think it's done sufficiently enough. And, and I think with this knowledge, we can just make a few more necessary differences to improve the learning experience, the emotional experience of all our children, nurseries and beyond. This brings me to the eminent neuroscientists dance, sea girls brain in the palm of the hand. Again, I do this wherever I go, as much as I can do it. And it's a good way of explaining the influence of emotions on our ability to think and learn. And he, you know, we know now the statistics are showing us time and time again that a child's ability to self-regulate. There's a better indicator of school success at age three than iq, but we are seeing more and more children into our nurseries and schools with such complex emotional issues going on. But they can't exercise self-regulation, let alone tap into these executive functions, which I know we are all familiar with. But I'll just say just in case some of us aren't that familiar with executive functions, are all those skills we bunch together under school readiness. Again, a term that I really hate, I'm sorry, because it should be about how child ready are our schools and the way we are carrying on. I don't believe they are child ready enough, but it's seems like, uh, focusing, concentrating, uh, curbing impulsive behavior, delaying gratification, being able to solve problems, think rationally. All these things that a child needs to be able to do in order to learn and to succeed. Now, what we, so I'm just going to explain it if I can get this going here yet. So the, this is, let's just say the brain in the palm of the hand. So the palm of the brain, we've got the spinal cord leading into the brain stem and our downstairs brain. So the downstairs brain is home to our brains emotional center. The limbic system. The limbic system crucially, is home to be amygdala, the brain's panic button and the hippocampus, which I mentioned earlier, which is responsible for memory, memory, recall, and learning. So each time we think about someone special, nice memories, or that time someone really offended us and we get really angry. What happens to a child is as long as this upstairs brain is, is covering the downstairs brain, all is in check. Okay? The downstairs brain is regulated, they can learn. But when a child or young adult, or as we do, if we feel threatened, insecure, scared, embarrassed, humiliated, we flip our lid, okay? We know the term very well, and this happens within milliseconds. That might be the child throwing themselves on the floor, you know, lashing out aggressive behaviors, swearing, spitting, shouting. We, we've seen it and experienced it all. Okay? So they flipped their lid. That amygdala, that panic button is going, oh my god, danger, danger, danger, danger, danger. Even if everything is relatively okay, something triggered that child, they're not okay. They need your help to put that lid back down to get them back to a safe psychological state. But unfortunately, it's always at this point, crunch point where they are being labeled as, uh, troublemakers can't deal with them. You know, uh, just it, that's when the, the timeouts kicking and the exclusions, oh, because they hit so and so, they lashed out. It's unacceptable. It is unacceptable. But how do we know what's going on in that child frame at that time? How are we calming them down? What words are we giving them? What options are we giving them? Do they have a safe haven or a safe spot? They can go in that nursery or that school, or is it the timeout? So, you know, timeout is an opportunity for them to reflect on what they've done. No, it isn't. Not at all. Because that prefrontal cortex and that cortex, all of this develops last, and I'm going to come onto this in a moment or two. We expect so much of children now actually investing in what I call that downstairs brain. How are we supporting them to express themselves and the pain that they're feeling? What, what tools are we giving them? How are we building their emotional vocabulary? This is something I believe that we have to do urgently. Otherwise, we are going to miss these opportunities for these children who are soon to be excluded, and then we're gonna lose them. And, you know, the trajectory for these children, they don't get their grades, they don't get the gcsc, they fall outta college, the teenage pregnancies, the drugs, the alcohol abuse, imprisonment. It happens too many times. And I think we have to be more proactive in addressing these issues at the beginning. Again, uh, this is something to exemplify my point. The highlighted area is that prefrontal cortex, the bit that sits behind our brain, very small region of the brain, but that brain, that part of the brain takes about 26 years to fully develop, okay? Because it's those primitive, emotional, older regions of the brain that are built first box 'em upwards, and then the higher order thinking. All of that part is developed last 26 years. That explains a lot in terms of how children and teenagers behave, if you think about it for a few moments. And we're expecting them to reflect, to do great at math, English, and the rest of it. So we're skipping to the top the upstairs without investing in the downstairs. If that doesn't make sense to me, it just, it really must change. And I hope that we see this change in terms of the DFE and therefore Ofsted and their outcomes and their expectations and children and of practitioners. This information