Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
INTRODUCTION
Sense was a pilot project run by Grow Big, across six early years settings in Calderdale. It was funded by
Calderdale Council and Big Lottery Awards for All. The project aimed to increase the personal, social
and emotional development of children aged three and four, and their attitude and aptitude to
learning. The project worked with children from areas of deprivation, over six sessions of 40 minutes
each, inside a specially created inflatable pod, and incorporating a variety of experiences making use of
a wide range of sensory materials, treasure baskets and storytelling.
It involved
96 children
29 parents
11 Children’s Centre Practitioners
6 volunteers
EVALUATION METHODOLOGIES
Rachel Stewart, Chair of Grow Big’s Trustee Board, commissioned Earlyarts to carry out an
independent cultural evaluation. The evaluation was carried out by Earlyarts Research & Evaluation
Associate, Sally Fort.
Methodologies included feedback forms at the training session; three types of observations to provide
an understanding of how the project affects children individually and in a group; feedback forms from
parents or carers; and end of project questionnaires for lead practitioners at each of the settings and
the project’s volunteers.
2
OUTCOMES
All intended outcomes were achieved and for children, volunteers and practitioners, were exceeded.
1. Increase in knowledge, interest and skills of volunteers, students and early years practitioners
(sensory play)
All volunteers and practitioners increased their knowledge, interest and skills; with the majority of
people rating all their levels as either good or excellent by the end of the training and project.
In training, 79% of participants increased their knowledge in ‘better understanding of the importance
of sensory play’ and ‘understanding the value and benefits of this type of play’ and 42% thought finding
out about the theory and benefits of sensory play was the most useful inclusion.
Professional development also occurred throughout the project. At the end of the project, volunteers
and practitioners were asked to rate their knowledge, skills and understanding before and after their
involvement.
40% of volunteers said they had little knowledge, skills or confidence regarding sensory play. By the
end 100% said their knowledge, skills and confidence were either good or excellent
Every volunteer felt an increase across their knowledge, skills and / or confidence. The more
experienced volunteers tended to increase from good to excellent in the one element they felt least
assured of at the outset. Those with less experience increased across all three elements
Understandably, the practitioners rated their knowledge, skills and confidence higher across the
board at the outset than the volunteers had done. Like the volunteers though, all practitioners rated
an increase, and most reported increases across all three elements
100% of practitioners rated their knowledge, skills and confidence as good or excellent by the end of
the project; compared to 63% at the start
75% of practitioners said their knowledge moved from good to excellent by the end of the project
63% said their confidence had increased from good to excellent
50% said their skills had moved from good to excellent
2. Improve the provision of sensory related play in all aspects of the Children’s Centre activities
Outcomes which practitioners said were new and most likely to have a good or excellent likelihood of
being continued were:
Sensory play theory regarding treasure baskets (88% of practitioners rated as new with an
excellent or good likelihood of being continued)
Sensory play or treasure basket structured activities (88%)
Using treasure baskets (75%)
Using treasure baskets / sensory play with story-telling (75%)
Increased confidence in sensory play (75%)
Integrating treasure baskets into free play opportunities (75%)
Practitioners were particularly interested in the potential for using treasure baskets in structured ways
and not solely free play; and with older children than would normally access them.
3
3. Children will demonstrate improved personal, social and emotional skills (including confidence
and self-esteem)
At the start, children tended to be more hesitant, sometimes needing more adult support and
reassurance. One or two children in each group found it more difficult to take part due to low social
and emotional confidence or limited speech or English language, while others were much more
exuberant. Some children warmed up during the first session after their initial hesitation passed.
Sorting, collecting, counting and exploring the properties of objects and materials were common
activities, exploring objects for their own sake.
In the final session (session 6), it was noticeable that all the groups had become more confident.
