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GROW BIG: SENSE

EVALUATION REPORT MARCH 2016

Sally Fort for Earlyarts


www.earlyarts.co.uk
CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................ 2
1. EVALUATION BRIEF & METHODOLOGY .............................................................................................. 8
2. PROGRAMME DESCRIPTION ............................................................................................................. 10
3. OUTCOMES ....................................................................................................................................... 12
4. BARRIERS / CHALLENGES .................................................................................................................. 24
5. RECOMMENDATIONS ....................................................................................................................... 26
6. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................................... 27
7. APPENDIX .......................................................................................................................................... 28

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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.

The project took place in the following early years settings:


Todmorden Children’s Centre Ash Green Children’s Centre
Kevin Pearce Children’s Centre Jubilee Children’s Centre
Innovations Children’s Centre Elland Children’s Centre

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.
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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.
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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.

Parents also noticed the changes in their children.

4. Children will display a greater attitude and aptitude to learning

 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
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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.
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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
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SENSE: EVALUATION REPORT

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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.

The purpose of the evaluation is to:


Inform future practice for the Grow Big team, early years practitioners, and early years
commissioners
Act as a summative record of learning and become part of the institutional memory for the
Grow Big team and project partners
Report to funders on the extent to which their investment has fulfilled its aims

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
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EVALUATION METHODOLOGY

A framework was created by Rachel Stewart, Chair of Grow Big, with advisory input from Sally Fort,
comprising

 Training session feedback forms collecting quantitative and qualitative data


 Three types of observation sheets to capture the breadth and depth of experiences
o A - Six children tracked throughout (the start and end sessions and 1 or 2 sessions in-
between) providing in-depth case study material, from two settings
o B - First and last sessions are formally observed (observing the whole group, and
specifically to look for any notable difference between starting and completing) to
provide a snapshot of developments across a group, at two settings
o C - Every session is observed (observing any notable responses, reactions, developments
across the whole group) providing small details, to represent the whole programme, at
two settings
 Quantitative and qualitative end point questionnaires for lead practitioners at each setting
 Quantitative and qualitative end point questionnaires for volunteers helping deliver the project
 Quantitative and qualitative end point surveys for parents / carers about their own learning and
the legacies of the project
 All staff were asked to submit their data anonymously in order to encourage full and honest
reflections, therefore it is not possible to specify outcomes setting by setting, but only as a
representation of the project overall (with the exception of parental feedback)

Summary of data available:

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
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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.

The project included


96 children
29 parents
11 Children’s Centre Practitioners
6 volunteers

This first phase of Sense took the


form of a sensory-rich pod. The pod
– an inflatable illuminated dome –
provided the space to deliver a
sensory play session per week for
six weeks. Each session aimed to
engage with eight children over 40
minutes, attending free early years
provision at six children’s centres.
They experienced stories through
their senses – seeing, hearing,
feeling, smelling, tasting them and
acting them out. The sessions wove
in elements of art, music, physical
exercise and role-play. Objects were
used creatively and where possible
materials included unused, upcycled
and repurposed items and objects.
Each child was given a guide,
activity cards and sensory materials
to encourage sensory play at home.
Parents were invited to meet the
team, attend workshops and enter a
photographic competition of their
child taking part in sensory activities
at home. Image: Description of project for parents
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The initial vision was set out in a Project Brief for Partners document, summarized as follows:

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

The project takes place at:


Todmorden Children’s Centre Ash Green Children’s Centre
Kevin Pearce Children’s Centre Jubilee Children’s Centre
Innovations Children’s Centre Elland Children’s Centre
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OUTCOMES

1. Increase in knowledge, interest and skills of volunteers, students


and early years practitioners (sensory play)

Target: Knowledge - 80% Skills - 80% Interest - 75%

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

All participants developed their learning.


Participants rated their knowledge, skills
and confidence in treasure baskets and
sensory play before and after the training.
Overall all the group moved from little-
good, up to good-excellent by the end.
Just one participant showed no change
starting and ending at good, though their
comments showed they had still learned
from the day.
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The learning outcomes below show a more meaningful illustration of how successful the training was.
The graph demonstrates a wide range of new and improved skills, as well as positive changes in
attitude. Participants were also invited to add any other outcomes of their own, though none were
added.

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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
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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.

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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).

