'Little Jimmy's'

Little Jimmy's is the drop in space for families for a range of purposes. I knew Pen Green had spaces for parents and children, however I had not appreciated the variety of spaces and multiple functions these spaces provide. The space is named after a Councillor - Jimmy Kane - who partnered up with Margy to lobby for the provision of a service over 30 years ago. The space is named to recognise his contribution to the establishment and growth of Pen Green - he has scottish heritage and shared the vision for the centre for children and families in Corby.

The main educational themes are evident here too - schema, parent engagement and wellbeing!! A parent attending this morning was telling me all about trajectory schema in one of the children's play - not her own child either!!! How groovy is that!

 A variety of services are available at 'Little Jimmy's' - the health services set up clinics on specific days and parents can come and attend while their children are at the Nursery. Sometimes the family does not have a child attending and they just come to the drop in space. I met a group of mothers who come to 'Little Jimmy's' every Thursday morning for a catch up and a coffee. Their children do not attend nursery. Families are able to use the space in ways that are meaningful for them, rather than for purposes defined for them. I think this is something quite unique - genuine power sharing with parents and families.

 As it is a drop in space and you can't anticipate who will attend - it is tricky to set up the environment. Therefore the space is predictable for families. Parents requested to have a dedicated space for very young children as a constant...below is how it was presented today.

 There is sand play inside - it is more of an inside activity than outside...wait until I tell you about 'the beach'. I am waiting to get a photo before talking about it.

 Below is the space to come in and make a coffee/tea - breakfast too if you had to leave the house early and need to get a bite to eat. There is nothing that they have not thought of here at Pen Green!

Thank you Kathy for taking the time to talk with me about your role in the lives of people involved in the Pen Green community

Baby Massage

I had the opportunity to observe a baby massage session today with a group of 8-10 mothers and babies aged from 5 weeks to nearly 12 months old. Thank you to the parents, children, volunteers and teachers for allowing me to come in to observe what is an intimate and personal time between parents and children.
The baby massage sessions are a 'drop in' arrangement. The parents and children do not have to commit to coming or even book in - they can just arrive and everyone makes it work. There is respect for the fact that an expectation of attendance can put pressure on families to 'have to be somewhere' and makes it more relaxed. I had the chance to talk with a some of the mothers and share in the joy of their parenting. One was there for the first time, coming with her sister-in-law who I think has an older child attending Pen Green. 
I was also able to witness how the staff 'connect with' parents to ensure they know about the other services available at Pen Green. There is a real skill to getting the 'paperwork' completed without making it seem like a burden, especially as there is a young child to give your attention to at the same time. There is thoughtful care and consideration afforded to the families.
The other thing that I have been thinking about is the team approach to everything. There were teachers and volunteers attending the session - all totally into it!!!
Thanks for letting me come in and be with you.

Encounters with some children - observing for schema

I was allowed to roam free in the nursery this afternoon observing the teaching and learning space and interacting with children if possible. As I have mentioned, the children are very used to visitors and initiate interactions freely. I was watching some children racing up and down a long hallway with wooden trucks 'transporting treasures' from one end of the hall to the other (hallway may be up to 20m long - I am spatially challenged - and the 3 children were racing up it pushing trucks). Not once were the children asked to stop this activity and it went on for over half an hour noise and all....no drama...no crashing. Others knew to get out of the way and respected the activities.

 I met a child while we watched others play games on the computers. There were some animals on the bench so we started to play with them. The next series of photos show the way the play was repeated many times over - lining up the animals 'connecting them in a row'. The teachers talk a lot about schema in their every day language with children. It is a 'default' framework for thinking for the teachers. There is a strange chaos in the environment inside that the children joyfully navigate around.

 Sorting them this way and then that...

 each time different arrangement - applying different criteria to line them up

 These photos are the same - I wanted a more artistic photograph :O)

 The toy at the end is her own toy from home - you can see it is a bit different from the other animals.