Objects had become tools for role play, sharing, conversation, negotiation and collaboration even for
the more reluctant children. Those who didn’t speak in the first session were sharing more
communication and sometimes speaking by session 6. There was a sense that in session 6 children had
just started to feel assured enough to engage to their full potential and even the more anxious children
were starting to hit their stride with the activities and resources they’d gained confidence in
throughout the project.
The presence of personal, social and emotional development was consistently high throughout all
sessions, and this increased slightly from start to end. In addition, it was noticeable that
communication and language was present to almost the same high level.
All centres reported an increased sense of calmness when children were in the pod
Using treasure baskets to engage older children worked well, to the surprise of some practitioners
Using sensory resources with storytelling helped keep children’s attention, though more so when
the children were already familiar with the story, the story was told orally and / or with puppets
rather than books, and the basket was used to support the picking out of specific characters or
actions
Sounds playing in the pod were calming and helped children settle. This included the singing,
though particularly singing in person, less so when playing the pre-recorded song
Having only small groups in the pod was another factor which helped children focus
In one children’s centre, staff reported that one child became engaged with the project despite
not engaging with other activities, and they felt this was, at least in part, due to the ambience of
being inside the pod
One parent commented that her daughter had become more patient as a result of the project
4
5. Improvement of parental confidence / ability to provide regular sensory play activities at home
74% of parents now feel more confident about setting up play activities at home that will
encourage their child to explore the different senses
69% are now more likely to provide sense based play opportunities at home
47% are more confident about making a treasure basket at home with their child
Parents who rated their knowledge as excellent increased by 20% (to 27%)
Parents who rated their practical experience as good or excellent increased by 16% (to 39%)
Parents who rated their confidence as good or excellent also increased by 16% (to 39%)
Parents who had little to no knowledge of using treasure baskets and sensory play dropped by 27%
(33%)
Parents who had little to no experience of using treasure baskets and sensory play dropped by 14%
(to 48%)
BARRIERS / CHALLENGES
Training: Training was felt to be effective, though it could be improved with a more comfortable
venue, more activities to break up presentations, and more training about observing the children
Parental engagement: Most settings struggled to get parents engaged face to face in the project,
though those who did reported very positive feedback from the parents. However, parents who
engaged more remotely through conversations with children, flyers, postcards, goody bags, and
displays also reported a good quality of experience and learning
Engagement, Confidence & Ability: Children’s confidence and engagement grew as the weeks went
on. However, 40 minutes was not enough for some children (particularly those with additional
language, social, emotional or behavioral needs) to become fully acclimtatised and immersed and
they had only just started to show what they could achieve by session six
Knowing the children: Volunteers would have liked to have known more about the children in
advance of the sessions so that activities could be more tailored, particularly children with special or
additional needs
Group sizes: Part of the project’s success comes from working with small groups of children at a
time. However, some practitioners would have liked to be able to involve more children, and there
are ethical considerations to including some children and not others
Adult ratios: Having the right number of adults also took some time to establish. It was apparent
that too many adults in the pod (be it parents or supervising staff) distracted the children from
being as fully immersed in the experience as they could be
Activities: Understandably as a pilot project, some activities were less successful than others, and
where possible these were adapted along the way. This included using oral rather than book based
stories, and selecting particular highlights; including live rather than recorded singing; creating
woodland ‘collections’ to mirror the treasure basket activities; and improving how the tunnel and
water are used in the Seaside session.
5
RECOMMENDATIONS
Overall the project was very successful and met all its outcomes. Only a few recommendations are
evident from the feedback provided, as follows.
1. More time needs to be built into the programme model, whether this be longer sessions, or
more sessions. This is to help children’s confidence and achievements grow even further, given
they had only just started to show what might be possible after six 40 minute sessions.
2. Creating guidelines about the optimum number of children and adults in the pod during a
session would help everyone understand how to get the best possible experience from the
resource.
3. Several adaptations have been made to the activities and resources for the pod sessions which
now need formalizing by writing up in a revised menu of activity. The team already plan to add
to the range, and some ideas from the practitioners and volunteers involved such as the
seasonal options should be added to the options being explored.
