John Diamond

This is an adaptation of the first part of an M.A. dissertation by Angus Burnett. It is about leadership, task and organisation in a therapeutic community for children. The M.A. in Therapeutic Child Care at The University of Reading was run by Adrian Ward, Dr. Linnet Mc Mahon, Paul Cain, Deborah Best and Theresa Howard … Read more

On the night of 5th December 2018, citizens of Pangani Town were saddened by the news of the rape and murder of a local village nurse. People grieved for the sudden death of the 23 year old who disappeared immediately after the last ferry crossing from Pangani town to Bweni village where she had been … Read more

In a recent article for The Therapeutic Care Journal  I wrote at some depth and with more feeling than I had envisaged at the outset, about children who were “un-held in a healthy mind”.  Unsurprisingly, it was a worrying and rather distressing scenario.  Since then I have, of course continued to hold the matter, and … Read more

In the autumn of 2018 I exchanged emails, as we do from time to time, with my friend and colleague, Jerome Berryman, the founder of Godly Play. He is a polymath who worked (as well as many other places) at the Texas Children’s Hospital and Houston Child Guidance Centre, was Adjunct Asst. Professor of Paediatric … Read more

Working with children is important work, but we have to recognise that it can be quite difficult and demanding. As the manager of the assessment centre I used to work at put it, child care work is not for the faint hearted. Given how challenging the work can be, it is vitally important that staff … Read more

As more complex and troubled children and young people are routinely placed in care there has been much thinking about the types of model of caring that may work best for a routinely traumatised population. This has led to an increasing interest in what is often termed ‘therapeutic care’. This can lead to the term … Read more

As I was walking to the station yesterday evening two people were walking in front of me – a grown-up and a child. They were talking and strolling along. There was something special about their togetherness. The grown-up was clearly with and tuned-in to the child. Not wanting to eavesdrop on their conversation or to … Read more

This paper was an assignment for The Mulberry Bush Level 5 Foundation Degree in ‘therapeutic work with children and young people’, its full title was: With reference to relevant literature, in what ways do you consider play, whether formal or informal (or both) important to the development of the Children and Young People you work … Read more

I have written before on the well-tried subject of the importance of a child “being held in a healthy mind”, but in the light of some sustained close observations over the past couple of years I now realise that a critical element of the theory underpinning what I wrote may need substantial revision.  What Goldfarb, … Read more

During the summer months of 2018 Ruth, my wife and I, travelled widely in the UK and Europe to visit and stay with members of the extended family of Mill Grove who were unable because of distance or circumstances to come and see us at home.  Not counting ferries and flights we covered 4,500 miles … Read more

LEILA MARGARET RENDEL, OBE Visionary – Philanthropist – Pioneer 1882 -1969 Most biographies of Leila Rendel begin with the founding of a day nursery in 1911 which became The Caldecott Community. However, the years which preceded this were rich in personal life experience and led to Leila’s passionate interest in the welfare of children and … Read more

In The Handbook of Residential Care (Routledge 1993) I wrote a chapter called “Creating helpful organisation”. It covered buildings, furnishings and decoration, using money, boundaries, public and private space, kitchens, bathrooms and lavatories, food and catering, team and community meetings, supervision, staff support groups, training and development, rotas, routines and habits, smoking, and rituals and celebrations. … Read more