John Diamond

Introduction This assignment represents the final project of a Foundation Degree in Therapeutic Childcare for Children and Young People I undertook as part of my initial contract at The Mulberry Bush School (MBS). It is an action research project, consisting in identifying an area in my work I would like to investigate, putting an intervention … Read more

For this issue of TTCJ with its focus on research I intend to go back to the very origins of research.  To do this it is necessary to connect the educational philosophy of Frederich Fröbel, with studies of plants and marine biology. First Fröbel.  I came across his educational theory when researching in India.  Fröbel’s … Read more

Introduction Within the following paper I will explore the effect that nurturing environments can have on traumatised children’s academic learning. I have included extracts from my own reflective journal to offer an insight into my own day-to-day experience of working alongside traumatised children. The focus of the paper will be on nurturing environments. The word … Read more

Introduction My workplace is a small, inner-city mainstream primary school within a very diverse community. My role as a Learning Support Assistant in the Reception year group, aged 4-5 years, encompasses working alongside the teacher in providing a safe, stimulating, play-based learning environment. It also involves ensuring every child is given the opportunity to meet … Read more

Recently Ruth and I revisited a scenario that has been part of our lives at Mill Grove for the past 40 years.  A little boy was with us for a meal for the very first time, and so we had to plan how to welcome him, so that he, along with everybody else, felt secure … Read more

This article was originally published in CYPNow by Rhiannon Thomas on June 23rd 2020. Published with permission. The pandemic lockdown presented significant challenges for providers of children’s homes. Here, Rhiannon Thomas, therapeutic manager at St Christopher’s Fellowship (http://www.stchris.org.uk/), outlines how its specialist therapeutic service helped staff working in the settings to maintain support for children … Read more

Children’s charity St Christopher’s Fellowship ( www.stchris.org.uk) celebrate the amazing foster families who transform the lives of children every single day. Sharon is just one of these foster carers – here she tells her story of fostering three sisters. “Hello, I’m Sharon I have been asked to talk about my experience of therapeutic parenting as … Read more

Necessity, as we all know, is said to be the mother of invention. And this has been confirmed by the technological and social innovations spawned during wars. This line of thoughts leads on logically to the question of whether this is true in, say, times of plague. I am not sure what creative ideas came … Read more

RESTORE – a lens through which to look at what children in care, and those supporting them, may need in this time of crisis How has the experience of lockdown affected children and young people in care, unable to make or receive visits from family or friends? How have those adults who support them been? … Read more

Over many years I have tuned in regularly to certain BBC radio programmes such as Desert Island Discs, The Life Scientific, and Private Passions, each of which uses a framework in which an invited guest is encouraged to share something of their life story. Among other ways in which I engage with them is to … Read more

About the author: Dr Jane Herd is a clinical social worker with over 30 years’ experience. Jane has a Doctorate from the Tavistock and Portman in respect of the mental health and inner working models of hard to reach populations. She runs a social enterprise called Orb8 that provides training and service development in respect of … Read more

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and what has been termed “lock-down” in the UK, concepts such as “social distancing” and “self-isolation” have become common parlance.  Over time this has led professionals, academics and clerics to reflect on related words such as alone, loneliness, solitude, solitary, and confinement.  We know that different languages have … Read more