Theme Time

Ok, it’s the summer. This means it’s up to you all to think of fab, funny and physical ideas for the summer playschemes. It’s great to have a range of starting points for play and using a theme can inspire both staff and children to have great ideas. At BAND we have had a quick think around and some of our ideas are here!

-        Gromit Unleashed. The Gromit trail will be up and running, go and spot as many Gromits as you can when you are out and about, you can pick up a Gromit passport at six places in Bristol. http://www.gromitunleashed.org.uk/trail/. You could make your own plasticine models, make animation, create film sets in boxes, dress up as your favourite Aardman characters, dress up as different breeds of dog, visit a dogs home, go to a Dog Show (RSPCA is having a dog show at Weston Beach Lawns on 18^th August), or learn how to speak dog, or invite someone from guide dogs for the blind to come into your group.

 

© and TM Aardman/W&G Ltd. 2013.

® Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Appeal. Charity No. 1043603

Photographer: Oliver Edwards

 

-        Pharaoh King of Egypt. The exhibition will have closed just before the summer, but it could be a fun theme. Dressing up as mummy’s, building pyramid dens, writing or drawing in hieroglyphics, making paper, making masks and jewellery, sun dials, make hummus and pita bread, dress up as ancient Egyptians, make mud bricks. Could be a bit spooky and link to the libraries Creepy House reading challenge. http://summerreadingchallenge.org.uk/

-        Water Week. Always a summer favourite, it can go in different directions, pirates, under the sea, beaches, submarines, experiments with water. Build boats or submarines, build sandcastles or other sand sculptures, make palm trees (visit the professional sand sculptures at Weston), dress up as mermaids, pirates or fish. Get the paddling pool out, blow bubbles. If you are brave, find out what is on at the Harbour festival for a visit on Friday 26^th July. Incorporate a water melon day and use watermelons for boats or a variety of other ideas e.g.: bowling with watermelons and painting!! http://www.growingajeweledrose.com/2013/06/summer-fun-wacky-watermelon-day.html

-        “I have a dream”. It’s the 50^th anniversary of the Martin Luther King speech and you could find out what your children and young people dream of for the future. Create model visions or inventions, explore who they are, paint self-portraits or take photographs,   (you could combine with a visit to the Photographic Portrait Exhibition at the Mshed), make wishing trees, do dream stories based on consequences game. Think about rights, what do they feel strongly about and want to change or peacefully campaign about?

 

 

 

-        Flight. Have fun with all things flying, make lots of stuff, experiment with different shape and materials. Kites, balloons, planes, seeds, leaves. Bird watch, hunt different types of flying insects.  Dress up as flying creatures, think about the different qualities they have, owls vision at night, bees memory of going places, there are more insect ideas inside. Build a box airplane den and have adventures. Visit the balloon fiesta, a bird sanctuary or go to an airshow.

 

-        Space. Is there life on Mars? Imagine the playscheme is going into space and you are all astronauts. Build your space craft, do astronaut training, learn how to space- walk, dress up,  make your Mars planet, take samples of earth to analyse, make contact with aliens, make a box of gifts to explain earth culture. Dress up as aliens or make some.

-        Spies and secrets. The Imperial War Museum in London has a new “Horrible Histories exhibition Spies”.  Have a week of  espionage, including codes and ciphers, disguises, camouflage, forgeries and gadgets.

 

-        Nature 99 places Bristol. Did you know there are 99 areas of Bristol that are good for Nature? Have a look at a Bristol map to find one near to you: http://maps.bristol.gov.uk/pinpoint/?service=localinfo&maptype=js&layer=Neighbouring+authorities;Sites+of+Nature+Conservation+Interest

The summer is a great time to have a nature based theme and getting out and about is fun for all. Bug hunts, wildflower surveys, woodland walks (with den building), footprint tracking and pond dipping are always popular. Check out  Bristol events at: http://bristol99.org.uk and ideas at http://www.naturedetectives.org.uk

 

-        Topsy Turvey week. Pretend it’s winter, wear woolly scarfs, have hot chocolate. Wear your clothes back to front, jumble up your language, eat pudding before savoury, walk backwards, make upside down cake, look at the world upside down, use lens or colour films to make glasses. What ways can you make your playscheme topsy turvey?

If you come up with a really good theme, do let us know and we will put it on our ideas website, post it on Facebook and Tweet it too!

