Keith's Blog
Archive for the ‘Parenting’ Category
Finger painting
Monday, May 17th, 2010
I find it impossible to sit at a nursery table with children where there is paint and paper being used without having a go. What’s more these children were painting with their fingers. Up to their armpits in black paint making pictures of rabbits. Fantastic.
My effort was recognisable as a rabbit in my eyes but I was not too sure that it convinced the children. And then into the kitchen next door where some parents were making cakes and had prepared bacon rolls and coffee for their guests. Tough job this but someone’s got to do it!
I was at the Clase Family Centre in Swansea with Kay at the invitation of Cherrie Taylor and Peter Williams from Faith in Families. In the Church in Wales the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon Board for Social Responsibility runs a number of Faith in Families Projects and I got to visit three of them in Swansea. First stop was Clase and then it was on to the Family Centres in Penplas and Bonymaen. What a morning.
Sometime ago I spoke at a Church in Wales conference and soon afterwards Cherrie wrote to me asking me to visit. She quoted some words I had said at the conference back to me. I had said “the longer I have been the Commissioner the more and more concerned I get about parenting and the responsibilities we have towards parents”. As she greeted me at the door in Clase it soon became clear that everything I was about to see was about providing services and support for children and their parents. Each one of the Family Centres had a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Each one had all sorts of things going on. There were children involved in finger painting, singing songs, planting potatoes and flowers and generally having a great time. I have never seen so much compost inside a children’s play area or seen what fun it could be. So whilst there were children in Clase with painted hands and forearms there were children in Penplas covered in compost. I always think that the scale of mess nearly always equates to the level of fun being had – and these children were all having fun and learning lots with smiles on their faces.
Meanwhile what were the parents up to? Well, they were making cakes, involved in a jewellery workshop, chatting together and meeting the Children’s Commissioner. In discussion with them I heard how much the Family Centres meant to them. One told me that she had been coming for a number of years. She said “Our children have really grown here and so have we”. I heard about the university and college places that some of them had secured, about the activities and training courses they have done, about the debates they have had, how they support each other, about their hopes for the future and how the Centre has been the hub of so much that has been positive for them and their children. Another told me that “My children are safe here and because they are happy that gives me time to get involved in things and to plan for the future. It has made me a better mum. And because I’m more confident my children are benefiting as well”.
The Family Centres also offer contact centres and I was able to look at the facilities on offer. I heard about the partnership arrangements and how much effort goes into securing funding and planning new and refurbished buildings. In talking with the staff you get a sense that here are people with vision and purpose. People who recognise the value of preventative work with families, the benefits of partnership and the payback to be gained for children by investing time and providing opportunities for parents. With increasing numbers of children coming into our care system we need to recognise the value of preventative work more then we do. This work is real. It is clearly making a difference and we need to value it and protect it more than we do.
Driving away from Bonymaen Kay and I reflected on what we had seen and the discussions we had had. Kay said “It’s great isn’t it to spend time with real people who are doing things that can make such a positive difference”. Well said Kay, you took the words right out of my mouth.
With thanks to all the children, mums, dads and staff at the Faith in Families Projects – inspirational people doing what’s right for their children and themselves.