has to be embedded across qualifications, training, and the likes of these policies and their related frameworks. Again, I'm going to repeat it because I think it's very powerful. It takes 26 years to build that cortex prefrontal cortex. We're expecting too much of our children at a young age, and it's damaging them. And I believe their chances to thrive throughout their lives, either by the man. On the right of this slide is Finn Gage. Um, what he's holding there in his left hand is a metal rod, which pierce through his left eye in a railway, uh, accident in the 18 hundreds, and it spliced out his prefrontal cortex just to hit the message home. He survived amazingly so, but what happened was is that he lost his sense of self all ability to behave rationally, to think before he acted. All of those skills that we, uh, you know, expected children to sit down and to learn to achieve, all of that had gone. So again, it's something for us to reflect on. This also brings me, again, in terms of the downstairs brain to the types of stress that children encounter. We all need stress, otherwise we wouldn't get out of bed in the morning. That's perfectly fine. What happens is, is that, and those levels dip naturally because it's bedtime. Our bodies, our brains are down. We all experience different types of stress. We have positive stress. Uh, these are mild, uh, but they're manageable as well. It might be changing nursery rooms. It might be moving from nursery to school, it might be moving home. But generally, once the stressor has been resolved, that child's, which is stress also levels go back to healthy normal baselines, and they go about their business, they're okay. Tolerable stress is more serious. It might be a bereavement home, but again, with supportive networks, that child will be okay. They'll be fine. The killer, and it is a killer, is toxic. Stress, neglect, abuse, rape. These are the types of stress that leaves biological markers in our children. That child's brain and body become wired for stress. That again, as I mentioned in the beginning, is the hyper aroused child. Nothing might be going on. They might be in the nursery room, might be quite calm, nothing really that you could see, but oh, well, what's triggered little Johnny, for example. But when you think of that child might have come, you know, mom and dad were arguing the night before they were hit, you know, they weren't, they probably chaos chaotic homes, okay? This week's habit with the child's brain, because what is happening is that that amygdala, that panic button is constantly going off, okay? So it's like a volume doll that is set to max and it's very difficult, lon, impossible for that child. Of course, they can't put it back down. So they're constantly in this, you know, raised heartbeat, you know, the blood pressure because they're ready for it. They're primed for it. Where's it gonna come from next? Oh, what, sorry. You're telling me I i I need to learn my, my, my numbers. Oh, it doesn't, it's, it's another world. It's just, it's completely alien to a child that is raised pretty much constantly in a chaotic household, okay? And, and we need to address this more in our policies and our education frameworks, because until we do, until this is made an issue and not a byproduct of them, and buy, you know, and we should also, as a little footnote, it has to be writ large. The priority is understanding mental health of our children before anything else. Because too many children are experiencing this toxic stress with no way of managing it. So what can we do on a budget or with no budget whatsoever? Again, I don't mean to be simplistic, but I have to put my number one thing up there is love, love every child. Go against what your, my God. I've seen some policies where, you know, practitioners are having to offer a cushion or a comfort, you know, for a child who's distress. No, no. We are human beings and we need other human beings to help us to calm down and to calm our heartbeats down when it's racing. And we are panicked and we are anxious. We need adults. We need love like Jules. Paige mentions or speaks at length about professional love, okay? A child needs to know they are respected, they are worthy, and they can love and they can be loved. Again, connect. We need to connect with every child meaningfully. We need to build that strong foundation of resilience through connecting. This also means validating feelings. Again, again, uh, Dan Sea Girl talks of naming it, entertaining it. It's not, no, no, you'll be all right. I'll stop crying. It's not important. No, something's just broken my heart. I'm in distress. I need you to talk through my feelings with me to name them. Name the feelings. How many children do we have that can't identify what they're feeling? They're often the most aggressive and angry and frustrated because they dunno what they're feeling. They haven't been encouraged to express what they're feeling. Name it to tame it. Often that can be halfway through, diffusing these intense, painful feelings for a child. Linked to this is nurturing emotional vocabulary. I like to think of a, uh, think of it as filling up that child's toolkit, their emotional toolkit while I've got my resilience check, self confidence check. All these things do not come from within for these children, especially those that have been abused or traumatized. It has to come from these safe faces. You in the nursery or school, we