4. The project successfully met its personal, social and emotional development aims. However,
communication and language was achieved at almost equal levels, and this too should become
part of the language used to promote the programme for the future.
5. More robust tracking of children’s progress, and deeper understanding of how and why some
activities worked more than others, could be achieved with greater investment in evaluation,
and an independently designed framework. Training of how to use and embed Experiential
Education (EXE) observations and monitoring would be particularly useful to complement this.
ENDS
6
SENSE: EVALUATION REPORT
7
EVALUATION BRIEF & METHODOLOGY
EVALUATION BRIEF
Rachel Stewart, Chair of Grow Big’s Trustee Board, commissioned Earlyarts to carry out an
independent evaluation. The evaluation was carried out by Earlyarts Research & Evaluation Associate,
Sally Fort.
Earlyarts’ main role in the evaluation was to advise Grow Big on the evaluation methodology, offer
formative feedback particularly in the early stages of the project based on previous experience of
similar projects, and independently analyse the data at the end of the project. The Grow Big team
designed the evaluation framework and questionnaires, and administrated the data collection.
The focus of the evaluation is to reflect on the qualitative outcomes for the children and adults
involved, agreed between Grow Big and their commissioners at Calderdale Council (Child Poverty
Taskforce), as follows:
Increase in knowledge, interest and skills of volunteers, students and early years practitioners
(sensory play): Target = Knowledge - 80% / Skills - 80% / Interest - 75%
Improve the provision of sensory related play in all aspects of the Children’s Centre activities
Children will demonstrate improved personal, social and emotional skills (including confidence
and self-esteem)
Children will display a greater attitude and aptitude to learning
Improvement of parental confidence and ability to provide regular sensory play activities at
home
8
EVALUATION METHODOLOGY
A framework was created by Rachel Stewart, Chair of Grow Big, with advisory input from Sally Fort,
comprising
Activity Returns
Training feedback forms 19 (out of 19)
Observation sheets: type A 6 children x 3 observations each
Observation sheets: type B 2 groups (of 8 children) across 2 centres x 2
observations per group
Observation sheets: type C 2 centres x 5-6 observations each
Parent / carer / family surveys 16 (out of 29)
Practitioner feedback forms 8 (out of 11)
Volunteer setting feedback forms 5 (out of 6)
Volunteer professional 5 (out of 6)
development feedback forms
Team debrief meeting notes 2 sets of notes
9
PROGRAMME DESCRIPTION
Full details of the programme are provided in the Appendix. Sense is a new project about sensory play,
aimed at 3-4 year olds. It was developed and run by Grow Big. The Phase One programme referred to
in this evaluation was funded by Calderdale Council and Big Lottery Awards for All.
Aims: Sense will use sensory play through storytelling to develop the skills that children need to
improve their life chances. A programme of sensory play will be delivered in Children’s Centre settings
providing free early education for 3-4 year olds living in areas of deprivation in Calderdale.
Objectives: We will focus on measuring the development of personal, social and emotional skills for
this project – a prime area of learning in the Early Years Foundation Framework.
Children will demonstrate improved personal, social and emotional skills (including confidence and
self-esteem)
Children will display a greater attitude and aptitude to learning
Although our project will focus on personal, social and emotional skills, we will still be mindful of other
benefits including communication, physical development, literacy and numeracy. We will closely align
our activities to the prime areas and specific areas of learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage.
Delivery: A multi-agency team of Grow Big volunteers, students and early years staff will deliver the
sessions. All team members will receive specialist sensory training.