 

 

What we remember…………. Part 4

We all know that there are many articles about how children nowadays spend too much time indoors or on the computer and how they rarely play outdoors anymore – many factors have played a part in that. BAND are quite a small staff team of varying ages and we all have different memories of play and what play means to us. So I thought that I would talk to the team and find out what they remember playing with or doing when they were younger……

Michelle (Young in the mid 70’s and early 80’s)

We lived in cul de sac and lived in a terraced house.  We used to play outside in the street a lot we had a grass verge that we used to play on, and also a back lane which we used to play in and ride our bikes up and down.  We played with all the kids in the street as there were several families with children of similar ages.  I had an older brother and he would be out playing as well although we never played together.

The type of play was very varied,  we had bikes and scooters and roller skates that we all used to share if one of you had a scooter then you would swop with someone who had a bike.  We also used to play ‘what’s the time Mr Wolf’, have little table top sales, make perfume out of rose petals and make up dances and plays.  I remember that we used to go out to play in the morning in the school  holidays and then not come back until lunchtime, and then play in the afternoon and come back for tea, sometimes I would be so engrossed in what I was doing I wouldn't want to come in.

I don’t remember my parents being involved in my play and we never went out on trips to the zoo etc. all of our play was based at locally.

Tell us here at BAND what you remember doing…we’d love to hear from you!

ellie@bandltd.org.uk

Bristol’s drive towards inclusion

We know that families of disabled children and disabled children need support to ensure that they can access a full range of services, sometimes that support is ensuring our own services are as accessible to all as they can be. Bristol City Council, BAND and other agencies have been focussing on a specific piece of work in this area over the past year.

To provide some context, these are some basic statistics about families of disabled children from Contact A Family:

·         56% of parent’s of disabled children feel there is insufficient childcare

·         Over 30% of families have relationship difficulties as a result of higher levels of depression and sleeplessness for example

·         Only 1 in 13 disabled children receive a regular support service from their L.A.

·         16% of mothers with disabled children work, compared to 61% of other mothers.

These examples are interesting because they are areas that childcare settings could support on. In Bristol, we know there is generally a sufficient level of childcare so we need to do more to ensure this is accessible for all children. Short breaks such as attending playschemes and other play settings can support families to have some time focussing away from caring responsibilities and enable the child to have fun and time with their peer group. These experiences can support positive family relationships.  Access to better childcare can support families back to work and this can also improve wellbeing. .

As a result of facts such as these and an initial pot of funding as part of the Government’s commitment in this area as DCATCH (Disabled Children’s Access to Childcare), Bristol City Council undertook an initial survey with parents of disabled children to find out what they felt would be most helpful. The feedback focussed on increasing confidence of staff in settings so that parent’s in turn felt confident that their child would be supported appropriately.

The Early Years Team created an Inclusion Induction Programme as a result of this survey, and BAND have been fortunate that the City Council agreed with us and other agencies that creating a resource to support over 5’s play settings was also important to increase staff confidence.

So last year, Alice Cranston, Bridging Worker, Bristol Inclusive Play Team, and I set to work assembling a focus group of Playleaders working successfully in inclusion, representatives from local special schools, leaders from adventure playrounds and organisations running inclusive play sessions. We asked them to consider what steps they felt were imperative to successful inclusion and what information they felt was most important for settings to be aware of. Special school staff stressed to us the importance of parent’s knowing they can call and visit anytime and see how their child is doing, this increases parent’s confidence that a play setting is open and has nothing to hide. We looked at examples of 1:1 support being necessary in school but not at all times in play settings and how to assess this.

We talked to more leaders and playworkers to get ideas, looked through other organisations research and literature to find the best studies and quotes, and talked to parents/ carers and children to include their views. Trials and feedback from settings helped to hone the last changes and our aim to make it an interactive, useful and fun resource to use.

The result is a file based resource to support the inclusion of disabled children in mainstream out of school settings. The resource includes:

·         Relevant background information

·         Top tips

·         Supporting quotes and case studies

·         A ‘How to’ section that provides staff with some practical steps to take right from the time a family initially contacts a setting

·         New template forms; Play Support Plan (covering areas such as Likes and Dislikes, Communication needs, risks to be aware of to support the child to be safe) , Information Sharing Agreements, Health Care Plan, Personal Care Plan for example.