Each of these photographs is a different arrangement of the same animals. The child would set them up and then flick them over. The children are free to explore their schema in ways that are meaningful to them. I am impressed by this as it may be thought of that this full on space is not carefully orchestrated...don't be fooled....it is!!!

Routes and Roots

While meeting with Margy yesterday the idea of roots (where I am from) and routes (where I have been and where I am going) came up. I have been reflecting on this a lot today, especially as I am returning to the land of my Great-Great-grandparents in South West Scotland while I am on this side of the planet.
Since arriving in Corby, I have heard of the rich Scottish connection and how many people came to Corby in the 40's and 50's to work here. People at the laundrette were really friendly and gave me a history lesson while my clothes washed and dried.
My family emigrated from Scotland to New Zealand in the late 1800's to find prosperity and make a new start - for much the same reasons people from Scotland came to Corby as I understand it. There is a Scottish connection that I find intriguing. For many years I have anticipated coming to Pen Green - it has been on my bucket list for a while (up there with Reggio Emilia) not realizing the strong connection to Scotland. This blows my mind!! Roots and Routes for sure!!

Curriculum in action - time in the Nursery

 

EYFS

The centre follows the EYFS standards for learning from Birth to 5. Teachers assess progress against these priority areas. this is what I was referring to in my earlier post...this brings into question - if it is not observed at the nursery, does that mean the child does not have the skills and knowledge. This relies heavily on the capacity of the teacher to recognize this in play - what do you think??

These are the seven areas:

1.6 Educational programmes must involve activities and experiences for

children, as follows

•Communication and language development 

involves giving children opportunities to experience a rich language environment; to develop their confidence and skills in expressing themselves; and to speak and listen in a range of situations.

•Physical development

involves providing opportunities for young children to be active and interactive;

and to develop their co-ordination,control, and movement. Children must also be helped to understand the importance of physical activity, and to make healthy choices in relation to

food.

•Personal, social and emotional development

involves helping children to develop a positive sense of themselves, and others; to form positive relationships and develop respect for others; to develop social skills and learn how to manage their feelings; to understand appropriate behaviour in groups; and to have confidence in their own abilities.

•Literacy

development involves encouraging children to link sounds and letters and to begin to read and write. Children must be given access to a wide range of reading materials (books, poems, and other written materials) to ignite their interest.

•Mathematics

involves providing children with opportunities to develop and improve their skills in counting, understanding and using numbers, calculating simple addition and subtraction problems; and to describe shapes, spaces, and measures.

•Understanding the world

involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology and the environment.

•Expressive arts and design

involves enabling children to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials, as well as providing opportunities and encouragement for sharing their thoughts, ideas and feelings through a variety of activities in art, music, movement, dance, role - play, and design and technology

Meeting with Angela - The power of home visits

Angela hosted me for an hour and a half this afternoon - meeting with me to discuss the life of the centre. It felt very familiar....as far as I can tell, Angela is leader/manager of multiple spaces in the centre and has been there for 25 years (Margy told me that....yes...I had a coffee and chat with Dr Margy Whalley for a hour and a half:O). We started off with passing on some communication to the staff - to get a sense of how full on it is at this place, there was a Skype meeting with a group from USA at 4pm and the time had been changed. Then we got to sit together over a herbal tea to discuss the life of the centre according to Angela. There is so much going on here in amongst a lot of changes in the political agenda for education.

Home visits - a window into culture and identity
Home visits are an important feature of the activities of the teachers. The teachers visit to meet the child in their own space and to enable them to engage in conversations about things relating to the environment of the child when at the centre....the loop concept.
One idea was to take photographs of the doors of where the children live while visiting so there is an image to revisit. it also helps children explain to others where they live and opportunities for story telling and rich language experiences. There are two 'traveller' communities that have children attending so I was intrigued about how this works. It is important for teachers to 'be with children and families' in their spaces and to get a sense of the culture of the family through being in their home. 

