In Residence

A warm welcome to our newest members; Diana Lynch Bodger; Play Therapist, UK Helen Gedge; British Association of Play Therapists. James Anglin; Professor at the School of Child and Youth Care, University of Victoria, Canada. Patrick Reason; Associação Beneficente Encontro com Deus, Brazil. Antony Clements, Childhoodfirst, UK Chris Bennett, Caldecott Foundation, UK Events: The next … Read more

We were sitting together either side of the fire and chatting together. It was a few months after the last time we had met.  Reuben, as I will call him, had driven down from East Anglia to Mill Grove, and we began to catch up on news over a cup of tea.  He and his … Read more

There can be little doubt that the internet and social networking are transforming our lives individually and collectively.  As individuals there are opportunities to decide and revise our “identities”, and socially we are all potentially globally-connected.  It will be for future historians to assess what effects this is having, how profound and how lasting they … Read more

This article was originally published in British Association of Play Therapists journal ‘Play Therapy Issue 89 Spring 2017, p.14-16. Published here with permission from BAPT and the author It’s Friday 8am and the ‘educadoras’ are gathering for a workshop on ‘ludoterapia’, or play therapy, that I am about to lead. I have spent the week building … Read more

The following essay was an assignment written for our Foundation Degree by Rita Baptista: 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 with. This article proposes to discuss theories relating to both formal … Read more

The following talk was given by David Lane at the opening of the 70th Anniversary of the International Federation of Educative Communities, held at the Pestalozzi Children’s Village, Trogen, Switzerland in April. As International Centre members will remember , I have been trying to build a UK branch of FICE, and we are holding an … Read more

I wrote down the question that appears at the head of this article some time ago, and left the rest of the page blank.  Then on the very day that I was going to write a first draft I found myself in discussion with someone describing her own grief.  During that spontaneous conversation I shared … Read more

After we had dealt with the dustbins and recycling on a Monday evening, four of us decided to have a friendly game of snooker: two against two.  The youngest member of the group, who is still at junior school chose me as his partner.  Our opponents were both adults.  We knew each other well and … Read more

In 1980, when I was working with some local authority children’s homes, the borough’s training officer handed me a scruffily typed and photocopied anonymous article called “Bedtime”. I was trying to get the staff to understand the importance of a bedtime routine and he thought this article might help me. I didn’t have to read … Read more

INTRODUCTION The World Health Organisation (WHO) has defined the period of adolescence from the age of 10 to 19. Universally, adolescence is seen as an extended period of education and training in preparation for the adult role. Young individuals tend to move out of the parental home and strive to be self-dependent and self-sustaining. Adolescents account … Read more

All about the legal, political, and organisational context for delivering therapeutic care to children. This article will explore the legal, policy, and organisational context in which therapeutic services for children in care is delivered.  The article is divided in to three parts, exploring themes relevant to each of the contexts; legal, political, and organisational.  The … Read more

Introduction I am a former Mulberry Bush Child and a Care Leaver, who spent the best part of 17 years in foster care and children’s home. I have seen and witnessed many changes in the systems that support vulnerable children and adults in this country and remain unconvinced that all of them are for the … Read more