Play Therapy Can it help children to solve their own problems?
Also inside… • • • • • •
Play News & Updates Article—Play Therapy Information for Playworkers Risky Play in Oxfordshire Playwork Training Budget Play Ideas
News... Promoting Play across Oxfordshire A travelling exhibition to promote the value of play will soon be available to borrow (at no cost) from Oxfordshire Play Association (OPA). Oxfordshire Family Information Service and OPA have worked with a media company to create four double-sided display boards, each of which promotes play though photos, quotes and eye-catching statistics about the benefits of play for children and young people aged 0-19 years. The display also consists of an A-frame display board and a plasma screen television for you to show play-related short films. All the details will be in the next issue of Inspiring Play, or check the OPA website for the latest information (website address below).
Play is ace
Play thought… In playwork settings, Oxfordshire excels in encouraging and enabling children and young people to lead their own play, the very essence of playwork. Why, then, do we sometimes use the term ‘Play Leader’ for the manager of a Playwork setting—isn’t that an oxymoron? Is ‘Playwork Supervisor’ or ‘Playwork Manager’ more appropriate, meaning they lead the team of playworkers, rather than the play?
Congratulations! To Blackbird Leys Adventure Playground (BLAP) for their grant of £6,590 from the Gannett Foundation. Set up in 1976, and closed in 2009, BLAP now looks set to open again in April.
newsletter is produced by Oxfordshire Play Association on behalf of the Oxfordshire Play Partnership, a group of organisations whose aim is to increase the amount and quality of play opportunities for children and young people aged 0-19 years across Oxfordshire. OPP creates and updates the Oxfordshire Play Strategy — this and lots of other OPP info is available on Oxfordshire Play Association’s website — see under ‘Play Resources’ — website address below.
For further information about OPP, Inspiring Play or any other aspect of play and playwork, contact Oxfordshire Play Association: Tel: 01865 779474; email: enquiries@oxonplay.org.uk; www.oxonplay.org.uk
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Most Playday Events Ever! OPA and members of the Oxfordshire Play Partnership are organising free, public P l a y d a y events for 2012—and more events will be held in the county than ever before! Plans are underway to hold events in Blackbird Leys, Kidlington, Banbury, Hill End (near Farmoor), Witney and Didcot.
RAIN GEAR ON FOR WATER PLAY Play hide and seek / 40 40 in DESIGN FRENCH BREAD PIZZAS Make a mixture with flour, etc
WINTER FIRE WITH STORIES Large box play—ask Currys
SPIN THE BOTTLE
If you would like to be involved in any of the events, please get in touch with OPA, as all support is welcomed to make these exciting play events the best they can be, and to promote play to as wide an audience as possible.
Blindfolded taste / smell test SCAVENGER OR TREASURE HUNT
Silly races WET WEATHER ADVENTURE WALK
And STOP PRESS!! More Playday events just announced— see below.
Make paper winter silhouettes
KARAOKE ON THE COMPUTER
Oxfordshire Play Association (OPA) has received funding of £15,000 from the MOD Community Covenant Grant Scheme to run Playday Events at each of the 6 Armed Forces bases across Oxfordshire. Events will take place at RAF Benson, RAF Brize Norton, Bicester Garrison, Dalton Barracks-Abingdon, Vauxhall Barracks-Didcot and the Shrivenham Defence Academy. All the events will take place in Spring 2012 (see next Inspiring Play for all the dates). Martin Gillett, Manager of OPA said, ”These events will be fantastic opportunities for the forces’ children and teenagers to play freely and try out exciting play activities. It will also bring the Armed Forces and local communities together whilst promoting to families the importance of good quality play.” 3
Young Shamans of Sound By Natty Mark Samuels, C.D.I. Youth Worker, Blackbird Leys
Ragga / Dancehall, Hip Hop, Funk, Grime and so on. As long as they like it, they'll mix it in. I'm talking about Simeon Brown, Isaiah and Saul St. Clair and Travis Adams - members of the Blackbird Leys C.D.I. Youth Project, based in the Glow Hall. This quartet of creativity is working toward an arts award, which involves learning crafts, such as turntable and mixing skills. These four are doubly happy, for they get the opportunity of one-to-one tuition with C.D.I. Worker Adrian Prescott a.k.a. DJ Spex—former FM.107.9 (Guide) resident and now an OX4 Radio presenter. As I played and refereed table tennis with the other youth, I was impressed with what I could hear the young men doing, the ease of change between records, bouncing from one genre to another. From what I could hear and from what I know of their focused interaction, these four young men, pupils at the Oxford Spires and Oxford Academies, will be well deserved recipients of their certificates at the time of the awards. They delighted their fellow members – a little Friday night jamboree. With their skills of selection and timing, confidently adding to the fusion, they create their bubbling brew. Their gifts of bass and rhythm. Like magicians from the land of mix. Little Shamans of Sound.
