Learning together

Wednesdays and Thursdays mornings in term time: 10am-10.45am & 11am-11.45am. Please note that Learning Together now has a new venue at the new hall in Franciscan Primary School in Franciscan Road.

The Learning Together activities are led by the children’s author Margaret Bateson-Hill.

The Learning Together programme aims to develop from the earliest age a love of words, stories and books. Parents/carers and their babies and toddlers are given a personal and engaging experience which stimulates babies’ learning and development. Fully participatory, with the babies and carers interacting together, the programme actively shows parents ways of engaging their babies and toddlers in imaginative and story-based activities. This is done through a range of integrated rhymes, songs and stories shared by all the participants, which together form a storyline. Each session involves a story from a book. Parents and carers from all backgrounds, in this very multi-cultural part of Wandsworth, are involved in the programme.

The Learning Together programme involves some 2,500 visits by babies and toddlers a year.

Recent responses from the parents include:

“Great fun, and Margaret’s enthusiasm is very infectious.”

“Both love music, singing, actions, stories and instruments.”

“I have taken my three children to ‘Margaret singing’ over the last 6 years. Apart from learning lots of songs, the children have loved meeting other families and often play at dressing up as Margaret and running their own classes at home. Pay as you go is a great benefit as we can’t afford the music classes that we have to enrol in for a whole term. We would, and do, recommend it to everyone.”

“Excellent. Really engaging leader and well planned session. How does she remember all the children’s names?”

“A good mix and pace of songs and activities.”

“She gets very excited and loves the activities.”

“He loves coming to ‘music’, remembers everything that happens during the session and waits at Margaret’s chair every time.”