This is a blast from the past for us - something we would do for all families in the 90's. Could this be a way to strengthen relationships? The teachers have half a day per week for professional time (AKA non contact) - and children are gone by 3.30pm - staff work until 4.30pm so visits are done in this time. 

Assessment
Teachers here have learning stories and have had numerous exchanges with Wendy Lee and Margaret Carr over the past 10-15 years (at least). The documentation on the walls had a very familiar feeling to NZ and even looked like what I see in many services. I want to explore a bit more the approaches to assessment and how decisions about planning for learning are made. I scratched the surface today and will research more tomorrow and Friday. I had better pace myself.
There are some crazy things happening in the education system over here. I don't want to rant about them here too much as I have only been introduced to the ideas and if my understandings are right - it is ridiculous!! Lets just say that the team at Pen Green have found ways to stay true to their approach and frameworks as well as accommodate the needs of the external evaluators. This is an important lesson for us all.

Presentation - Kate Hayward - Assistant Director Research Base

Main points for me from presentation:

• Community and engagement (community development approach) - Parents know their children best. Need to work with parents in ways that share knowledge about the child, and they need to be able to share their knowledge through genuine dialogue.
• P.I.C.L - Parents engaged in their Childs learning
• Use video a lot to understand what children are doing 
• Community is really important if you want to make a difference in the lives of children. Resistance is good as at least you know people have a passionate point of view about something.
• There are 120 staff across the whole organisation - social services, health and education working together for families
• targeting of interventions can often be thought of to be a deficit model - challenge the thinking is a way of working (not a programme) - engagement with communities and working with each other.
• Parents make decisions and lead assessment conversations. How do you understand your community?
• Kate referred to our 5 questions - Do you know me? what do you know about your community? Do you hear me? Can I trust you? Is this place fair for me? Do you let me fly?
• Develop things here that parents have been leading the assessment of need. Parents tell the service what they think is important and distributing the power. 

Beliefs and values about working with parents?

• Negotiating this and owning what ours are.
• What you believe affects how you work with a family
• Meet - 'The Pen Green Loop' - there is some connection here to our 'Helical Vortex' concept - anyway - it is about how what happens in each of the settings impacts on the other through observations by both and having a shared dialogue - this is both formal and informal.

Settling children and families into the centre - strengthening connections.

• There is a two week setting period where the child is supported to transition into the centre - not only by parents - all significant adults/siblings can be involved in settling the child. I thought this was great as the teachers get to meet and observe the ways the child interacts with these 'significant others' and build on these observations to strengthen a relationship with the child incrementally over time (albeit 2 weeks). It is a way to create memories with children at the centre, levering off the emotional connections the child has with these important people. Stroke of genius I think and not putting the pressure on parents only, inclusive of a variety of people in the life of the child. The possibilities are endless - Uncle, Aunty, neighbour, grandparent, older sibling.....Imaging the insights you would get into the life of the child through observing and sharing time together.
• A way to get to know and understand the child
• After 6 weeks at the centre - the teachers share a video clip about the child's engagement at the centre
• For children attending longer, there can be several clips. There are PICL groups where parents are invited to come and watch video clips of their children (collectively watching clips of each others children). Parents are able to watch the clips together and share ideas. 
• For some families, they meet 1:1 as well - again this is formal or informal - the team at Pen Green work hard to make it manageable.

Main frameworks - shared language to discuss learning:

• Notice, recognising and responding
• Wellbeing - Leavers levels of involvement 
• Schema

Arriving@Pen Green Centre

After a brisk walk in the sunshine, I arrived at Pen Green Centre. As I travel around to talk with teachers and leaders, it is encouraging to discover that the issues we are confronting in AotearoaNZ are similar to the tensions and challenges the sector is facing around the world. You would not believe how universal our challenges are!

I like the cut away line 'for children and their families'

 The gate displays a welcome sign - how familiar is this to what we display in our services. Greetings at the gate as the first indicator that 'you are welcome here'. 