Our children need time - not stuff From BBC News, 13.9.11 Why are British children so unhappy? Four years after Unicef sparked national soul-searching with analysis showing child well-being in the UK at the bottom of a league of developed nations, the organisation has attempted to explain our problem. The answer, it seems, is that we trade quality time with our children for "cupboards full of expensive toys that aren't used". They want our attention but we give them our money. "Parents in the UK want to be good parents, but aren't sure how," the research suggests. "They feel they don't have the time, and sometimes the knowledge, and often try to compensate for this by buying their children gadgets and clothes." The report argues that the pressure of the working environment and rampant materialism combine to damage the well-being of our children. Another problem is that British teenagers do not have enough to do. "In the UK, children's time in active creative pursuits diminishes in secondary schools.” Unicef's remedy is for Britain to look at its priorities. They want politicians to consider specific measures to support families: • reform of advertising laws; • a living wage so that families earn enough to spend more time with each other; • protection of children's facilities so they have the opportunity to be active. If Britain is serious about doing the best for its children, it needs to give them more time, not more stuff. 4
L a c k o f o u td o o r pl a y l in k e d t o s h or t - s i gh t e d c h i ld r e n BBC News, 25.10.11
The time children spend outdoors could be linked to a reduced risk of being short-sighted, research suggests. An analysis of eight previous studies, involving more than 10,000 children and adolescents, found that for each additional hour spent outside per week, the risk of short-sightedness (myopia) reduced by 2%. Exposure to natural light and time spent looking at distant objects could be key factors, they said. The research team concluded that short-sighted children spent on average 3.7 fewer hours per week outdoors than those who either had normal vision or were longsighted. Short-sightedness is much Long outdoor views are good for eyesight more common today in the UK and the United States than it was just 30 to 40 years ago. Approximately 1-2% of five- to seven-year-olds in the UK have myopia. Advertisement
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Blue Skies Ahead with Clear Sky Children’s Foundation. In 2002, Olivia was 9 years old. Sadly, she lost her Mum and has since experienced high anxiety in everyday situations and chronically low selfself-esteem which has continued into adulthood. Conscious of the devastating affect of grief on her little sister, Sophia Giblin (25) did some research into the support strategies available that could have helped Olivia. Sophia found that there was very little psychological support available for children and young people in the UK; and even less services that are ageappropriate. In 2010 Sophia founded Clear Sky Children’s Foundation. Amongst the services available in the UK, Play Therapy is the most appropriate in meeting the needs of children who are experiencing difficulties. Some schools employ counselling services, but unfortunately, talking therapies require sophisticated verbal expression and the ability to think abstractly. Play enables expression without the restriction of making their creation verbally comprehensive. “Children express themselves more fully and more directly through selfself-initiated spontaneous play than they do verbally because they are more comfortable with play. For children to ‘play out’ their experiences and feelings is the most natural dynamic and selfself-healing process in which children can engage.”
(Landreth, 1991) It is human nature to hold the desire for self-realisation and this comes about through the growth of one’s personality. Interactions from the environment alter the child’s perception of the world on a daily basis and each experience contributes to the overall design of ‘the self’. If the child experiences positive experiences, this
child will likely grow up to be well-adjusted and self-assured. A child is ultimately positive; they are usually quick to forgive and forget negative experiences and, unless the experiences are particularly bad, they will accept life as they find it with eagerness. Individuals strive to fulfil basic needs and when these needs are directly met, the individual is said to be well-adjusted. Virginia Axline, founder of the fundamental eight principles of Play Therapy states that: “When the seekingseeking-effort to satisfy these needs is blocked, devious paths are taken to bring about satisfaction, and the individual is said to be maladjusted.”
(Axline, 1989) Much of this self-realisation process is carried out below ‘surface level’. The child has a ‘concept’ of the individual they are striving to be, and problems occur when the ‘actual’ and the ‘concept’ are different; the bigger the incongruence, the more maladjusted the child is likely to be. Play Therapy assumes that the child has the ability to solve their own problems and ‘grow’; children inherently strive for good. Non-Directive Therapy allows the child the permission to be themselves, without evaluation or pressure to change. Therapists offer a non-judgemental reflection of the child’s actions so that the child is able to learn about themselves; the idea is that the child will form their own opinions of their behaviour and ultimately, they will adapt their behaviour to be closer to the ‘concept’ they are striving for. The therapy room allows the child to play out their feelings and either accept this as part of them, adapt the behaviour or abandon it completely. The child is an individual in their own right; they are not subject to the emotions of others and they are able to ‘spread their wings’ and take a good look at themselves.
