The Summer term was busy for us all at Project Hope Leeds.
9 Parents and 11 babies and toddlers enjoyed our PEEP group (Parents as Early Education Partners). The families learned how to use every day routines and play activities at home to ensure their children are ready for school. Children learned to make the best of books, singing songs, making marks and playing with numbers, as well as practicing their social skills, by playing together and sharing. Parents learned to spot any early maths and learning opportunities whilst gaining confidence in helping their children’s early communication development. Parents also had an opportunity to meet other parents and form supportive friendships.
“It is a very welcoming place” – a mum from the PEEP group.
After changing locations for our busy Playgroup from the Vinery Centre to St Phillip’s Church Hall, we have finally moved back into Ebor Gardens Community Centre. The group continued to be popular with 38 babies & toddlers attending with their parents / carers.
Playgroup in their temporary home at St Phillip’s Church Hall.
We had fun back at Ebor Gardens by using the big room with a lot of space for the children to run around in and have all the toys out to play with. For the older children we had things like a kitchen, prams, babies, little play bikes, a slide and Lego Duplo. There were plenty of toys for the babies, too. We had a craft table where the children could do a different craft every week. The children always loved the snack time where they ate a variety of fruit, crisps and cheese/yogurt. Song time was last where the children had loads of fun dancing and singing to their favourite songs and sometimes learning new ones too.
9 parents completed the “What Can a Parent do?” Parenting course based at Shakespeare Primary School. Most parents significantly improved their scores on parenting questionnaires, and all felt better equipped to deal with difficult behaviours. Parents learned how to use active listening skills, I message’s, family meetings, 4 stage problem solving, how to encourage their children, foster responsibility, how to offer limited choice and allow children to face appropriate consequences.
The following are parents’ comments:
“I have learned to listen, respect my children and to understand why they misbehave.”
“I have learned to listen more to my children’s opinions and work together to solve future problems… The course refreshed my knowledge and understanding.”
What can a parent do course at Shakespeare Primary
12 families enjoyed our Teatime Club, where the parents and children came straight from school, enjoyed some fun active games and arts & craft and ate a homemade healthy meal together. We have also provided recipes for the meals including where they can get the cheapest ingredients as local to them as possible.
The group saw new friendships formed and greater support structures created for all the families, improved emotional wellbeing and mental health, greater community cohesion, increased social skills in children, increased cooking and budgeting skills, emotional relief of experiencing having a meal cooked and served in a family environment, increased confidence through connections and conversations.
Mum’s comment: “this is the first time in a long time that someone else cooked a meal for me and my family”.
Teatime club at the vinery centre