Paper
Octagon-Octaplay: play group challenge 1963-1981 and child care training and play 1981-1991
- issue: Issue 2 / 2009
- authors: Rosemary Pickering, Betty Rathbone
- keywords: play group, experiences, United Kingdom
- views: 3947
- downloaded: 0
- download pdf (74 Kb)
abstract
Octagon play group challenge. This playground was an early foundation in the Preschool Playground movement in England which started in 1963 among mothers who could not otherwise find good placements for their children aged 3-5 years old. At that time nursery school provision was not a government priority and many children found to move to primary education at 5 years old traumatic.
The playground founders were keen to ensure that children would be able to form secure attachments, and that the families would be supported in setting individually appropriate expectations for their children. The need for both adult and child role models of good behaviour and personal warmth was met by having a high staff ratio (at least one adult to every five children) and a preponderance of children from comfortable backgrounds.
The staff training emphasized the need for children to have a regime that would support skill development in the areas of language, motor dexterity, self expression, creativity and social interaction. Outside play with large equipment was available and was important for teaching the need to share and to respect the needs of other people. For some children who lived in flats this was their only chance to learn about growing things. The environment inside offered some smaller spaces for children who might be overwhelmed in a big hall, and gave choice of activities. The staff were expected to be aware of what choice children were making and initially simply to support and talk about what they were doing. If it seemed that a child was eg never attempting to do puzzles, or afraid of using messy paints, then gentle encouragement would be used to help them make use of all opportunities to acquire basic skills that would be need in school.
Time to spend with parents, and to speak with them about their worries about the children, was a priority, and another reason for wanting to have a high staff ratio.
Outcomes. No child was ever asked to leave the playground because of behaviour problems, although the playground had a third of its intake of fifteen children reserved for difficult children. A follow-up of 50 children refer by health Visitors as likely to fail in normal school showed that 5 were allocated to Special School for handicapped children. And did well there. We do not have complete follow-up into adult life of the full cohort but we know of some who have had their higher education and one who has a fulfilling life as a teacher.
Implications
- Nurturing needs to underpin skills training,
- Professional work should be face to face with parents and playground staff,
- Important effects take years to be evident: resources for follow-up are key.
Octaplay - octagon child care training and play. An example of successful provision in a playgroup setting and of the developments. Importantly, the premises were really like a very pleasant private house. The project was a new approach to intervention for vulnerable children and their families.
The ethos was for the parents also to learn about care as the best for their children by always being welcome at groups and helping, on rota, in the playgroup. Children started from whatever stage of their development they were at and were helped to progress as appropriate. The aim was to respond to the particular needs demonstrated at any one time. Very considerable contact was always kept with the children's Health Visitors.
In terms of time, there were playgroup sessions, four mornings a week, one after school club session and two parent and toddler group sessions. In the holidays there were a weekly holiday play scheme and a parent and toddler group. This meant there was always provision of special need of children and families all year round. The children progressed through the groups according to their age.
The trainees' comprehensive program provided a great deal of practical child care experience (also other relevant placements) with talks, discussions, working through progress sheets, etc. It also meant the ratio of adults to children was approx 1: 4 - but the coordinator spent about one third of her time in sessions with the parents.
The fact that competent parents' children attended the sessions actually meant that this really helped those children and families needing help.
This paper is the result of the coordinator's first hand knowledge. The work was carried out by parents, professionals and trainees working together
Key findings. Qualitative. A very high quality of provision was achieved. The relevant first schools were well pleased with the children when they moved on to school. Problems were resolved - i.e. a child referred because he was hyperactive, but who proved not to be so, etc. Working in such close contact with Health Visitors and their ethos of 'child care being family care' was very successful.
the progress from parent and toddler group to playgroup, to after school club and to holiday playschemes, meant the continuity was excellent for children's special needs. One mother, - originally a very underprivileged child, had met the coordinator by chance for the first time when she was 4 and, recognizing her when she was 18, told her how much she had meant to her. She is now doing her very best, with her daughter's father, to be a really good parent to her child.
Trainees achieved NVQ Level 1 and went on to work in Nurseries, while some others had their experience of working with children to stand them in good stead when they becoming parents. One trainee progressed and became a very highly regarded Welfare Assistant at the local school for physically disabled children, where she is still working.
The 'Play Safe' book (Safety Finger Rhymes) is moving towards its third printing and raising money for a relevant charity; the coordinator's first title in a series of wildlife and natural history biographies won a U.K. national award, has been very well reviewed by professional magazines, adults and children alike, and is now also on sale in Norway.
Quantitative. The playgroup was registered for 20 children (with one or two places being kept for emergencies when possible) and opened four mornings a week. The Parent and Toddler groups, meeting twice a week, were usually attended by about 8 parents with their children, the After School Club usually had about 10 children, and the Holiday Playschemes about 15. Though the numbers involved were comparatively small, the number of different actual needs being met was very considerable, encompassing not only those of the children (including those referred by the Child Guidance Clinic, Health Visitors, Schools and Social Workers) but also those of the parents and of the trainees (This apparently also included competent parents' children, as they continued to enroll for the playgroup).
Implications and recommendations
Policy: Replication by way of the introduction of Centers operating in a similar way and with similar aims
Professionals: Supporting this kind of activity and identifying the need for it
Research:
- Reference to the administration records of Octaplay (Octagon Child care Training And Play) held at the Norfolk County Record Office.
- Longitudinal study of the school records of some of the children who attended Octaplay groups. A comparative study of children attending private nurseries.
- Exploring the feasibility of a Helpline, for parents continuing to be able to make contact after their children have moved on from such provision (It would need to be well monitored to ensure that the relevant staff did not become 'overloaded').
- At some stage in children's later development, when facing difficulties, could it be feasible and helpful for them to contact someone outside the family, who knew them well when they were younger - again well monitored in order to prevent overload.
- Longitudinal studies of the trainees' progress since their time at Octaplay and their opinion of it, whether they are in relevant careers or bringing up their own families.
Key references
Bowlby, J. (1999). Attachment (2nd ed.). Attachment and Loss (vol. 1). New York: Basic Books.
Briefing Paper no 23 Attachment Theory into Practice, British Psychological Society 2007.
Mittler, P., & Mittler, H. (1982). Partnership with Parents. National Council for Special Education, Stratford upon Avon.
Contacts: Mrs Betty Rathbone (Chairperson), 50 Elm Grove Lane, Norwich NR33lf U.K., E-mail: betty.rathbone@ntlworld.com Phone 00 44 01603 4402641