Within the therapy room, the child is given the
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opportunity to channel this inner growth; they become aware of their ability to solve their own problems. They can make their own choices and take responsibility for themselves in a way they have not experienced. Within this, they experience a feeling of security from a friendly therapist who offers total permissiveness, participation, acceptance and understanding.
For someone like Olivia, Play therapy might have provided the opportunity to reject the feelings of anxiety and to develop resilience that is so important in life. Clear Sky hope to reach many children and address these issues at a young age in order to set children on the right path. Kirby Eccles, Therapies Coordinator
Clear Sky know the benefits of Play Therapy but acknowledge that any play offers the child vital opportunities for learning, self-discovery and personal development. Clear Sky’s objectives:
mission
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Currently, Clear Sky Children’s Foundation are running Play Workshops and Staff Training in your area. Please contact info@clear-sky.org.uk or visit our website at www.clear-sky.org.uk for more information.
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Clear Sky will provide a mobile Play Therapy service in the form of a bespoke Therapy Bus in order to ensure equal opportunities to therapy regardless of financial stature or geographical location. Therapy will be delivered based on referrals from teachers and parents who feel children would benefit from Play Therapy. The bus and therapist will be hired out by schools for a minimum of 1 day a week for 12 weeks; this allows for a maximum of six children in need to benefit from the recommended 12 sessions( subject to review) required for a positive effect.
Follow us on Twitter for up–to-date news @ClearSkyCF
Clear Sky aims to provide education and training for parents and professionals working directly with children. This will be achieved by providing workshops outlining the benefits of play and techniques used to nurture a child’s opportunities for play. Clear Sky recognises the benefits of research, and aim to conduct and fund outside research projects on Play Therapy and its effectiveness.
Play Therapy assumes that the child has the ability to solve their own problems and ‘grow’.
Play Therapy aims to help children to cope and come to terms with difficult issues such as bereavement of a parent or sibling, divorce, separation, abuse, educational frustration and other feelings and emotions that at this tender age may not be fully understood.
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Is your breakfast club / after-school club registered as a food business? It should be! This applies regardless of the level of snack or meal you provide, and applies to school-managed clubs as well as those run privately or by management committees. For advice on registering, see www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/outofschoolchildcare and look under the ‘Food and healthy eating’ section.
Safer food, better business for caterers This pack is available free from the Food Standards Agency to help you with food safety management. See www.food.gov.uk/sfbb. Ring 0845 606 0667 for a pack, or email foodstandards@ecgroup.co.uk.
Are you a Playleader? Improving your skills to become an inspiring leader? We have created a training session just for you! This session will look at your management style, the different values and motivations people have, as well as introducing you to some tools that will help you motivate and inspire others. Come along to ‘Being an Inspiring Leader’ training on Wednesday 25th January 2012, 7–9pm at Foxcombe Court, Abingdon. If you can’t make this session, don’t worry there will be another one on Thursday 31st May 2012, 7–9pm at Exeter Hall, Kidlington. There is also training on ‘Supervision and Appraisals’, which will complement this session for those who have a supervisory role. This will be on Monday 20th February 2012, 7 – 9pm at the Foxcombe Court, Abingdon. To book your place, visit http://learning.myoxfordshire.gov.uk. If you need help with booking call 01865 797123. These sessions are part of Step Into Training. (These sessions are not exclusive to Playleaders, committee members, Early Years workers and people wanting to become leaders are also welcome.) 8
Ofsted Update 'Serious accidents, injuries and deaths that registered providers must notify to Ofsted and local child protection agencies' Ofsted has published a revised version of this factsheet (ref 110009) on its website, www.ofsted.gov.uk. There’s a change to the requirement for registered settings to tell Ofsted about serious accidents / injuries that occur to a child. The requirement now includes times “where you are off the premises such as on an outing”. If your setting needs to notify the “local child protection agency” (page 6 of document), the procedure is to contact the local Children and Families Assessment Team.
Community Childcare and Play—Web Pages Oxfordshire County Council’s website has a new look, but our out-of-school pages for playworkers are still there! Contact your Community Childcare and Play Officer (formerly known as Childcare Development Officer) if you have problems finding something. The easiest starting point is www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/ outofschoolchildcare.
