John Diamond

Reminiscing back to my time as an agency worker working in children’s homes, emotions were mixed. The excitement of a new job, meeting new people, the desire to help looked-after children and young people, and a feeling of accomplishment in getting the work experience needed. Yet day-to-day, shift-to-shift, my emotions were on the other end … Read more

The purpose of this paper is to identify and clarify sectors of Residential Care and Education provision for children and young people under the age of 18. The Children Act (1989) provided vital legislation across the field of residential care and education. It followed early work by the Dartington Social Research Unit beginning in 1960 … Read more

The violence in assessment: excellence,  conformity and uniformity vs The care in appreciation: development, plurality and difference   Never mind anti bullying week   –  what about a week in our schools free of all assessment, judgement, and criticism? Is the use of assessment in schools contributing to the kind of culture that with undue force, violently  ‘dis’ appoints, ‘dis’ … Read more

 This edition  of the TCJ brings you the papers from a two day online conference organised by the Mulberry Bush Child Care History Network and the Dartington Centre for Social Policy, held on the 9th and 12th October 2020, entitled ‘Care of young offenders; progress or decline’ ?     “Lessons have been learnt” is the … Read more

 I was surprised and touched by the reaction of a reader to my piece in the September edition of TTCJ.  There I had described the first evening on which a young boy came to Mill Grove, and how Ruth and I set about creating safe space for him and his siblings in what was intended … Read more

 This was a short talk given at the Coram Family and Child Centre ‘Permanence’ event , London, on 25.11.2019 Introduction. I would like to thank the Coram Team for inviting me to speak at this event. The Mulberry Bush is a national charity which runs the Mulberry Bush School in Oxfordshire and extended community services. Clearly … Read more

‘A worthy finish despite the start’ Today we received the news that one of our Care Experienced Children Jane (not her real name) is being moved out of our Independent Special Day school following another foster placement breakdown. This young lady has been with us for the past three years during which time she has … Read more

It was the very first thing Judy did when she started work: she bought three bars of chocolate.  After a childhood characterised by her father’s violence, Mary, her mother and her younger sister had eventually escaped from him to a rented house in another town. When the three of them went on any family outing, … Read more

The concept of “safe space” is familiar to all those seeking to create therapeutic environments, or to intervene in the lives of children and young people by rescuing them from neglect and abuse.  However, for obvious reasons, much of their attention is focussed on the adjective, safe, rather than the noun, space. The advent of … Read more

Way back in 2014, the way children and young people in England with SEN were supported changed with the introduction of education health and care (EHC) plans. These documents,  were binding on local authorities, and detailed a child or young person’s SEN condition and the provision that they need. For example: a special school placement … Read more

Last week I celebrated the birthday of TCES Group ( Transitional Care Education Services) as it entered into its 20th year as a Social Enterprise. TCES Group delivers education, health and care through its schools and high needs services for pupils with Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs and co-morbid Autistic Spectrum Condition. In this … Read more

The theme for my action research will be on low-level self-harm that does not have the intention to take life, or Non-Suicidal Self Injury (NSSI) and how to reduce it in a residential setting. Within the past year, a new student has arrived at the Mulberry Bush School with NSSI behaviour, and a few other … Read more