have that responsibility of nurturing that emotional vocabulary. Mindfulness, my goodness, it actually reduces that cortisol stress hormone level and therefore decreases a child's reactivity to stress. It takes a lifetime to hone this skill. And it's blissful to see children engaging. It doesn't cost a penny. So when I'm hearing, not excuses, but you know, we can't do it. The routine is jam packed already and leadership are telling us we have to focus on this, this, and this outcome. Again, until this is given the respect it deserves, we are going to be fighting a battle. But what I urge every practitioner is to do, to do is not to give up. You have to stand strong in your knowledge. And I think neuroscience gives us a professional language that perhaps we never had before. It's scientific. It's reliable, but it's reliable. And the outcomes are positive. Mindfulness reduces stress immediately. Immediately. What does that mean? If a child isn't stressed or distressed, that downstairs brain is quiet, it's regulated. They can operate from their upstairs brain, therefore, they can have more enjoyable and beneficial learning experiences. So making more time for mindfulness is critical. Critical. I hope to see it embedded sooner rather than later. We need more language in policies and frameworks alike about co-regulating a child's ability to self-regulate. That is to manage those big, intense, downright scary emotions. Because this is a key issue in our nurseries and schools right now. We are seeing far too many children being excluded. Children with special educational needs statements are eight times more likely to be excluded than their peers who are not, uh, who do not have a statement. This should not be happening. Full stop. I believe that when we encourage children to understand their feelings and how overwhelming they are and what they mean to them, and how to manage them in different ways that are not harmful to themselves or others, we can help to change what's happening at the moment. Less, if not, you know, minimal exclusion. We need to be veering away from this and being more proactive. Oh, but our settings, behavior policy says blah, blah, blah, look it up, change it. It needs to be more neuroscientific, I believe. And also more led from self-regulation, co-regulation in terms of daily interactions with our children. We've been encouraged, and I understand why. Ask more questions, you know, ask more meaningful questions. But sometimes practitioners can overcompensate and it can suffocate our children. Go on the journey with them, but let them lead. Don't have an agenda. I wish there was more room for us to not have an agenda, because more often than not, our agendas are not child focused. They're coming from somewhere else, believing in the children, trusting them more, and being led by them. Again, I know that's something that tales talk. It does beautifully. And I'd love to see more of that in all of our s in schools. Rich learning opportunities, again, make everything you know that comes from the child. An opportunity for them to learn what they want to learn, help them to learn what they want to learn. They're so inquisitive, and I think we're, we're quashing a lot of that and, and that creativity as well. Linked to that, we are losing that. And I think it's so tragic and, and we need to be equipped and supported to actually go with that child's lead. And again, that will be supporting all of those executive functions because it's not what I have to do, this, this, this, this, this upstairs brain. It's natural. It'll flow. When they reach flow, it will flow. And I think we have to tap into this to enable that to happen more frequently within that busy, hectic outcomes. Within routine, absolutely critical is this last point here. Creating safe havens safe in your provision, be it a nursery as a child minder as a school. I think this is very important in terms of those children who are finding it difficult to be at school. Getting there is, is fantastic enough for some of these children Staying there is another issue. Okay? And I think we have to understand some children are deeply anxious to get out of bed. It's like, well done, you've done it. Next step. Where can they go when everything is too overwhelming for them? Or is that when they flip their lid as Dan Sea Girl tells us and they're reprimanded for flipping their lid because they just couldn't manage and you didn't know how to deal with it. What are you doing to support each child to manage their day in a way that is easy and most comfortable to them within that long school routine? Where can they go to just be, can't go anywhere. I'm urging you to fix that area of your provision. Uh, link to this, uh, in a moment Kate will play this video for you. It's called Just Breathe. Yes, I make no apologies. I'll show it as much as I can. I find it very powerful because the children in here, they're very young, some of them, but what I love is their use and power language and strategies that they have taken on board. They're not just repeating it parrot fashion. They get it and what they're saying and the impact of what they're doing in times when they need it most. So I'm asking you to just please watch it, enjoy it, soak it up and think while you're watching it, how can I build this into my practice? Again, child mind and nursery schools are like, I don't care. We can all make room for this. I do it morning and night when my child