Positive Play Project
Aims:
To work within and around schools, other partners and local parents to provide Positive Play Opportunities for children aged between 5-11yrs of age. (However we have worked with some secondary schools with older children).
Using Therapeutic Playwork techniques to deliver Positive Play sessions for children and young people, raising self esteem, promoting emotional health, improving attendance, helping to access the curriculum and achieve potential.
Where relevant: Engaging parents, carers and other adults in positive play activities. To encourage participation in the process of play development and sustainability of the Positive Play Project in schools and their communities.
Key partners: Schools, children, parents, SENCO’s, BST, SEAL, Extended Services Coordinators, JAT, CAMHS.
The Process: Key partners identify:
Individual children who are having difficulty with the learning process;
Groups of children who need support with development of social skills, confidence building, emotional development, behaviour management;
Patterns of need identified.
Play Service Referral is made and a package of services to meet these needs is designed using the following components:
Play support for individual children or groups
Various Positive Play activities are planned to meet the needs of individual children, based on referral forms, observations and consultation with key partners.
Training for school-based staff to support and sustain the process
Various training programmes delivered to encourage play development and sustainability of Positive Play activities.
Development work with parents/volunteers to:
Enhance parenting skills, build a network of volunteers, develop community play schemes and provide continuity of support.
Participation
Training children as “Playground Buddies”, involving children in the process and encourage a whole school approach as required by Extended Services and SEAL
Enquiries are logged on the Play Service Referral System and responded to accordingly.
Referrals are submitted by key partners outlining the identified needs of individual or groups of children.
Positive Play Programme is designed in agreement with key partners to meet the needs of the school, teaching and support staff, children, parents and carers.
Observations, underpinned by Therapeutic Playwork, are made by trained Playworkers to identify correlation with referrals and to assist in planning of appropriate Positive Play activities.
Participation and consultation will be an ongoing process with key partners, to ensure satisfaction of service delivery, ownership of achievements and to encourage sustainability of Positive Play activities.
Evaluations and feedback with key partners will actively be sought to identify improvement areas, Positive Play Project success and areas of work which may additional support.
Qualitative and quantitative data will be collated and reported to evidence progress
For more information please contact:
Barbie Szucs
Play Development Worker
County Play Service
Nottinghamshire County Council
Tele: 01623 634781
Mobile: 07754899379