The first phase of Sense will take the form of a sensory-rich pod
The pod, an inflatable illuminated dome, will provide the space to deliver the sessions. The project
will involve 6 weekly sessions. Each session lasts 40 minutes and aims to engage with 8 children
Phase one will involve over 100 children attending free early years provision at 6 children’s
centres
Children will experience stories through their senses – they will see them, hear them, feel them,
smell them, taste them and act them out. The sessions will weave in elements of art, music,
physical exercise and role-play. Generally, the pod will be set up indoors, however, in warmer
weather it may be possible to use the pod outdoors
We will use objects creatively. Set materials where possible will be unused items and objects
(essentially rubbish) that will be recycled, upcycled and repurposed
Each child will be given a guide, activity cards and sensory materials to encourage sensory play at
home
A workshop for parents will be held before the first session
This outcome has been largely exceeded, with 100% of the practitioners and volunteers increasing
knowledge, skills and interest, via the pre-delivery training, and the professional development
occurring through delivery of the project. However, the students initially envisaged as being part of the
project did not participate, due mainly to timetable clashes.
Training
19 Grow Big volunteers, practitioners from the settings and a member of staff from Huddersfield
University took part in the half day training session, focusing on sensory play theory and putting it into
practice using treasure baskets as a source of exploration. The training was successfully received with
participants understanding more about the delivery of the project, theory and benefits of sensory play,
usage and benefits of treasure baskets with older early years children, and increased confidence as
professionals and practitioners.
The majority of participants rated the presentations, practicalities and session overall as very good
95% said everything about the session was useful
95% said their own objectives had been met fully or in part
74% absorbed more than half the positive learning outcomes
53% said there were no improvements to be made to the session
13
Some participants rated their subject understanding as good at the outset, so lower scores may be in
part just a reflection of the existing knowledge participants came to the session with already. Others
came with little or some knowledge and absorbed five or less of the outcomes which is at the lower
end of the scale. It may be that the training delivery didn’t reach them, or that so much of the subject
was new to them there was a limit to how much they could take on board in one session. Feedback
about the trainer and training overall was very positive, so it is more likely that they had simply
reached their learning capacity for that session.
Participants enjoyed getting hands-on experience. Learning about the practical resources and getting
to know the pod were reported to be the most enjoyable aspects of the training. Feedback about
improvements suggested more opportunities for interactive experiences.
Learning about the theory of sensory play was also high. 79% of participants increased their knowledge
in ‘better understanding of the importance of sensory play’ and ‘understanding the value and benefits
of this type of play’. 42% felt that finding out about the theory and benefits of sensory play was
the most useful aspect of the training.
Professional Development
Volunteers and practitioners were also asked about the development they experienced by taking part
in the project.
They were asked to rate their knowledge, skills or confidence regarding sensory play as none - little -
some - good - excellent before the project, and again at the end:
40% of volunteers said they had little knowledge, skills or confidence regarding sensory play. By
the end 100% said their knowledge, skills and confidence were either good or excellent
Every volunteer felt an increase across their knowledge, skills and / or confidence. The more
experienced volunteers tended to increase from good to excellent in the one element they felt
least assured of at the outset. Those with less experience increased across all three elements
Understandably, the practitioners rated their knowledge, skills and confidence higher across
the board at the outset than the volunteers had done. Like the volunteers though, all
practitioners rated an increase, and most reported increases across all three elements
100% of practitioners rated their knowledge, skills and confidence as good or excellent by the
end of the project; compared to 63% at the start
75% of practitioners said their knowledge moved from good to excellent by the end of the
project
63% said their confidence had increased from good to excellent
50% said their skills had moved from good to excellent
14
In addition, volunteers added
“As the sessions are child-led, I have learnt to adapt quickly to the differences between sessions and
lead groups without intervening too much, allowing children to become fully absorbed. I have
developed my skills in working with younger children and now have a deeper understanding of the EYFS
strands.”
“I have gained greater knowledge of the Early Years framework and understanding of child
development. I have improved my skills in recording observations of children's learning and facilitating
child-led activities.”
“Has been great to develop knowledge of child-led play and sensory play and fascinating to see how
children have interacted with the materials.”