flips her lid and, and it has immediate impact. So please enjoy. And yes, Kate, if you can do your thing. I get really mad when my brother hits me a lot. I don't like it when you say you don't wanna play with me when mad. My brain can get a headache and it can start hurting, but your blood keeps pumping because you're like really mad and you start to get sweaty because you're getting really, really mad. And then when you start getting really mad, you turn red. When your body can't really control yourself, mad just takes over your body. You just get outta control. It's kind of like if you had a jar and then the jar would be your brain and then you put glitter in the jar and that would be how you would feel. Like if you shook up the jar and the glitter went everywhere. That would be how your mind looks. And it's like spinning around and then you don't have any time to think. And you sometimes punch stuff in people when you don't really mean it. When I get angry, I feel it in my heart. I really don't like when I get angry. You Amy really reacts. But the prefrontal cortex tries to keep it down. When I like, feel like I want to, you know, get really angry and yell, I just like sometimes, you know, like take deep breaths. Like first you find a place where you can be alone, then you find some way to relax and calm down. When I need to calm down, I take deep breaths, I breathe in through my nose. Sometimes I close my eyes or just take deep breaths. It like it's calming down. It's like not like moving, it's like slowing down and then it stops and the heart plumps slow and then it goes into your brain. It's like all the sparkles are at the bottom of your brain. My brain like slows down and then like I feel more calm and then I'm like ready to speak to the that person. What I love is that these children are using words like amygdala, prefrontal cortex. When I get angry, I get mad. They're owning their feelings. They're also identifying that their brain, they have a brain and it's connected to their body. And their body behaves in ways that they really don't like. When they're angry, they can't control it. It takes over. I'm not one to complain about the status quo and not act on it. So what I've decided to do, and it is part of my doctoral research, is to look at how we can bridge this knowledge gap between early years discourse and practice and neuroscience. So I am also, uh, starting to work alongside cash, which is the leading qualifications provider to change the qualifications and start to embed neuroscience across their level three, four delivery. But obviously this will take time to embed and make consistent across the board. So I thought, well, what can I do? What can I do? I keep banging the drum, but I need to make this more solid. So I designed and I managed to, uh, launch this online training program and I'm very proud of it. I have got some learners who I hope, I like to think that they are pleased with it so far, but it's my way of plugging that knowledge gap for now. It will develop as knowledge develops, of course, but you know, it is endorsed by cash. So it's an official program recognized by them. It's been given the problems by them and Professor Chris Pascal who time to comb it for validity and reliability of its content. So again, I'm very proud of this. It consists of four modules which really start from the beginning of brain development leading onto strategies and how we can change our practice link to this is the key part of it, if you like, for me. And it's when a learn complete the program, they then get given a checklist if you like, which is, which then enables them to go off into their settings and become change catalysts. I'm calling them neuroscience champions because I didn't want it to just be what people sign up to a CPD program. They get certificate and buy, buy, well done. That's not how I operate. I want to see change. I want to see impact. So these learners then go off, you know, in their respective uh, provision. It might be child mind, it might be consultant, it might be nursery manager, whatever it is, it's applicable to anyone and everyone who works with and on behalf of babies, children, and young adults. I've also got police officers that are signing up to the program. Some of 'em already have. So that's about what can we do differently when we understand brain development and the neuroscience attached to this. And I think we can make a lot of positive differences. Me by the way we behave towards our babies and our children and young adults, especially those that have come from an experience of trauma and adverse childhood experiences. This program, again, is about how practitioners can take this information and go, right, I want to change policies on behavior thinking, starting draconian. I want to see more language of the brain, more understanding and moving away from, for example, time out. I have no time for time out. So it's, it's about creating more provision that's understanding. So, and I also have ongoing ongoing dialogues with my learners. I've got page where we can have conversations about where to start, what ideas they have for taking, uh, the knowledge forward and so forth. So very excited about it all. And yes, if anyone is interested in signing up, uh, towers Toolkit, uh, especially, uh, subscribers do get a 10% discount. That's it really. Yeah. No, that was, that was brilliant today, Monet. Um, I think there's a lots of it that resonated for