Early years teacher Linda Jones is quite happy to obey a command from a little girl seated in the book corner to do a ballet twirl, and receives some very critical looks, followed by giggles, as she does so.
The fun factor counts highly at Seacroft Children's Centre in east Leeds, where a child-led approach is not just an ethos, but a way of life. The atmosphere is certainly relaxed on a Friday afternoon, with children pottering around and applying themselves to activities such as drawing and dressing up, while practitioners chat to them in an unhurried way.
It is the quality of this interaction that makes Seacroft feel more like a home-from-home than an institution. Children are clearly receiving all the one-to-one attention they need in order to feel secure and happy.
As Linda puts it, 'We constantly ask ourselves how we can react to the children's interests and at the same time input what we want them to learn.
The simple answer is to let them take the lead.'
Community deprivation
Seacroft Children's Centre is taking a leading role within its local community, and achieved Early Excellence status in 2001.
By working closely in partnership with its local Sure Start programme it is maximising support to families, offering on-site complementary health, counselling groups, creche facilities and outreach work. Its range of well attended classes currently includes an antenatal group, advice sessions on how to support children's learning at home, behaviour management, cookery, nutrition, Reiki therapy and massage.
Seacroft is registered for 54 children, including five who have special needs. A staff of 26, which includes a number of job-shares, has prioritised delivering a flexible service and most children attend on a sessional basis.
Along with other local children's centres such as Parkway and East Leeds Children's Centre, Seacroft is an important plank of Leeds City Council's strategy to improve child health and education within the east Leeds catchment area. The three centres have established an excellent communication network, and managers meet regularly to discuss how they can best meet community needs.
According to a recent Primary Care Trust report, there is a higher number of homeless children in the east of the city than any other local area.
East Leeds wards also have one-third of Leeds area children on the child protection register, which is the highest proportion in the locality.
East Leeds has high numbers of children who live in households on benefits - more than 27 per cent, compared with the city's 22.05. Endemic problems are poor levels of nutrition - especially in the high numbers of pregnant teenagers - few places to play safely, high incidences of mental health problems and drug and substance misuse.
Isabel Jones, who has been the centre head for the past three and a half years, says, 'We work in partnership with the John Jamieson special school, nearby Seacroft Grange Primary School and other outside agencies. The way the service has developed since we became a designated centre in 2001 has been fantastic - way beyond our expectations.'
Movement play
For the past three years, Seacroft has been working as a research partner with the Jabadao National Centre for Movement Learning and Health to develop Developmental Movement Play (DMP), which focuses on a child's natural desire for spontaneous movement. This play-based approach encourages practitioners to support child-led play and peer-led activities that develop foundations for future learning, health and well-being. The aim of the project was to assess how movement can help development in a wider sense.
Linda Jones, who is is at the project's forefront, says she has been greatly encouraged by its impact on the children who attend.
'We've evaluated how the physical environment restricts movement and have made changes accordingly,' she says. 'In the outside area we have brought in more equipment that encourages movement, such as swinging and revolving apparatus, trampolines and monkey bars, along with crates and planks with which children can develop assault courses.'
Linda emphasises that working with the children to evaluate the impact of the DMP approach has been a gradual process. 'We have progressed from movement sessions being directed by practitioners to being more free-flowing and child-led,' she says. 'We are now encouraging children to do what their bodies tell them to, and follow their need to move naturally.
This extends to babies, with lots of back play and tummy play. When children first become upright they often want to stay that way, so we help them to do that rather than curtailing them, then encourage them back down to the floor at a later stage with games and activities to revisit movements which stimulate brain development that may have been missed at an earlier stage in the rush to walk.'
Isabel Jones corroborates that this approach is now integrated with everything the centre does. 'We have created a lot more space and thought about where we position sand trays and sensory areas so that they don't interfere with movement. We still offer tables, but the children make their own decisions about when they want to use them. Story groups are now a lot less formal and we've moved away from the idea that children should be expected to sit.'
Observation highlights how free flowing movement and play is having a number of benefits on the children.
'Movement helps children to develop confidence, and this has a positive impact on language and behaviour,' Isabel says. 'For example, one particular boy tended to be very clingy, but with the use of movement he became much more confident and developed other social relationships.
'We've also found that the approach is very effective with children who have sensory perception disorders. In another case, one disabled child who at one stage could only sit when supported, became increasingly mobile through participating in movement activities, culminating in being able to participate in a game of hide-and-seek with his able-bodied peers by crawling.'
Reaching families
Family worker Barbara Kear reports that the centre's range of classes involving parents are very well supported. 'The mix of sessions is diverse,' she says. 'In addition to providing health and education information, we also give parents the chance to build on existing skills and interests and be supported in accessing courses, discovery weeks and job placements. Some of our parents have gone on to further employment as a result of the classes.'
Contact with parents is vital and Barbara emphasises that staff are always available to talk about a child's day and to discuss anything with them.
'Each child in the centre has a profile booklet that charts their activities and achievements through photographs, samples of work and written comments,' she says. 'Parents' contributions are welcome and they are free to look at the books and write in them at any time.'
As the afternoon at Seacroft progresses, parents pop in at different times to collect their children. Practitioners in the centre chat to them informally and appear to know them well.
'We are giving parents the choice to work flexibly, and through our various services we are able to address the individual needs of families,' says Isabel Jones.
Seacroft is still expanding. At the moment the biggest demand is for baby places, and it has just built an extension to its baby room.
'We listen to what parents have to say and work very much in partnership with them,' says Isabel. 'And of course we listen to the children. That is really what it is all about.'
A reflective leader
Isabel Jones was one of the first group of students to take part in the pilot of the new National Professional Qualification in Integrated Centre Leadership.
'Having been away from any formal study since 1979 when I qualified as an NNEB, this was a huge step for me to take,' she says. 'The course required me to reflect on 25 years of experience in childcare and how I had progressed to management, which helped me identify all the knowledge and skills I had acquired along the way, and how this had impacted on my leadership.
'During this reflection I realised how my practical and life experiences had been vital to my success. However, I did feel intimidated by the academic achievements of other people on the course - although this was wholly to do with my own perception, rather than the way they presented themselves. I made the decision to work with these people, as I knew I could not afford to remain in my comfort zone. From this point on I became much more confident in myself and realised why I had been asked to be part of this group.
'The outcomes of the course have made me a more confident leader and have provided me with a toolbox of strategies to support me in leading such a dynamic centre and working in partnership with other professionals.'
Further information
* Isabel Jones, centre head, southparkway@leedseyc.demon.co.uk