·         Agencies, support groups and training organisations that can help and what help they could offer play settings.

There is also a ‘Grab and Go’ pack that contains the top information to support staff when they are busy and a family calls or arrives.

We have developed an Inclusion Workshop that play staff attend to focus on inclusion and get to know the resource. We ran the first one last month and feedback has been positive: 'The pack is brilliant!'.

The reality of course is that a file based Inclusion Resource is not going to magically remove all the barriers to disabled children attending settings, nor is it going to suddenly give parents of disabled children the confidence to try. However, it does give a solid framework for how successful inclusion could be carried out, devised by professionals who are doing it successfully in practice; it hopefully gives staff confidence that they can manage some of the logistics themselves in terms of who to contact and what, if anything, needs to checked off and completed for all children; it points towards people and organisations that can help settings.

The workshops themselves are also part of the move forward, starting conversations about inclusion with play staff altogether and giving a platform to discuss some of the challenges faced by families and what play staff might be able to support. Within the workshop, it was clear that play staff wanted time to talk about inclusion and hear about their colleagues experiences, attendees swapped emails to keep in touch about this area and we discussed how we can highlight services to local special schools and what further training would be supportive. There was a huge amount of enthusiasm which was fantastic to see and attempt to harness.

So what is the outcome in practice so far…..in the short term we have already had feedback from a Play Manager that using the Play Support Plan has highlighted triggers and ways to manage these with a child with additional needs attending their setting that they had previously been unaware of. This will lead to a better outcome for the child and family. The setting has rolled out the Play Support Plan as an addition to their Registration Form for good practice with all children that attend, so any disabled child and family will be completing the same information as all children which is a great move forward. Another setting has used the Agency section to find and organise training to support a child with cerebral palsy to attend, without the need to access external agencies for support to do this, which will give parents and staff confidence that the setting knows what it is doing. Many settings have Welcome leaflets with symbols and photo’s to support all children coming to a setting.

For the future, we have further workshops to deliver and further training to identify and fund. The Inclusive Play Team has plans to create a comprehensive record of settings who are particularly open to inclusion, we are linking back into Special Schools to work out how to let families know about settings and this piece of work.

It won’t solve all the challenges, but it’s a positive start and one which both Alice and myself are passionate to carry forward. If we can increase the number of parent’s feeling there is more sufficient childcare in Bristol by even a small percentage, if we can support even one family to increase their sense of wellbeing with their child having fun within a playsetting, if we have increased awareness within playsettings so they know how to start and where to get help, then from my perspective, that’s a successful start.  

Sarah Holway, Development and Support, BAND. For further info contact: sarah@bandltd.org.uk.

The ‘Inclusion Resource for Play Professionals’ was developed by Sarah Holway, BAND, and Alice Cranston, Bridging Worker, Inclusive Playteam, Bristol City Council. Support was from a large range of Bristol agencies and professionals, including the Early Years Inclusion Team, Bristol City Council. The resource is mapped to Level 2 qualifications in playwork to support practice and knowledge.

Examples from the ‘Inclusion Resource for Play professionals’

 

 

 

 

 

What we remember…………. Part 3

We all know that there are many many articles about how children nowadays spend too much time indoors or on the computer and how they rarely play outdoors anymore – many factors have played a part in that. BAND are quite a small staff team of varying ages and we all have different memories of play and what play means to us. So I thought that I would talk to the team and find out what they remember playing with or doing when they were younger……

 Julie (freedom to roam in the 60’s)

We lived in a street of semi detached houses in a deprived part of South Bristol. We used to play outside in the fields a lot which were at the end of our street – and I remember that we used to go tadpoling in the streams. We used to have a small tent that we played in as well. I also remember doing a lot of construction – digging out the garden and making oil rigs and playing doctors and nurses in our playroom with my brothers.

We used to play in the streets a lot. One of our favourite games being knockout ginger – knocking on doors and running away! There was hardly anything in the media in those days so our parents gave us a lot more freedom. I used to play with kids my own age – boys and girls and with the older kids a lot as my 2 brothers are older than me. Adults didn’t play a part in our play – we often just went off without them. We used to take jam sandwiches and walk to Dundry from our house for the whole day, and then walk home when we fancied.