me and we've been chatting already about it, but I think the big message that comes across is that we have such massive expectations in school of the children, um, at really young age. And if we don't develop that downstairs blame first completely and get that moving, then, then we don't stand a chance. And That's all I want. That in every lecture I give. That's all I say. If you go at home or go, you know, tea break, I think, what was that Turk talking about? Yeah. And downstairs, upstairs brain, it has to be, we can't bypass that reactive emotional brain because that's where all our memories are stored. You know, all the trauma, all the emotions. We, we have to acknowledge that, give it due respect and work from it. Don't think, oh, we're gonna skip it and we still expect all these outcomes from our children. It will not happen. You know, it's 2017 cutting, uh, knowledge given, you know, provided to us from neuroscience. We have to utilize it now. Yeah. We're not, you know, we don't lack intelligence. Like it was inferred to me by my co-author on, on the latest book. You know, it's, it's, we've moved on, we've moved on, we are ready, we want it. And for now until that, you know, gap has bridged, um, offering the online training program, the board, which is really important, dialogues, just talk to each other, open up a debate, look at your policies, especially around behavior and key persons. 'cause I believe they're now outmoded and they need to change in life of this evidence. Yeah. And the nice thing, the thing that I come across all the time and I meet great people all the time, is that there's a lot of people in early years that are willing to fight for it to be done the right way. Yes, yes. Completely. And They know their stuff. They really know their stuff. They do. Yeah, they do. And I think it's so empowering. Like I'm finding that we are, you know, reaching a collective epiphany. It's like we've got this knowledge, I know how to make sense of it. Yeah. And now I think, like I said at the beginning of this webinar, it's now moving the dialogue to how and why and also some, you know, leadership teams can be a little bit, you know, hesitant, you know, I understand there are many reasons and there are expectations of them as well. So it's precious from all directions. But we can't ignore this any longer. No, no. Like I said, Bowlby, Bruner, Vygotsky, yes, there are are foundations, but we don't need to interpret behaviors. We are seeing what happens in real time to the brain based on stimuli. And we have to latch onto this and go, right, do you know what, I'm changing my practice because here's, you know, the ple of evidence telling me that this is wise to do so. And, and be strong in that knowledge. And if anyone complains, just say, well, Minne said it. Do you know what I find though? I find that, 'cause I've been into a lot of schools that have been getting outstanding with Sted. And when I talk to the head teachers, they're very knowledgeable and often they will say, yeah, we were given a good, but we had to fight and we had to give them a lot of the information about why we were we were doing what we were doing so that we could get that extra pushup. And I think that a lot of the time, if you've got that information and you can say, well, we do this because of these reasons and because it's right for the brain and because we're developing this downstairs kind of idea before we even start thinking about feeding everything in. Absolutely. Right. And we want our children be secure and happy and settles and that's, that's what we're doing the first term. We're not gonna start phonics till we've done that, or That's Right. Because it makes, that's okay. No sense to so many children sitting on that carpet, seemingly unable to concentrate, don't know what's going on, and well, why, why is this happening? Well now with information like this, with this evidence base we have access to, it breaks that as an opportunity to say, I'm doing it this way. Because look how brilliantly happy the children are. Look how engaged each and every one of them is. And, and those that are most difficult to reach actually, because when it's meaningful to them and they're enjoying it, there's no argument as far as I'm concerned. And we can't refute the evidence. So I'm saying, you know, we're at this stage now, I'm hoping that weeks, months, years down the line will be far more further along the way in terms of embracing this and it being in, you know, informing the DFE and before everything else. We appreciate, you know, we're here to serve a purpose academically, again, I'm going to say not before we address mental health, mental mm-Hmm. Then we can walk upstairs to that upstairs brain and do everything else that's expected us And address it in earlier. Yeah. That's what I'm saying. Secondary, Because by, by primary, you know, how many five year olds are being excluded? Secondary jobs done as far as I'm concerned, because they're the children that start bunking. They don't fit in. You know, they, they've got no hope of passing because they've already been excluded however many times. And this, that and the other, the ceiling is set up whatever. What motivation then does that young child have or that young teenager to then go off and yeah, I'm great, I can do this. I can be whatever I like when they've been told since day. No, you can't. Mm-Hmm. You can't, man, you're rubbish. And I'm not having it. We, we