The environment is open and inviting. I started with a tour around the centres with Rebecca and a group from the Netherlands. The children are so used to the visitors moving around the environment - the children walk through the groups confidently, knowing the adults will part to let them through. We did not go into the infant and toddler spaces as it is not appropriate for groups of adults to enter that space.

 There were three groups touring the centres today and we all got together for a presentation outlining some of the foundational principles of the Pen Green approach to early years education...see next post.

There is so much going on there....early years education, teacher training, parent support, professional development, social service support...and I am sure there are things I have not remembered. There are many layers to Pen Green - it is so much more than a setting for early years education.

DVDs

I have purchased these to share when I get back. I have seen parts of the one about the day in the life if a centre. Really interesting.

The atelier

View of the Atelier at the International Centre - there are so many things to encounter

Here some decaying vegetation is presented in various phases of breaking down. The Atelier sets up the environment for the teachers to explore so they have recent hands on encounters with the materials rather than just presenting them to children

I love the idea here of exploring the repeating pattern of the cabbage - the drawing represents an observation of the pattern - 'the more you look at something in detail the more of the same you see'

Imagine children encountering this and exploring the drying and decaying fruit. The Atelierista is careful to present various stages of decay as well - this is so carefully thought out and presented to the children

Some reflections on the visit to an infant and toddler centre...

The teachers orchestrate the environment and carefully prepare for teaching...questions like the following did not even get responded to as everything is considered to be interdependent and are supported through relationships and proposals for learning.

"How do you supervise all the children"

"What about health and safety?"

How often does this come into your mind before considering the magic moments? I have some sketches I will post later on.

The following photos are of the book I purchased with photographs of the centre and information.

The following photos are of the notes I took while on the visit to the Infant and Toddler centre as we were not allowed to take photographs.

This is a sketch of a wall display when you enter the centre. It was impressive. There is value placed on the values and beliefs that underpin the centre - my squiggly lines represent words and the boxes represent photographs of children and spaces

 Below is a sketch of how the space was set up - creating a depth of field and layers of reflection. Things were hanging from the roof - the lace plastic etc, and there was a plastic 'squiggle' on the projector surface creating a pink 'squiggle' on the wall.

 I loved this idea below - there was a small book A5 size with photos of landscapes - 100's of landscape pictures from around the world. there were small plastic animals and the children could place the animals in the landscape on the pages. I had a play with this one, changing the page and placing some different animals on

 Below are the comments made from the teacher about  supervision in the environments. It is interesting to note that careful consideration is given to the way the whole environment is orchestrated (their words) and there are agreements about how the space is used between adults and children. Adults are tuned in to children and always thinking about safety. I have been gifted a new word - co-responsibility

There is emphasis on dialoguing with the space - not just about the space under feet - considering volume as well. 

There was discussion about the right for children to be able to retreat away from the 'gaze of adults' and have the right to conceal themselves away.

At this centre, considerable research was done to design the building and space. This research has been used to inform the design and development of subsequent centres, so while it might seem an extreme amount of resource to invest in designing one centre, the learning is distributed in the future for developments. Something to be said for sharing what we have learnt.

The games have begun...

The study tour is well under way. I had a bit of drama yesterday...downloaded all my photos...or at least thought I had and they were not there..let's just say I was not attractive when I discovered this after deleting them off my camera.
I have been back today and taken more photos...and has probably worked out for the better.

The packing has begun...

Thanks everyone for the farewell this morning and encouragement for my adventure. This is such a great opportunity and I will make the most of it....promise!!!  I think my bag will stand out on the carousel....thanks Nicky Dowling for your advice not to do a red or black case.....it was a no-brainer to go for purple and pink!!!

Decisions decisions....what to pack? I think I am doing pretty well considering I have a desire to take my whole wardrobe...I am away for 10 weeks after all.  Check out my efforts so far...

These are some of the gifts I am taking to help people remember me...

This is the hardest bit to decide on....outfits!!!! HELP!!!!