“Developed some skills around reflecting on children's play. Greater insight into the very great
differences in approaches to EY by different providers.”
“Taking part in the project has increased my confidence and refreshed my skills in preparation for a
return to work after a period of being out of work.”
The practitioners were also invited to add further comments, though their feedback related more to
the children and the activities than their own learning.
15
2. Improve the provision of sensory related play in all aspects of the
Children’s Centre activities
Target: All centres involved in project to report increased opportunities following end of project
This outcome was achieved. All the practitioners reported new learning and sustainable legacies for
their centres. Feedback shows that the sensory play related provision at the centres has indeed
improved and left a sustainable legacy. Only one practitioner stated that there was nothing new from
the project that would be likely to be continued; however, the same practitioner did show an increase
in their own expertise and professional development, which itself is likely to impact on the
sustainability of the work in that centre (assuming they remain in employment there and have not
moved on).
Outcomes which practitioners said were new and most likely to have a good or excellent likelihood of
being continued were:
Sensory play theory regarding treasure baskets (88% of practitioners rated as new with an
excellent or good likelihood of being continued)
Sensory play or treasure basket structured activities (88%)
Using treasure baskets (75%)
Using treasure baskets / sensory play with story-telling (75%)
Increased confidence in sensory play (75%)
Integrating treasure baskets into free play opportunities (75%)
As illustrated in the quotes above, practitioners were particularly interested in the potential for
using treasure baskets in structured ways not just free play; and with older children than would
normally access them. This feedback was echoed both in the end-point surveys and the debrief
meetings at the end of the project, demonstrating the strength of feeling about this outcome.
16
3. Children will demonstrate improved personal, social and
emotional skills (including confidence and self-esteem)
The project was successful in enabling children to demonstrate an improvement in personal, social and
emotional skills with confidence, resilience and communication all increasing throughout the project.
Parents commented…
“My son was more happy to go to the nursery on that day, when I said to him there will be a tent to
play in. He really enjoyed it.”
“My child is more interested in doing things like this at home now, and she is more patient.”
“She loved the games and treasure baskets and was very excited every Wednesday when going to
nursery as she knew that the tent will be there. It is a shame that we can't have it for longer.”
160
140
140 137
Observation scores
120 128
100
104 101
80
79
60
40
39
20
0
PSED CL EAD PD M UW L
Early Years Foundation Stage Areas
Clearly personal, social and emotional development emerged strongly throughout the sessions, as did
communication and language, and expressive arts and design. To a lesser but still strong extent
17
Start: At the start, children tended to be more hesitant, sometimes needing more adult support and
reassurance. One or two children in each group found it more difficult to take part due to low social
and emotional confidence or limited speech or English language, while others were much more
exuberant. Some children warmed up during the first session after their initial hesitation passed.
Sorting, collecting, counting and exploring the properties of objects and materials were common
activities, exploring objects for their own sake.
End: In the final session it was noticeable that all the groups had become more confident. Objects had
become tools for role play, sharing, conversation, negotiation and collaboration even for the more
reluctant children. Those who didn’t speak in the first session were sharing more communication and
sometimes speaking by session 6. There was a sense that in session 6 children had just started to feel
assured enough to engage to their full potential and even the more anxious children were starting to
hit their stride with the activities and resources they’d gained confidence in throughout the project.
This was backed up by the scores allocated to the sessions, which showed every group’s score had
increased from the starting session to the end session, and scores for communication & language and
understanding the world had increased noticeably. Scores for personal, social and emotional
development were consistently high across the groups, and increased slightly from start to end points.