don't need to be at this point for all these young adults. We, we can change it. No child is born bad, no child is born a criminal, but we are labeling far too soon and it needs to stop. And I think this, you know, embracing neuroscience, reliable of course, because there is a lot of to out there based around the hype. And I think that's another webinar, to be honest. Come back for another one. Yeah, I would love to and I wanted to say so much I do if I No, that's fine Because I want to get it out there. We are ready, we want it. And, and you know, I'm hoping my colleagues and I are here to give that information and to go on the journey with, with our colleagues because it's an exciting time and I think it is exciting. So please be brave and dare to challenge and embrace being challenged by the likes of Dotted, especially when you see that's working for your children. Mm-Hmm. Yeah. That's it. Um, uh, it has gone nine o'clock, so if anybody does want to drift off, but there were a few questions in there that I'm just gonna go through now if you are right for a few minutes. Yep, yep. Um, so Charlotte asked, um, do expectations from parents cause stress? I mean, I know my experience with children is that you have a lot of parents that are expecting high levels in these formal subjects quite early on. Is that something that you find causes stress? Completely. It does cause stress. I know it. 'cause I get, I get caught in that trap and my daughter's five and it's, you know, weekly spelling test and it's this test and it's like, come on, you, you know, you, you take time away from play and what you really wanna be doing with your children to like, come on now, we have to read these two books nearly every night, I think it is. And then we have to practice the spelling test and it's like, um, bored. This isn't fun. And I feel bad because I'm saying one thing and yet sometimes finding myself doing another. What can you do when you are trapped in a system? So yes, unfortunately because of, again, but it comes from BFE offset, you know, expectations that, you know, teachers have what they need to get through and then we are part to that. We are part of that as well. So yes, parents do force stress some more so than others. And I think as well, a lot of parents for one reason or another, pack their children off to extracurricular activities. So extra math club, extra English club, this, that and the other. And a child literally doesn't have time to switch off. Yes. Yeah. That on top of, you know, let's just say they'll get home at six 30 practice for their reading, spelling, whatever else. Bit of dinner in bed. Yeah. When has that child been nurtured and allowed to just swallow in, breathe for five, six. Yeah. And breathe and do what they want, you know? And it's a juggling act. And I think, again, when we understand what's happening at the level of the brain and, and the impact that stress has, sometimes irreversibly, we can then, you know, I don't wanna say teach parents, but, you know, go along with journey with them and, and say, you know, there are different ways of doing this. Because actually when we do put so much pressure, it it's counterproductive quite simply. It goes against what they're trying to achieve. 'cause that child becomes anxious, stressed, wired up, and then their upstairs brain isn't freed up to, they're too stressed, they're panicked, or they're not good enough, they're not getting it right. Mm-Hmm. Yeah, that's true. Well, and I can stand by the fact that Monet does do this at home because when, when we were speaking earlier, your daughter's making donuts with you. Yeah, that's right. That's it. 50 donuts I think perhaps. And, you know, No, it's not going on. I love it. I mean, every night the house is turned upside down. Literally the contents of a bedroom come downstairs, it's an open art studio. I've got OCD with cleanliness, but I don't care anymore. Paint where you like, do what you like. And she does. And it's, it's so pleasing to watch her have rain. And she's like, yeah, I'm the mini boss. And I like it because they don't have that, they don't have that control in any area of their lives. Do this, I'm telling you as a teacher, do this, this, this, this, this. No wonder they're, you know, lashing out and being aggressive and showing all that frustration because where is the time for a child to be a child? I think it's diminishing day by day and it's sad, I think are ever shrinking. And I hate it. I hate watching it happen. So I'm doing all I can to, you know, pull it right back. Yeah. Yeah. That's good. Well, this leads really well into your next question. So Sarah asked, how can we help parents to understand the effects on children Of stress? Um, just kind of the effects of how they interact with children and stress and how kind of neuroscience works and interactions. I think I, I do like the, the, uh, brain and the palm of the hand model. You know, it's a YouTube video that's two minutes long. Uh, seagull uses it in leadership teams with teenagers, primary school teachers and children all across the us It's bread and butter stuff. But here it's, it's slow to take up. But I think using that language with kids to use with their children like the children did in that just breathe video. Mm-Hmm. What happens when a child is feeling scared or stressed? You know? Or actually what happens is, you know, all their, you know, their brains panic button starts going, and when that's