Can your club / playscheme accept childcare vouchers? Note that school-managed settings that are exempt from Ofsted registration can accept vouchers (and many do!). They also qualify as childcare for parents claiming the childcare element of Working Tax Credit.
New Police non-emergency phone number The new number is 101, which replaces the previous 0845 number. This is the number to ring if a child is not collected from your after school club / playscheme, you cannot make contact with parents / carers, and have followed your policy for this situation. (Please check your policy if it has not been reviewed recently!) Calls to 101, from both landlines and mobiles, cost 15 pence per call, regardless of the time of day or the length of the call. See www.direct.gov.uk for more details. 9
...Continued Revised safeguarding leaflet The leaflet 'Safeguarding Children (Child Protection) - Guide for childminders, home childcarers, out-of-school and day care providers' has been updated. The new version is dated November 2011. It will shortly be available to download from our webpages, www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/outofschoolchildcare Contact your Community Childcare and Play Officer if this is difficult for you. Please get rid of any earlier versions.
Safeguarding children - training availability There are currently spaces as shown below. All courses are run through Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children Board. Book online at www.oscb.gov.uk. Call 01865 815843 if you have any difficulties booking. 3-hour generalist safeguarding (everyone working with children should attend this) Weekday evenings, listed under ‘Play Workers, Early Years and Childcare settings – Generalist safeguarding’: 8 December, Benson 18 January, central Oxford 14 March, central Oxford Weekday daytimes, listed under ‘Generalist safeguarding’: 12 January, Witney 16 January, Banbury 27 January, central Oxford One-day specialist safeguarding (Playleaders/supervisors must attend this, in addition to generalist training) Saturday, listed under ‘Play Workers, Early Years and Childcare settings – Specialist safeguarding’: 10 December, central Oxford 28 January, central Oxford Weekdays, listed under ‘Specialist safeguarding’ 10 January, central Oxford 17 January, central Oxford 7 February, Crowmarsh Gifford, near Wallingford 15 February, central Oxford Please note: it’s fine to attend the ones that aren’t marked for Playworkers, Early Years and Childcare settings! These are promoted in this way, because of the times / days they run. 10
If you want to become a qualified playworker or playwork supervisor, then the Playwork QCF is the qualification for you! Call Brid or Martin on 01865 779474 if you would like to find out more. QCF level 2 (for Playworkers): Workshops are currently running in Oxford. This is a rolling programme of training, so you can join any time. QCF level 3 (for Playwork Supervisors): Workshops are currently running in Oxford. This is a rolling programme of training, so you can join any time. Level 3 Playwork Transition Award (TA): Open to new candidates who have completed a Level 3 qualification in Early Years or Childcare, and who wish to gain a Level 3 Playwork qualification. The next TA will start on 19th January, and will run for 10 weeks before Easter and 10 weeks after. Venue to be agreed—please contact OPA if you are interested in doing this qualification—this will help us to decide in which area to run it. OPA Short Courses (each is a few hours long): A brand new programme of short courses is being published, and will start again on 24th January. OPA runs them across the whole county. Short courses include: Arts & Crafts from a Big Red Box Turning Break Time into Play Time Inclusive Play Whatever the Weather—Indoor & Outdoor Games Risky Play Mad Professor’s Workshop Creating a Rich Play Environment with Compound Flexibility Healthy Snacks Playwork Principles Food Hygiene Courses Paediatric First Aid Courses And more…
Feedback An OPA student wrote the following after completing her NVQ level 2 with Elaine Johnson, one of OPA’s Assessors, showing how OPA can support candidates with different needs.
“A huge thank you for the way you handled my NVQ and the way you understood how difficult it can be for an older woman to throw off the mantle of 'children should be seen and not heard.' I learnt that talking and listening to children and young people is of the utmost importance. I did this with my own children but to do it so much better 30 years on takes a lot of doing. I have enjoyed my adventures on the computer and have become more confident in my own abilities.
Please contact Brid Muldoon or visit the OPA website to view all the courses and play training we have on offer. Yours with a great deal of admiration and affection.” Email: trainingofficer@oxonplay.org.uk;
Tel: 01865 779474; Website: www.oxonplay.org.uk
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Jayne Nesbitt
Case studies of risky play around Oxfordshire Thanks to the OPA Assessors and QCF Students for these examples of risky play encountered around Oxfordshire.