In addition, in their observations, volunteers noticed…
“M seemed much more settled this session and chatted a lot… explored the pod without Sarah
[practitioner]’s support and asked lots of questions” Session 6
“L was much calmer than previous weeks, still no speech but mouthed ‘hooray’ during the goodbye
song. Played next to another child and was keen to engage with her in play.” Session 6
“By far F’s most relaxed week. Was even able to give up one item to R having struggled to share in
previous weeks” Session 6
“A child who has stayed on the outside of the pod throughout has entered the pod today. He is happy,
engaged and comfortable” Session 6
Children were more focused, immersed and engaged in their activities during these sessions, which
practitioners felt was the result of the special soothing environment of the pod, as well as the
capabilities of sensory play to capture and sustain the children’s interests and attention.
At the two team debriefs, held at the end of the project between the Grow Big team, volunteers and a
mix of practitioners from across the different settings, the group identified that:
All centres reported an increased sense of calmness when children were in the pod
Using treasure baskets to engage older children worked well, to the surprise of the
practitioners in the settings
Using sensory resources with storytelling helped keep children’s attention, though more so
when the children were already familiar with the story, the story was told orally and / or with
puppets rather than books, and the basket was used to support the picking out of specific
characters or actions
Sounds playing in the pod were calming and helped children settle. This included the singing,
though particularly singing in person, less so when playing the pre-recorded song
Having only small groups in the pod was another factor which helped children focus
In one children’s centre, staff reported that one child became engaged with the project despite
not engaging with other activities, and they felt this was, at least in part, due to the ambience
of being inside the pod
19
Case Study
Observation extracts:
“In week one, when entering the tent G sits next to a basket facing away from the other children. Not
long after, G moves over to another basket. There he takes out a post box tin and a wooden hoop,
which he tries to fit into the tin. ‘This is too big to go in’. He then holds up two tins and starts to bang
them together. G drops one of the tins and attempts to take the lid off the one still in his hand. ‘Oh it
come off’ he says, when successful. G continues in solitary play with little / no interaction with other
children, only adults. G holds up a basket above his head and tips it out. An adult intervenes as G
begins to throw items in the air. G picks up a pompom and rolls it out of the tent. He puts the
pompom on a car and pushes the car backwards and forwards. An adult coaxes G back into the tent,
asking him to choose an item from the basket to play with. G holds open a tin in one hand and tries
to put a stone ring inside it. ‘This is too big to fit in’. He puts a feather inside the tin, then lifts it up to
eye level to tip the feather out, watching as it floats to the floor. He tries to throw it even higher and
watches it carefully. G finds a wooden egg and shouts ‘Look! A egg!’. He holds up his arm to shoulder
level and drops the egg. He says ‘let’s bounce it higher’ and throws it up above his head. It hits the
side of the pod and drops to the floor. He throws the wooden egg and starts to throw other objects.
An adult reminds him to be gentle, and he stops. Later, in the group activity, G listens to an adult
leading the game. He stands, waiting his turn and observing other children participating. He joins in
the songs at the right time and when the children asked who can help tidy up, G puts up his hand and
says ‘I can’.
In week two G was noticeably more engaged, though again he ventured out of the pod for a short
period. Later, he used the trowel to dig. Though he could find nothing at first, he persisted and
eventually discovered a ladybird and a caterpillar. By week six when G entered the tent he said
‘Wow’ and settled straight away. Though he preferred to interact with the adults, he also played
with the children in this session.”
20
The observations show that G was initially unsettled, agitated and challenging at times, leaving the
pod, throwing things and not always taking care of himself or others. He preferred not to play with
other children. He enjoyed exploring the objects and was very interested in sizes, textures and forces
in a range of ways: fitting things in other things, finding out about different heights, using the
pompom to push the car, how hard or soft to use a feather or a brush on skin, banging things
together, and prising the lid off a tin. Despite a restless start, he waited for his turn and helped tidy
up at the end, showing an ability to re-engage and manage his emotions with some support and
intervention. As the weeks progressed, though G still chose to leave the tent at times, his time away
lessened and he returned quickly with adult encouragement. He also began to play and involve
himself with other children on occasion. His engagement became more sustained as he persevered in
his goals and felt satisfaction from the results of his efforts, becoming immersed in his digging, and
using a straw to blow a boat across some water.