My bothers used to have train sets which they set up in the living room – this meant the whole family enjoyed it – play wasn’t constricted to our rooms. And TV didn’t feature very much in those days – it only went on in time for blue peter and andy pandy.

 

Tell us here at BAND what you remember doing…we’d love to hear from you!

ellie@bandltd.org.uk

Bristol Adventure Playgrounds

Bristol Adventure Playgrounds

Adventure Playgrounds have been around in the UK for over 60 years, but with funding cuts affecting services across the UK, what might happen in Bristol?

To set the scene first, let’s remind ourselves of some of the history involved. In 1931, a Danish architect named Sorenson came up with the concept of a ‘junk’ playground as a result of his observations of children at play on construction sites and junkyards. He proposed a space where children would be permitted to play in ways otherwise prohibited to them and realised his vision years later during the German Occupation.

The children’s rights campaigner, Lady Allen of Hurtwood, identified with the ethos of this type of play and promoted the idea in England. After considerable opposition to a ‘junk’ playground, the name was changed to adventure playground and with the support of local and national organisations, the first playgrounds opened in London in the late 1940’s. They were set up on sites which had been bombed and across the country were opened in blighted or blitzed neighbourhoods, involving children in the design and operation of these spaces.

 In this post war period, one aspect of Lady Allen’s thinking was that playing in these more derelict spaces and fostering a democratic community with the children’s involvement, would help children heal the scars of war and the experiences they had been through. It is this idea of restoring children’s emotional health that is maybe the most pertinent aspect to the enduring nature of adventure playgrounds and the continued choice of children to freely spend time in them. Some 60 years on from their first arrival, adventure playgrounds may not need to provide the same type of healing necessary post WW2, but in an adult-led society with more risk aversion and less free wild spaces to explore, adventure playgrounds provide a chance to explore the other elements of human nature and provide a different outlet and experience.  Providing an opportunity for local children to experience risky and adventurous play, sharing, cooperation, belonging and ownership, adventure playgrounds could be said to provide essential services within communities.

Bristol has a rich history of adventure playgrounds, many of which have been running since the 1970’s. Local children from areas around St Pauls, Easton Lockleaze, Southmead and Windmill Hill have all benefitted from these open access provisions, with children from across the city traveling to their nearest site.

Unfortunately, the way in which Bristol’s Adventure Playgrounds are funded has recently changed. Previously, the services were either funded directly by Bristol City Council or, in the case of Windmill Hill, funding from Bristol City Council was received by Windmill Hill City Farm to run the provision. Last year, Bristol City Council undertook a commissioning process to provide youth and play services across the city, which covers adventure playgrounds. The outcome of this process was announced last September: the city was divided into 7 areas with a consortium and lead partner for each; £22 milllion was allocated over 5 years for youth and play; Councillor Gary Hopkins appeared confident that ‘when other councils are slashing funding for youth services, Bristol City Council is committed…(to)…..ensure there are quality services for children….to meet the needs of local communities’, but it now seems less clear.                     

The current situation is that St Pauls, Felix Rd, Lockleaze and Southmead playgrounds are continuing their existing services in the short term whilst local consortiums review what is being provided and create a plan for the future. However, this plan could include closure of sites, reductions in services and/or provisions of new services. Bristol City Council owns the buildings themselves and what would happen to these buildings if sites were closed is unclear.

Windmill Hill City Farm has sadly had the funding for its adventure playground withdrawn and the adventure playground closed at the beginning of February. This is a huge loss for the community. Sarah Rowland, Leader, stated in the Evening Post "The closure has come as a real blow as there is nowhere else in the local community where the kids can go and enjoy activities for free." She and another staff member have been transferred across to work for the lead partner in their area’s consortium, Learning Partnerships West. It is not known currently if any services could resume at a later date or what other plans might be in place.

In terms of numbers of children affected so far, around 100 children per session came to Windmill Hill City Farm Adventure Playground, with around 250 children registered in total. So there are 100 children per evening and weekend looking for somewhere else to explore. These fit with average numbers across the UK for adventure playgrounds so we can assume that there is a minimum of a further 1000 children registered across the city for the other four playgrounds, who may be affected by a cut in services.

As long term consequences, ‘Matrix: an economic evaluation of play provision’ 2010 by Play England concluded that for every £1 that is spent on adventure playground provision, £1.32 is recouped. This is as a result of long term benefits to health and education as a result of increased wellbeing in childhood. So cuts to these services now could result in higher costs further along the line.