“Treasure baskets were used in our centre [before]


but not with the older children.” …“I am planning
to incorporate treasure baskets in to our daily
routine, I have already been putting treasure
baskets together so they are available for the
children to explore in small groups, these will also
be focused activities where we are hoping to get
more communication and language from the
children.” … “The treasure baskets will definitely be
continued. We already used them in the baby room
but have been using them with other age groups.”
… “We will develop the treasure basket theme
alongside stories. Adult led and left out for children
to explore independently” … “We will be continuing
the theme of the sense project in our hobbit house.”

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.
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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.”

Mapping the project to the Early Years Foundation Stage


The Grow Big team collected 35 observations of the Sense sessions. At each observation they gave a
score to show how much the activities had contributed to each of the seven areas of learning and
development of the Early Years Foundation Stage. All Grow Big volunteers and practitioners received
training in how to carry out the observations. Accompanying notes were made alongside each score, to
give examples and explain how the score had been reached, and two to three volunteers and
practitioners often agreed on the scores together, to substantiate the system as much as possible. The
maximum score for each area at each session was 5, so across 35 observations a maximum score of
175 could be given per EYFS area over the whole project. This provides a useful at-a-glance indication
of which aspects of the EYFS the project most useful contributes to. The project particularly aims to
support personal, social and emotional development. The scores are as follows:

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
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physical development and mathematics also showed a consistent presence.


A very brief summary of how children developed has been taken from the observation reports:

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

At the end of the project, practitioners commented that,


“The children were all joining in and sharing the objects with each other, they were also sharing ideas
and their findings with their peers.”
“Across the six weeks some of the children's confidence increased to engage with the provided
activities. seeing the same faces each week making social connections added to their increased
confidence with one or two pairs of children carrying out role-play scenarios.”
“Some of the children really surprised me and really enjoyed taking part in the sense project. Certain
children engaged and responded to the activities and I could see their self-esteem improving as the
weeks went on.”
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4. Children will display a greater attitude and aptitude to learning

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.

Practitioners recognized the changes in children, reporting:


“All children were engaged and stayed
focused throughout each session”.
“It was good to see how the children engaged
for the whole session and became engrossed
in their activities”.
“The Pod provided a space which was calm
and secure where children were given
uninterrupted time to explore and investigate
using their senses”.
“Able to interact and submerge without any
distractions, which enabled the children to
stretch their imagination”.
“Children who struggle to focus on activities
appeared more focused during sensory play”.

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.

 20 parents joined an open evening at Jubilee Children’s Centre


 5 took part in a play dough session at Todmorden Children’s
Centre
 2 parents visited the pod at Kevin Pearce Children’s Centre
 2 visited the pod at Innovations Children’s Centre
 1 parent visited the pod at Elland Children’s Centre
 Display Boards were created at Innovations and Kevin Pearce
centres
 No parent engagement was documented at Ash Green Children’s
Centre
 4 parents (one each from Todmorden, Kevin Pearce, Jubilee and
Innovations centres) took part in the photography competition.

Feedback from parents comes from the following settings:

22
Of the parents who provided feedback:

 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% (from 7% to 27%) from the start to
the end of the project
 Parents who rated their practical experience as good
or excellent increased by 16% (from 23% to 39%)
 Parents who rated their confidence as good or
excellent also increased by 16% (from 23% to 39%)
 Parents who had little to no knowledge of using
treasure baskets and sensory play dropped by 27%
(from 60% to 33%)
 Parents who had little to no experience of using
treasure baskets and sensory play dropped by 14%
(from 62% to 48%)
 All but one parent showed positive outcomes, and
the one who didn’t, left neutral (rather than
negative) feedback, so it is possible they responded
to the survey with no knowledge of the project at all.

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:

 Trying to include the reading of a full, new book to children


was difficult, as they wanted to focus either on exploring
the sensory resources or listening to the story, but not
both. This has been adapted so that familiar stories are
used which children already know, stories are told orally or
with puppets rather than from the book, and specific
excerpts are selected to focus on characters or actions,
rather than using the full story.
 The project has its own Sense Song, and it was identified
that when adults sing this live and children join in, the
children are more expressive and confident than when a
pre-recorded version is used.
 The ‘Woodland’ session was the one during which children
seemed more hesitant to become fully engaged. Some
worried about getting messy or dirty, others made a
distinction between the ‘wild’ or natural objects and those
from the treasure baskets. In future sessions, the team
would like to find ways to use ‘wild’ woodland objects (like
sticks) as a part of the treasure baskets by using them in
similar ways to the basket contents, rather than keeping
them separate.
 In the ‘Seaside’ session the tunnel worked better being
used as a means of crawling into the pod from outside,
rather than being placed inside it. A sorting activity was felt
to be missing by some team members though this was later
remedied. Water needed refreshing between sessions to
ensure it was always clean, and the option to add glitter
was also a well-received adaptation. The seaside session
was popular, though one practitioner suggested this could
be swapped out for different activities according to the
season of the time.
25
RECOMMENDATIONS
Overall the project was very successful and met all its outcomes. The pod and treasure baskets were
particularly effective. Only a few recommendations are evident from the feedback provided, as follows.