gone beep, they can't learn because they're, you know, they're in flight or fight mode. So I don't think this is too difficult for anyone to understand. We can, you know, use that video. We can use our hands to describe it. We can show them, we can talk through it and, you know, children are understanding it. And I love it that children are using words like amygdala and the brain and prefrontal cortex so that, so that they understand what's going on. So they can have this dialogue with their parents. Parents can have this dialogue with their children. We can instigate that by understanding this. But if we don't have the knowledge, we can't, you know, be, you know, we can't be the catalyst for this to happen. So again, it's by having simple conversations about what happens to a child's brain when they feel stressed and when they feel stressed that they cannot learn. Mm-Hmm, that's true. They're caught in that trap downstairs. They can't go, you know, literally thinking cap on because they're stuck down there. So I think it's a dialogue that is easy. Yeah. Yeah. That's good. Um, and the last question I've got here, um, and this is from someone who uses Tell Toolkit, um, it says, does tell toolkit support the brain? And how does this work where they think, um, creatively and have the safe space where they can say anything that's nothing. That there's nothing wrong. Like I said at the outset of the, uh, webinar, I think it's very closely aligned to neuroscience and I loved it. And I actually made a post-it and stuck it on my laptop because I think it's brilliant. Safe places or safe havens, you know, being led by the child. That creativity, because it's, it's all understanding whether child is coming from the mind and the brain come before anything else. Mm-Hmm. Be free. Express yourself in a way that is natural to you and comfortable to you. There is no expectation you are the boss. Mm-Hmm. Again, children aren't encouraged to exercise control in their lives. Yeah. Uh, they have too many expectations put on them. So I think Charles Toolkit is a superb resource and all its resources they're in. I think it has to be, I would love to see it in every setting every child kind. But every nursery, every school, I, I did something similar with children on a literacy enrichment program. I took in story dial, you know, and I let them run, run right with it. And, and we've made mini films out of it. We turned that into, you know, clay modeling sessions and they loved it. Kate, I cannot express to you. Yeah. Ah, it just bliss because it was, we said, oh, min, can we come to you all the time? Because I'm like, why? Come on. You do literacy all the time. Yeah. But this is fun. It's not like learning. Yeah, That's it. No, it's not. We do, It's not done. It's not superficially, you know, enforced. It's coming from them and they've created it and they're taking themselves and you on this amazing fantastical journey. They're learning. No. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. And I think this is why tell talk and the likes are so brilliant and I think they're invaluable resources. And again, I'm gonna say I don't care. It needs to be widespread. It needs to be everywhere, because I Right, Right back at you. Yeah, I hope so. One day I really do. Very important. So, no, um, someone's just asked about, um, the title of your book again, please. So if I put your, um, put this up here, there's a picture of the book. I dunno if you wanna give a shout out about your book. Uh, other than the, no, I don't know. I get shot. That's fine. I dunno. Neuroscience, it is very, it's practically useful. I've got a lot of case studies from, uh, parents, for example, with children who have autism. I've got case studies about bilingualism. I've got, um, you know, I emphasize actually in here, I think my favorite chapter is chapter three, which is all about toxic stress and the impact on the brain and body. I've got a lot on poly theory, which again, is not touched upon hardly at all in terms of early years training qualifications. And again, it's a concept that I think has to be bread and butter stuff. So I, I, I'm, I think it's a good resource. A lot of students from level three upwards are giving me a lot of positive feedback about it. But it's widely used across colleges and universities. Like, and, you know, I wanna say this again, I was told by my co-author, who was a neuroscientist, that he didn't understand what a book like this had to offer earliest practitioners. And I say this all the time because I think, how dare he, you know, belittle me in terms of am I not able to grapple with the subject not, you know, content and impart it. We still aren't practitioners intelligent enough to grapple the subject content Well, you know, we are, and it's brilliant. It's been brilliantly received, you know, it didn't last very long anyway. And I wrote this on my own. And, and it's something that I am very proud of for that very reason, because I'm trying to exemplify the point that we've been told for too many years. It's not relevant to early years. Neuroscience isn't relevant. It's got nothing to tell you. Leave it alone. I'm not gonna leave it alone. I've read it inside and out. I know my onions and I know it's very useful to us. And so many of my colleagues are now taking that forward in their practice. And I think good on you. Keep it going strong. If ever you need any support, you've got all my details there. Please. And, and do, do tap into the program because it is making a difference to practitioners. And I want to see this on a wider scale. Thank you. And I, I, I, I do, I I really think we're, we're on the, on the cusp of something very good and exciting in terms of embracing neuroscience as part of our discourse and our practice. Next steps. I'm begging, urging, offset the DFE to start using this language around neuroscience and the brain far more, in fact at all. 