Bee Ready with Mrs. Summerbee

Supporting a child with additional needs on their toilet training journey?

Toilet training can feel overwhelming, especially when your child needs extra support. The good news is that nearly all children can learn to be clean and dry. It may take longer and look different for every child, but it's an important life skill that can make a big difference to their independence and confidence.

That's why ERIC has created a helpful advice sheet packed with practical guidance for parents and carers, including:

🔵 Where to start
🔵 Spotting and managing constipation
🔵 Keeping the bladder healthy
🔵 Toilet training older children
🔵 Considering what extra support may help
🔵 Practical tips to help you get started with toilet training

📖 Read the advice sheet here: https://eric.org.uk/advice-about-bladders-bowels-and-toileting-for-children-with-additional-needs-2/

💬 Know a parent or carer who might find this helpful? Tag them below or share this post.

⭐ Mrs Summerbee's Top Tip ⭐

💪 Practise Gross Motor Skills 💪

Gross Motor Skills are the foundational building blocks of a child’s entire development!

✨ It will help with everyday independence, such as children dress themselves, climbing stairs, using the toilet and getting in or out of a car.

🪑 Provides the upper body stability and core strength required to sit upright on the carpet and a table to complete school activities and eat their food.

✂️ It is the foundation for Fine Motor Skills: Building the shoulder and arm strength needed for mark making, cutting and future writing.

🏃It builds confidence and social skills by, allowing them to join in playground games, sports, and active peer interactions.

🌿It's really important to spend time outside, keep your child active at least 3 hours and minimise screen time to under an hour a day.

😁 This will also have a positive impact on your child's emotional development and overall health.

Do you have any other great gross motor activities you love to do with your child?
Are you a practitioner with some extra great tips?
Pop them in the comments below 👇

So true 💛

Toddlers learn through movement, play and repetition.
If your child would rather run than sit still, that's completely normal and exactly how they're designed to learn.

⭐ Mrs Summerbee's Top Tip ⭐

📚 Read with your child every day! 📚

Reading together every day is one of the simplest ways to support your child’s development — and it’s a lovely opportunity to spend quality time together too! 💛

It can...

🧠 Boost brain development – stories introduce new ideas, concepts and ways of thinking.

🗣️ Build language & vocabulary – hearing lots of words helps children develop their understanding and communication skills.

👂 Develop listening skills – children learn to listen, concentrate and follow a story from beginning to end.

❤️ Strengthen your bond – sharing a book creates a calm, special moment of connection and closeness.

😊 Support emotional development – stories help children explore feelings, understand others and talk about their own emotions.

🌟 Build confidence – chatting about pictures, predicting what might happen and joining in with repeated words and phrases encourages children to express themselves.

🔁 Develop memory & understanding – repeated stories help children remember characters, events, words and sequences.

🎒 Supports school readiness – enjoying books helps develop the listening, attention, language and communication skills children need when they start school.

✨ Reading doesn't always have to mean sitting quietly - Talk about the pictures, ask questions, point things out and let your child turn the pages or make it really interactive with props, costumes or acting it out! 🐝💛

Schools may be closed for the summer, but our plans for September are already underway! 📚

We’re looking for volunteers in Gloucestershire to join us in the new school year. Could you spare just one hour a week to hear a child read, helping to build their literacy skills and their confidence?

Whether you’re retired, working, studying or simply have a little time to share, you can make a real difference. Visit our website to find out how you can get involved: https://readwithme.org.uk/for-volunteers/

⭐ Mrs Summerbee's Top Tips ⭐

For Separation anxiety 💛

Separation anxiety can be really difficult and emotional for both you and your child/children.

It's comforting to remember that crying, clinging, or fear of being away from you is a symbol of the strength of your relationship. 🫂

Check out these tips if this is something your child may struggle with when they start school. Also useful for nursery and preschool!

Every child is different. Has anything else worked for you and your child? Or are you a practitioner and know anything that's helped? Pop them in the comments below👇

Free online evidence-based courses for parent carers 📔

With a range of courses, such as understanding your child with additional needs, understanding your child from toddler to teenager and understanding your child in a changing world, you can expand your knowledge from the comfort of your own home.

Find out about the fully funded courses for Gloucestershire families, with a Gloucestershire postcode, in the August edition of the Families in Partnership newsletter 👉 https://orlo.uk/free-online-courses_MNMZJ

🏫 Is your child starting school in 2027?

🐝 Begin the school readiness journey now with Bee Ready!

🗓️Bookings are now live for our September - October term.

🎉 Come and join us at our FREE Bee Ready Play & Practise sessions.

📚🎶🫧 These sessions have fun themes, a story, themed activities and free play, followed by singing, dancing, bubbles and parachute play!

They are a great opportunity to have fun learning and get practising those school readiness skills. Your child can get to know the Bee Ready structure ready to join us for our course (6 weekly sessions where we focus in on those key areas to practise) starting from November.

💛Play & Practise sessions are running across 5 of our amazing Children and Family centres:

📍Monday AM - Finlay
📍Monday PM - The Link

📍Thursday AM - Bartongate
📍Thursday PM - Kaleidoscope

📍Friday AM - Beacon

✅There is one booking form for each location. Simply select what sessions you wish to attend. We welcome you to attend them all! 🐝☺️

➡️Click here to book:
https://linktr.ee/beereadywithmrssummerbee

Gloucester and Forest of Dean Children and Family Centres
Gloucestershire Gateway Trust

🐝 Wow! What an incredible 8 months of Bee Ready it's been!! 💛

🥳 I am very proud and delighted to say that Bee Ready will be funded again next year and there will be lots of opportunities to attend the Bee Ready course and Play & Practise sessions for our 2027 school starters!

🐝 Bee Ready is already growing and adapting from "Bee Ready with Mrs Summerbee" to "Bee Ready with Benji Bee!" 🤯

I am extremely excited to announce that the lovely Miss Riches will be joining the Bee Ready team. 🤩🙌

I am delighted and very lucky to have such a passionate and talented team member on board. 😁🙏

Miss Riches and I will be kicking off the academic year with running our fun themed Play & Practise sessions from September 21st. ♻️🚕🚀 🪱👻

Bookings will be up very soon to keep your eyes peeled and please help spread the word to our 2027 school starters 🥰💛

Thank you, Mrs Summerbee ☺️🐝