To sum up, it’s clear that Adventure playgrounds have a rich history in the UK and there are large benefits for children and young people in our communities, to the communities in which they reside and to the long term costs incurred by society. Funders, Bristol decision makers, local representatives and the community need to be aware of the emotional, health and monetary benefits of these provisions before any further decisions to cut or reduce services are made.  

If you would like to show your support for Bristol Adventure Playgrounds, you could:

sign a petition –www.ipetitions.com/petition/supportbristolplay/ and/or contact your local councillor, MP or consortium leader  http://www.bristol.gov.uk/press/children-and-young-people/contracts-announced-new-bristol-youth-links-service

Sarah Holway, Development and Support, BAND.

This is an article from the BAND newsletter - to recieve a copy please contact the office at admin@bandltd.org.uk

 

 

What we remember…………. Part 2

We all know that there are many many articles about how children nowadays spend too much time indoors or on the computer and how they rarely play outdoors anymore – many factors have played a part in that. BAND are quite a small staff team of varying ages and we all have different memories of play and what play means to us. So I thought that I would talk to the team and find out what they remember playing with or doing when they were younger……

Jenny (Young in the 70’s, freedom to roam in the 80’s)

I grew up in a suburb of North Bristol, living in a terrace of 3 houses in the middle of the High Street.  When I was too young to go out and about on my own, I used to play with my big brother (when he let me)! We would play cowboys and Indians or ‘forts’ from the top and bottom of the stairs. I spent a lot of time dancing, my favourite thing to do was dress up in hand me down party frocks and dance to Top of the Pops for my family – much to their intense enjoyment!

There were a large group of children who were of similar age and we all used to go to school and hang out in our free time together. Once old enough to take myself out and about we spent a lot of time in my best friend’s cul-de-sac playing hide and seek in the big pine trees and trying not to get caught by the adults as we weren’t supposed to climb the trees!  We also used to go down to the big field by the Portway and play softball, rounders and cricket, all followed by a sprint home so I wasn’t late and could go out again the next day!

Our favourite thing to do was to walk through Penpole Woods, past Kingsweston House and then onto Blaise Castle, once there we would eat the packet of crisps and bottle of squash we’d taken, play on the really tall slide that used to be there, go for a paddle in the pool that used to be there and then catch the bus home, if we hadn’t spent the money on ice cream!

Tell us here at BAND what you remember doing…we’d love to hear from you!

ellie@bandltd.org.uk

What we remember...play memories

Over the coming weeks BAND will be updating our Blog with a serious of short articles from members of the staff team, based around their memories of play. Some of the articles will also appear in the BAND newsletter which is available by contacting the office admin@bandltd.org.uk 

 

What we remember………….

 

We all know that there are many many articles about how children nowadays spend too much time indoors or on the computer and how they rarely play outdoors anymore – many factors have played a part in that. BAND are quite a small staff team of varying ages and we all have different memories of play and what play means to us. So I thought that I would talk to the team and find out what they remember playing with or doing when they were younger……

 

Ellie (Young in the 80’s):

 

I lived in a small cluster of houses in a little village in the New Forest and the thing I remember the most is a distinct lack of adults! I was lucky enough to have a huge garden too. I remember playing with my fried Hilary who was my age and my little sister a lot – mainly making dens and hiding out in them. I remember my older brother, who had 2 friends his age – tom and Philip, playing a lot of tricks on us – the main one I remember is falling in rather a large hole that they had covered over with twigs and branches and they thought that was hilarious!

 

I remember rolling down hills, getting very muddy, jumping in fords and getting my wellies stuck in mud which I seemed to be attracted to (and still am…) I remember playing badminton with a distinct lack of rules, and when we were inside, I remember being in our playroom and dressing up a lot – in fact there are rather a few incriminating photos of me ‘modelling’ some rather atrocious dresses! 

 

I remember believing that there was a ghost on our stairs, trying to dress up the cat (!) and playing doctors and hospitals with friends. But I honestly don’t remember many adults being around. Apart from a loud voice at tidy up or dinner time and feeling rather annoyed with them……..

 

Tell us here at BAND what you remember doing…we’d love to hear from you! ellie@bandltd.org.uk