Firstly, a note about risk in play from the Health and Safety Executive: [There is] a balance between the benefit and the need for children to play against the duty of play providers to provide safe play. Safety must be considered at all stages of play provision but, inevitably, there will be risk of injury when children play, as there is risk of injury in life generally. We must not lose sight of the important developmental role of play for children in the pursuit of the unachievable goal of absolute safety. The important message, though, is that there must be freedom from unacceptable risk of lifethreatening or permanently disabling injury in play. In Stanford in the Vale after school club, they explore around the trees and bushes, climbing the trees.
NEW—RISK IN PLAY GUIDELINES for Play Rangers (and suitable for other play professionals) are available on the Play England website at www.playengland.org.uk/ resources.
In Shellingford after school club, they wade across streams, climbing across fallen trees. "Children need to take risks to learn how to manage risks." National Play Strategy, 2008 12
The West Oxfordshire Play Rangers provide great opportunities for risky play when I was with them in Stonesfield recently - the children chopped vegetables and made soup in the Dutch oven, toasted marshmallows, made popcorn and cooked bread on kebab sticks over the open fire that they had lit with flint, dry grass and sticks. No-one even wanted to go home for tea they were having so much fun, eating so much, and not even a singed eyebrow between them!
At Kidlington Little Gems, they put up their own coat pegs with screws and an electric drill.
Play Barton Play Rangers offer open access play provision with free play and loose parts, usually in parks. One way we enable risky play and provide adventurous opportunities is by offering cargo nets, wheel barrows, planks of wood, ropes, milk crates and tyres etc— “The stuff that made us play creatively and be adventurous when we were kids!” Play Barton Play Rangers (PRs) make use of the apparatus within parks and loose parts to encourage risky challenges that "10 out of 10 kids prefer" (if managed effectively to be inclusive). PRs never push children to take the risk, with alternative options to make the physical task more achievable for the individual to allow them to set their own boundaries / challenges. In real play, children are in charge, instinctively making hundreds of decisions as they assess and determine the levels of risk they want to take, physically, emotionally and socially: mastering, day by day, an increasing repertoire of skills, adding to their bank of experience. Adrian Voce, former CEO of Play England 13
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CALLING ALL PLAYWORKERS! Come along and meet DREW COLBY from OBJECT D’ART; a brilliant puppeteer who will show you how to make funky low cost puppets from everyday items plus learn more about shadow puppets. All free at our fabulous workshop for all play settings across the county. at OXFORD CITY NETWORK MEETING BOTLEY PRIMARY SCHOOL AFTER SCHOOL CLUB, Elms Road, Botley. on WEDNESDAY 1ST FEBRUARY 2012 from 6.30-8.30pm LIGHT SUPPER provided For more information and to book please call us on 01865 323004 or email: dawn.williams@oxfordshire.gov.uk or nicola.george@oxfordshire.gov.uk
Half term at...Let’s Play The Let’s Play Project is a charity that runs fun, safe activities during the holidays and term time for disabled young people and their siblings. In October Half Term we had loads of fun at our arts and crafts day where we made scary Halloween decorations, including carving a pumpkin. We baked cakes and cookies and made gingerbread witches and ghosts to take home and share with our families. The young people loved getting messy with the insides of the pumpkins, a lot of it ended up everywhere... They all love our local park and enjoyed climbing and swinging one afternoon when the sun was out.
The Let’s Play Team 15
Report on Oxford’s first ‘Playing Out’
‘Playing Out’ is a new project that has been piloted, with great success, in Bristol. It involves local residents organising street closures after school to enable local children, young people, families and neighbours to play out. Playing Out have received funding to bring the project to Oxford. For Oxford’s first Playing Out, Jane Gallagher from OPA arranged this road closure for her street on a Wednesday after school, 3.00—6.00pm.
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Residents, friends, family and passers-by all joined in the fun. Older neighbours brought out chairs and snacks and chatted to everyone. People made them cups of tea, and neighbours met others they had never met before. Everyone raved about it and said there should be more. BBC Oxford TV, Oxford Times & Mail and the Oxford Journal came to cover this seed event. Children ran into their houses to get things to play with, get snacks or to go to the loo. A child said, “I like it because it makes me feel that it is my street, and that’s good because it IS my street.”
Playing Out events will now be rolling out across Oxford. There will be workshops for residents and for play professionals. For more info, contact OPA, or email: aliceandamy@playingout.net 17
Next deadline is 14.2.12
Inspiring Play is produced 4 times a year by Oxfordshire Play Association on behalf of the Oxfordshire Play Partnership. Deadlines: September edition: 7th September December edition: 14th November March edition: 14th February June edition: 14th May