We hope that everyone has had a good January, and are ready for a busy year ahead!
In this month’s edition, we have a really comprehensive ‘Health and Safety at Home’ guide from the People Team, an update from our Functional Skills team and we bring you some exciting new Abacus features from our Software Development team. We also have quite a few new starters to introduce to you all - happy reading!
We want to remind our people that there are some things that you can do to support your health and safety whilst working from home. Here are a couple of examples that we have collated.
If you have any questions, please do reach out to your line manager or the People team.
You should take simple steps to protect your health when working on a computer. We have a new CPD course coming soon which will cover your safety at home.
Try to find a suitable area to work in, avoiding uncomfortable positions and making sure you move around regularly.
Wherever you work in your home, there are some things you can do to keep yourself healthy and safe:
There are some things you can do to help prevent stress and look after your mental health when working from home.
If you think your work is affecting your mental health or wellbeing, please do reach out to us.
Functional Skills team update
The following improvements have been made to Abacus, making the system more efficient for our customers.
Family section improvements:
Finance section improvements:
Staff section improvements:
When sending documents to the Marketing team for creating and / or branding, please ensure that the final version which has been approved and signed off by all relevant parties and line managers - including those from other teams – is sent to the team. Please also ensure that the correct data with all the required fields is included as a CSV file. This will avoid re-work and delay in returning the documents back to you.
Thank you!
Meet our new Parenta joiners!
See below some of our fabulous new colleagues working in our Parenta family!
Remember, if you are a new joiner or have a new colleague in your team, please send over an image and short bio to
marketing@parenta.com for all of us to see and welcome you!
Shauna Cunnane - Customer Service
Shana used to work for a dental company. She loves creating valuable relationships with clients and has joined Parenta to be part of an organisation that helps people.
In her spare time, she enjoys going to the gym and shopping. Shauna also knows how to firebreathe!
Cheyenne Vessey - Interim Head of Compliance
Cheyenne used to work for a non-profit housing association. She loves to take on new challenges and has joined Parenta to be part of an organisation that supports staff progression and the staff who are passionate about their industry.
In her spare time she enjoys socialising, shopping and selfcare. Cheyenne also enjoys good food!
Rebecca Bolton - Training Advisor
Rebecca used to work for a disability charity. She loves the satisfation of helping others and has joined Parenta to be part of an organisation that has a great family vibe.
In her spare time she enjoys spending time with her three children and playing chess. She also loves to research!
Izaskun Alberdi Salegui - Regional Training Manager
Izaskun used to work for a non-profit housing association. She loves to provide the highest standards of delivery and has joined Parenta to be part of an organisation that enables her to expand her delivery and quality skills.
In her spare time she enjoys spending time with her children and friends. She also has a passion for developing and coaching others!
Alex Hall - Customer Experience Executive
Alex used to work for the NHS Track and Trace service. He would like to develop his existing skills and obtain new ones. He has joined Parenta to be part of an organisation that gives an excellent customer experience.
In his spare time he enjoys walking his dog, reading and playing video games. He can also do a cracking Scottish accent!
Gemma Hares - Early Years Assessor
Gemma used to work for a training company. She would like to aim towards becomming a Regional Training Manager and has joined Parenta to be part of an organisation that allows her to maintain her progression.
In her spare time she enjoys going to the cinema and shopping. Gemma is also a qualified Children and Adolescent Counsellor!
Lauren Hammond - Software Sales Executive
Lauren used to work for a magazine publisher. She loves to learn and has joined Parenta to make the most of an excellect opportunity and progression.
In her spare time she enjoys going to the gym and spending time with her family. She also loves to manifest and set goals!
A reminder that all Parenta resources to help ourselves, our learners and settings can be found here on our intranet, all in one handy place.
We publish additional industry expert advice, news articles and crafts in our free
magazine and on our
blog .
Here are this month’s How to Guides added to the staff intranet:
The positive endorsements that we receive from our existing customers are not only a great way for giving praise to the individuals or teams concerned, but are used as a valuable marketing tool to attract new customers!
Please ensure that after every positive interaction you have with a customer you ask them if they would be willing to send in a short testimonial and then follow up with the usual link https://www.parenta.com/testimonial/
Recruitment:
“I am emailing to share some feedback regarding my interactions with Clare Bedford. Clare has been a massive support through the process of signing up two apprentices at my nursery site, she has been prompt in her responses and has gone the extra mile to get me the answers I need so wanted to share this with you as she is a great asset to your company. Have a lovely week.”
Joelle Bergin
Manager, Each Peach Childcare.
Training:
“Thank you so much. And thank you for today, you have been a breath of fresh air from Parenta! Please pass on my compliments to your supervisor as you have been very helpful!“
Megan Greenhalf
MonkeyMoos
Software:
“We have used Parenta platform for a number of years. They have always provided ongoing Support and any Questions regarding how to use the services have been responded very quickly.”
Amin Harish
Activekids Nursery
‘’You are the one organisation I don't mind contacting. You always respond really quickly. Quite often I will call you so I can speak to one of your excellent people. I get helpful and relevant advice at all times. Brilliant, Thank you ‘’
Fishbourne Preschool
Anonymous:
“A lovely quick and friendly response as always!"
“Always get excellent support from the service, very pleased. Thank you."
"As always, very quick response, my query has been dealt with straight away - thank you!"
"Responded straight away and sorted my query promptly".
"Super quick help to my problem. Thank you."
"Very quick reply - thank you Amie :)"
“You are the one organisation I don't mind contacting. You always respond really quickly. Quite often I will call you so I can speak to one of your excellent people. I get helpful and relevant advice at all times. Brilliant, Thank you”
Spotlight on… Jamie Atkins!
This month, we caught up with Jamie who was the Kudos winner for December! Click below to watch his clip!
Thanks to all those who have been giving kudos throughout the month – please keep it going, it’s important now more than ever to give each other a deserved ‘pat on the back’. Our winner for January is Rosie Presland! Congratulations Rosie!
Don't forget you can start voting for our February employee of the month already. Keep that Kudos coming and please give recognition for all the hard work our colleagues are doing.
Our free monthly magazine is packed with news articles and advice pieces - all of which are written to help nursery managers with the efficient running of their settings and to promote the health, happiness and well-being of the children in their care. Please do read it and send the magazine link to your contacts.