The volunteer observing G commented in the final session on the “huge difference to the first session
6 weeks ago.”
21
5. Improvement of parental confidence and ability to provide
regular sensory play activities at home
This outcome has been clearly met by those who provided feedback, although some centres were
more successful than others at engaging parents in the project. Parents were offered a number of
opportunities to engage with the project (including visiting the pod and making play dough at some
centres). A flyer was given out to all parents explaining what children would do in each session, a
display was mounted where possible to communicate the project to parents and give them a sense of
the activity, and each family was given a goody bag of sensory play resources and ‘how to’ postcards.
22
Of the parents who provided feedback:
It is clear from the results that the mix of resources and ways to engage parents did lead to the
outcomes the project hoped to achieve. For many, the remote involvement via the postcards, flyer,
displays and popping in to see the pod were enough to increase their knowledge, skills and
confidence. Unfortunately, not enough feedback has been provided from the parents of Jubilee
Children’s Centre to know if the open evening they attended in person made a substantial
difference to their experience compared to those who took part in more remote or light touch
engagement, though anecdotal feedback from the Grow Big team suggests the reaction was very
positive from parents who visited or took part in the project face to face.
23
BARRIERS / CHALLENGES
Training: There was very little feedback about how the training could be improved, though a more
dynamic format to the day would be an improvement, as 37% felt the balance between sitting and
watching presentations could have been more broken up with some practical activity, perhaps in small
groups; which was echoed elsewhere by the 16% who felt there was too much sitting down. 16% also
commented on the coldness of the room. The volunteers would also like to have had more training
about how to document their observations of the children. In addition, the aspiration to involve
students in the training (and ultimately as volunteers for the programme) did not come to fruition. The
team had run a preliminary seminar with 80 students at Huddersfield University and offered them the
opportunity to join the project in a work placement capacity. However, the hours of the project and
the hours the students were needed on their course clashed, and although two students initially
showed interest, they did not attend the training day or join the project. The course tutor did attend
the training day however, and the Grow Big team are keen to keep that and other student groups
engaged for the future.
Parental engagement: Settings struggled on the whole to actively engage with parents, although the
survey response shows that parents who were engaged remotely through displays and take-home
aspects of the project such as the postcards and goody bags, as well as the conversations with their
children, did achieve engagement as well as the face to face attempts. Anecdotal responses from
volunteers and practitioners suggest that the face to face work with parents was very positively
received, though unfortunately few of these parents provided feedback for the evaluation.
Engagement, Confidence & Ability: Children’s confidence and engagement grew as the weeks went
on. However, 40 minutes was not enough for some children to become fully acclimtatised or immersed
and they had only just started to show what they could achieve by session six.
Knowing the children: Several volunteers suggested it would have been useful to have known more
about the children in advance of the sessions so that activities could be more tailored. They
emphasized that this was particularly true for children who had any special or additional needs.
Adult ratios: Having the right number of adults also took some time to establish. Occasionally parents
entered the pod with children and the team noticed that this distracted the children from being as fully
immersed in the experience as they could be. The same was true if too many supervising adults
(practitioners and volunteers) were all in the pod. Overall the team agreed that a small number of
adults works well so that children can be supported, but also have the space to develop their own
engagement without needing constant intervention, which could actually reduce the effectiveness of
the experience.
24
Activities: Understandably as a pilot project, some activities
were less successful than others, and where possible these
were adapted along the way:
More time needs to be built into the programme model, whether this be longer sessions, or more
sessions. This is to help children’s confidence and achievements grow even further, given they had
only just started to show what might be possible after six 40 minute sessions. However, six week
blocks are a good model for schools and children’s centres as this tends to tie in with a half term,
though this is less of an issue with private nurseries.