 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.
26
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

Evaluation by Sally Fort, for Earlyarts.

Earlyarts is an award winning, international training company, helping early


years leaders bring children’s creativity to life.

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.
27
APPENDIX

PARTNER BRIEFING INFORMATION


What is Sense about? Sense is a new project all about sensory play. Phase one will use
storytelling to promote sensory play in Children’s Centre settings
providing free early education for 3-4 year olds living in areas of
deprivation in Calderdale.
What issue will the Our project will target children and families who are living in areas of
project address? deprivation. Deprivation data (the number of LSOAs1 and resident
population in areas that are ranked nationally in 2010) identifies the
following five wards as the most deprived in Calderdale. The number in
brackets indicates LSOAs in most deprived 10% nationally.
Park – 8876 people (6)
Ovenden – 4279 people (3)
Illingworth & Mixenden – 2603 people (2)
Town – 1708 people (1)
Brighouse 1453 people (1)

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)

Evidence shows that disadvantaged children are more likely to


experience poor educational and employment outcomes affecting their
long-term health and wellbeing. 31% (726) of Key Stage 2 pupils in
Calderdale are ‘disadvantaged’ according to DfE school performance
tables.
How will the project be The first phase of Sense will take the form of a sensory-rich story telling
delivered? pod.
The pod – an inflatable dome – will provide the space to deliver the
sessions. The project will involve 6 weekly sessions. Each session will aim
to engage with 8 children and will last for half an hour.
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.
28

1 Local Super Output Areas


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.
How will the project be We have secured grant funding from Calderdale Council and the National
funded and what are Lottery – Awards for All. The planning and design phase will take place
the timescales? through spring/summer 2015 and the delivery phase to run through
autumn/winter 2015. A draft timetable is included below.
How can sensory play All learning in the brain ultimately stem[s] from sensory stimulation
help young children? (Gascoyne, 2012). Providing children with the opportunity to investigate
materials with no preconceived knowledge helps them to develop their
cognitive, social and emotional, physical, creative and linguistic skillsets.
We will use sensory play through storytelling to develop the skills that
children need to improve their life chances. 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.
How will the children Children will demonstrate improved personal, social and emotional skills
benefit from the (including confidence and self-esteem)
project? 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.
How will you measure We will collect and analyse data at each early years setting before,
the difference the during and after the project – using templates to record and track
project has made? observations
We will communicate with parents and children
We will run a participative exercise with partner organisations to review
the changes that have taken place and learn from the experience
Who will be involved in A multi-agency team of Grow Big volunteers, students and early years
delivery? staff will deliver the sessions. All team members will receive specialist
29
sensory training. Safeguarding training and an enhanced DBS check will
be mandatory.
What is the scope to Evaluate phase one and implement recommendations
develop the project in Extend to community and primary school settings
future? Continue and scale up free provision for disadvantaged children
Consider introduction of fee paid provision to ensure free provision can
be sustained in the long term and to reduce reliance on grant funding
Contact for further Rachel Stewart – rachel@growbig.co.uk
information Lucy Reilly – lucy@growbig.co.uk

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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

April Focus groups / workshops


June Focus groups / workshops
July Training session
August Launch event
September Refresher training / briefing
Block One sessions
October Block One sessions
Block Two sessions
November Block Two sessions

DELIVERY

Week Commencing Session Number


7 September Staff Briefing and Rehearsal
7 September Parent’s Drop-in
14 September Session 1
21 September Session 2
28 September Session 3
5 October Session 4
Block One

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
31
SURVEYS & DATA
A) TRAINING DATA

32
33
34
35
B) VOLUNTEER DATA

36
C) PRACTITIONER DATA

37
38
D) PARENT DATA

39
NB ‘unlikely’ and ‘very unlikely’ were also options for this question,
but were not used by any parents
40

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