Play Team

AGM

judith — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 09:50:03 +0000

AGM – OCTOBER 2011
The Play Team Association (registered charity no: 1134012) Annual General Meeting is to be held on 7th October at 15.30 at
The Pallant Suite,7 South Pallant, Chichester PO19 1SY
Please see map below for directions and parking
AGENDA
1. Welcome
2. Apologies for absence
3. Minutes of the previous AGM to be agreed and matters arising
4. Reports and accounts To receive and consider the accounts for the year ended 31st July 2011 and the reports of the charity trustees and auditors.
5. Auditors To appoint Mr Douglas Cosbert as the auditor until the closure of the next Annual General Meeting.
6. Auditors remuneration To authorise the charity trustees to set the level of the auditors’ fees.
7. Appointment of charity Honorary Officers (trustees) Nominations have been received to re-appoint the following members as Honorary Officers (trustees) and members of the Executive Committee until the closure of the next Annual General Meeting.
To re-appoint Dr M Bement as Chairman
To re-appoint Mrs Judith Woodworth as Honorary Secretary
To re-appoint Mrs Gill King-Smith as Honorary Officer
To re-appoint Mrs Nina Guilfoyle as Honorary Officer
8. To receive the Business Plan for next calendar year.
9. To receive brief reports of work undertaken during the last year
10. Any other business – to deal with any matters raised at the meeting
The Pallant Suite is situated at the southern end of South Pallant, suggested parking would be the South Pallant carpark or the East Pallant carpark both run by the local council.
Please RSVP: ukplayteam@gmail.com

Feedback from training 24-26 Jun 11

judith — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 12:30:37 +0000

The Play Team Association

Feedback from training

24-26 June 11

Very inspiring, accepting and non-judgemental atmosphere. Caring “leaders”

Looking forward to staying involved with the Play Team – I have felt very welcome

Tuned in for my “inner child”

I loved the support, freedom and care that was provided by Anna, Judith and Susy. All are very sensitive to our individual needs. The space, time etc. to be free, me and accepted was/is just liberating

Difficult to find – better signs? (Of the venue)

Didn’t like the venue to start with but as the time passed it grew on me and was somehow perfect for the course

Very supportive and very professional

I have found the whole 3 days very supportive and inspirational. Lots of food for thought. There was a nice balance of play and theory. Venue hard to find but was nice and quiet which aided the course. The facilitators each added value and had own stance which worked well together

Enjoyed meeting new people and learning new skills. A great experience especially discovering the fun of ‘play’ again and rediscovering my ‘inner’ child. Fantastic teaching – invaluable

Fantastic tutors, very informal yet delivered the course in a fun, informative, inspiring way!

Instructors are very friendly and so knowledgeable. Pleasure to meet and real inspirations!

Muddle with paperwork – maybe hand out just the assessment criteria sheets and provide plain paper. What a muddle we got into.

Felt the forms were overcomplicated and confusing. Don’t feel that the log sheets were needed and it would have been helpful to have an instruction sheet.

Fantastic. Opened my eyes. Food for thought. Loved the play, creativity and spontaneity. Great people.

Would prefer to pay a bit more and have lunch provided.

A really great experience has enabled me to see, feel and think about my world from a child’s view.

The Mindful Brain – Siegel

Nina Guilfoyle — Wed, 19 May 2010 09:56:43 +0000

There have been new developments in the field of brain/mind research which demonstrate the way neurons regenerate where there is mindfulness, or good concentration/paying attention/creative absorption.

As this is the outcome of our child directed play sessions, this is very relevant to the way we present our work as grounded in a high level of research and professionalism.

Read the full article here – (opens in a new window) >> Siegel article Mindful Brain

Daily Life of Art by Nina Wise

Nina Guilfoyle — Wed, 19 May 2010 09:50:58 +0000

Since the inception of the human species and until only decades ago, daily life was infused with art making. We crafted our own tools, we sewed our own clothing, we built our own shelters, we cultivated our own food. We sang songs that we made up, songs that were passed down to us, and songs that were given to us by the gods. We danced together matching our steps to the steps of our companions. We built musical instruments out of hides and sinew, twine and bent wood. We painted on walls and on our bodies and our implements. These creative acts enhanced our well-being as individuals, strengthened family bonds, knit communities together, and provided access to states of being that invoked insight and wisdom. We as a species cannot reside in psychological and physical health if we abandon the very activities that maintain well-being.

Everyone is creative. Creativity is our very nature. But for many of us, the creative impulse has gone into hiding. “I can’t draw, I can’t sing, I can’t dance,” we confess to each other, and we plant ourselves in front of the television for the evening. But the creative impulse that is at the core of all being remains robust within us.

Creativity is about having the courage to invent our lives–to concoct lovemaking games, cook up a new recipe, paint a kitchen cabinet, build sculptures on the beach, and sing in the shower. Creativity is about our capacity to experience the core of our being and the full range of our humanness.

The question of how to become more creative is not about learning anything, or even doing anything, but about allowing whatever arises to gain expression. To do this, we must bypass the voice inside of us that says stop. The censoring mind is clever and has an entire litany of reasons we must refrain from expressing ourselves: You are a bad dancer so sit back and watch while the skillful ones dance. And you certainly can’t paint so don’t even try because you will embarrass yourself. You sing off-key and you can’t hold a rhythm–you will disturb everyone within earshot if you open your mouth. And if you happen to disregard this sage advice, you will make a total fool of yourself and no one will ever love you or give you a job. We obey this voice as if being guided by inner wisdom; but when we tune in, we hear a quieter voice calling out to us to express ourselves freely. This is the voice that can liberate us. If we listen and respond, our lives become rich with the pleasure creative freedom provides.

–Nina Wise, in A Big New Free Happy Unusual Life

THERAPEUTIC PLAY SUPPORT at South Devon School by Charlotte Yonge

Nina Guilfoyle — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 11:20:51 +0000

Child: RE

Over the last year, RE has been given weekly Child Directed Play (Play Team Approach) on Thursday afternoons. The creative emotional literacy journal has been offered to him for a few minutes before and after the play session. These have lasted up to an hour and we have used the lobby between the Girls’ and Boys’ toilets at the end of the corridor. The area, though cramped, was light and sunny, and had some interruption from children going to the toilets. To begin with, he drew and wrote in his creative journal reflections on what was going on in his life, taking great care over some pictures which included a video game ‘action hero’ character. After a few months, he began choosing ball games and became more active. We spent much time kicking a football in a fantasy game, in between clay-work or indoor ball bouncing.

Lately, RE has used the outside space imaginatively, including the playground, choosing adventure storytelling more and more. The video games’ action hero characters also came into be recycled in the play. I realised that his imagination also became more rich and expressive, as we both took on characters and acted out scenes together.

He seems to have a natural acting ability, and an increasingly fluent command of language to describe his stories. He has used outside space expansively to fill with imaginary scenes and characters. It seems that his natural ‘thinking mode’ is through active imagination and physical co-ordination: role play, drama or sport, in which his interests in video games become re-animated as he takes on the hero characters. He makes use of space this way as a thinking arena, through which he uses his language skills that hook into his imagination: warrior characters seem to help him express integrate his feelings of frustration.

Child directed play with creative journal sessions have supported RE in exercising his specific strengths, and in feeling comfortable both with book work and active skill rehearsal (physical co-ordination) as a ways of expressing his thoughts and feelings.

Charlotte Yonge PhD