Having tested the pod and the activities, Grow Big can now create clear guidelines about the
optimum number of children and adults in the pod during a session so that everyone involve
understands how to get the best possible experience from the resource. Although it may not
always be possible to stick with this exact ratio, it would mean that settings understand that a
change of numbers can mean a reduction in the quality of the experience, and can make that
judgement accordingly.
Several adaptations have been made to the activities and resources for the pod sessions which
now need formalizing by writing up in a revised menu of activity. The team already plan to add to
the range, and some ideas from the practitioners and volunteers involved such as the seasonal
options should be added to the options being explored.
The project successfully met its personal, social and emotional development aims. However,
communication and language was achieved at almost equal levels, and this too should become
part of the language used to promote the programme for the future.
The budget for evaluation was limited and so methodology design and data collection was largely
the responsibility of Grow Big and the volunteers. To further build the robustness of the evidence
base for Grow Big, future evaluations would benefit from greater investment and should aim to
include: independent evaluation framework and methodology design; in-depth interviews with
volunteers and practitioners; comparing children’s outcomes with their otherwise anticipated
progress to see how much of a difference the project has made. For example, the tracking settings
might usually carry out against EYFS framework; PLODs (potential lines of development), and in
particular some Experiential Education (EXE) scale baseline and end point monitoring of children’s
wellbeing and engagement levels. This last point may require training for all involved, and some
preliminary tracking in the weeks or months leading up to the project to embed EXE scales into
common practice within the settings. It would also enhance training in observation and
documentation skills.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Grow Big would like to thank:
Their first funders: Calderdale Council Child Poverty Task Force and Small Grants Programme,
and Big Lottery Awards for All
The Grow Big volunteers for their hard work and commitment: Lucy Reilly, Linda Green, Jenny
McKay, Katie Smith
Partners North Halifax Partnership and Halifax Opportunities Trust and all the children, parents
and staff from the six Children’s Centres who took part in the project
The managers of the Children’s Centres who offered a lot of support to make sure the project
ran smoothly across the six different sites and particular: Jill Webb, Tina Burke, Maureen
Shepherdson, Kirilea Whitehead, Caren Parkinson, Gaye Colleran, June Davidson, Feaz Akhtar.
Space Cadets who created the Sense inflatable illuminated pod, which adds a unique magical
element to the Sense project and the work of Grow Big
Sara Simpson (Design by Simm) for creating the Sense logo, and Sue Gunn for designing the
sensory play post cards
Sue Gascoyne (author, researcher and educational consultant) for delivering inspiring and first
class sensory play training
Huddersfield University staff Samantha McMahon and Jo McEvoy for supporting initial ideas
and exploring opportunities for student involvement
We understand what creativity does to the brain and the body, and how it makes a difference to early
learning. Founded in creative pedagogies, our evidence-based training is designed to help Early
Years and Primary leaders understand how to support cognitive, social, emotional and physical
development, helping children to achieve their greatest potential and helping professionals to achieve
the highest standards in teaching and learning.
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APPENDIX
In Calderdale there are 8485 children living in poverty. Studies show that
children growing up in poverty are four times more likely to remain in
poverty when they are adults (Stewart, T; 2009)
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2015 TIMETABLE
Delivery will take place through two blocks – the first block will involve 3 children’s centres (A, B, C)
receiving weekly sessions for 6 weeks followed by the second block of children’s centres D, E and F.
DESIGN
DELIVERY
12 October Session 5
19 October Session 6
26 October HALF TERM
2 November Staff Briefing and Rehearsal
2 November Parent’s Drop-in
9 November Session 1
16 November Session 2
23 November Session 3
30 November Session 4
Block Two
7 December Session 5
14 December Session 6
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SURVEYS & DATA
A) TRAINING DATA
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B) VOLUNTEER DATA
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C) PRACTITIONER DATA
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D) PARENT DATA
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NB ‘unlikely’ and ‘very unlikely’ were also options for this question,
but were not used by any parents
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