'cause I'm not seeing it, uh, mentioned. And, and it needs to be, it needs to be so that practitioners understand I'm doing it this way because actually said, recognizing the importance of early brain development. Until that happens, we're gonna have a lot of resistance and a lot practitioner saying, or I, I want but scared because you've gotta do this. Any reason you've gotta do, it's because offset telling you. So I'm Mm-Hmm. I'm, I'm advising Offset. And so many other neuroscientists are to take he of the information from this vast evidence based because it's pertinent to everyone involved in children's care and education. Take it on board. I'm begging you. Yeah, yeah. It's true. And I think also, I think in terms of the government and off offset and all things that are going on, I think that we don't fully know the impact for a lot of these children until sort of like 15 years from now. And I think that Yeah, because we were talking the other day, weren't we on the, when we were chatting on Skype and saying that actually in terms of what's going on for children, they don't get to play out as much anymore. A lot more it, their childhoods are very different. No, so, So, and, and, and the key part of this, which is ironic, when we are looking at children that have been traumatized and experienced adverse childhood experiences, mm-hmm. Is that, uh, as part of their therapy ongoing as adults, is that, you know, the arts, dance and mindfulness, creativity are all put there at the forefront. These are things that are, and it's true. They're very nurturing and calming, et cetera. Mm-Hmm. Oh, one second. But let's rewind to those early years. What are we taking away from, uh, creativity? Are pe are being squashed into practically nothing in that curriculum offer. And then we wonder why these very children are being failed and labeled and excluded. Mm-Hmm. We don't need to wait in some respects, 15 years because these are the children now that are being branded and labeled incorrectly because they're not fitting into that, you know, that narrow idea of what a child should be and how they should be performing in school. Why done it now? Seriously, how much could every single child achieve through creativity? Mm-Hmm. We are not having that. We are not having that opportunity. It's been taken away from them unfairly. And it's really setting them up for lifelong failure. And I don't mean that, you know, trivially at all, because again, like I'm saying, we've got Bessel van and he's fantastic. Mm-Hmm. But the body keeps the score. He emphasizes the role of the arts in creativity, in therapeutic, uh, you know, uh, strategies and interventions. So why are we, why are we stealing this from our children? We can't be doing this. It has to change. I think that's a good note. Probably people go on. Um, just a quick one from Rachel. She said, when you were chatting about your book, what was the theory, um, because your mic skipped, what was the theory that you were chatting about? That it was based on Polyvagal theory, uh, by Stephen pos. And I've got a whole chapter on it with very simplistic, uh, images. I don't mean to patronize anyone, but it's a complex theory. But it's all, again, there are different ways to understand the impact of stress on the brain and the body, the nervous system. And it's another way of understanding that. But I think that along with epigenetics is all explored in my book, very simple terms, uh, with lots of practical examples and then questions for consolidations. One, you know, help reader, reader understand it's been discussed. So yeah. And of course, YouTube, uh, go online five minute videos. But again, if we don't know this, then we don't know what we knowing and missing out on. And I think that's what my book tried to bridge is the, and and important, actually another aspect of my book, which is important of a neuro miss that I discuss length. Mm-Hmm. Because like I said, we can be very easily, um, and I, there a lot of rubbish that goes on Mm-Hmm. And I think we owe it to ourselves and the children with whom we work to make sure we know the myths from the truths and what to take forward and why and what to definitely put in the boom. Yes. Probably a lot. It's a good, you know, all encompassing introduction to what was thought of as a complex discipline. Yes, it is. But you know what, we're intelligent beings and we can manage it. Yeah, we can. Yeah. I'm managing it the minute I'm reading out on the tube every day. So yeah, it's my reading this week. Thank you. Yeah, so, so just a really big thank you for coming and um, we hope you'll come back again. That would be, I would love to Thank you for having me Kate. And sorry for rambling. It's just something that's No, it's great. My, So I do, we, we could do with a weekly session. Yeah. Maybe we should start that early, Kate. And that's it. Thank You very much, Kate. Yeah, thank you. And thank you to everybody for coming out and attending this, so, so yeah. Take care. Bye.