Protective Behaviours Newsletter
01273 411613 training@safety-net.org.uk www.safety-net.org.uk
Edition 7 Spring 2013
A safety awareness programme to promote safety and well-being for children, young people and families Welcome to the Protective Behaviours Newsletter for the South East Our aim is to share information, practice and ideas about Protective Behaviours. Free PB training sessions are still available for anyone working with children & young people see http://safetynetbrighton.eventbrite.co.uk for more details. Good News Safety Net have secured Comic Relief funding to build self-esteem, confidence and resilience in children and young people who have experienced sexual abuse. The funding will last for three years.
Protective Behaviours Network Meetings Next 2013 network meetings (click to book): Thursday 18 July | Thursday 21 November 10am – 1pm at Safety Net, Portslade At the last meeting we were really fortunate to have Sally Ann Hart, independent PB trainer from Cambridge, as a speaker. She talked to us about her PB specialism of working with children under five years old. There’s not enough space here to share everything we learned but we’ve summarised as much as we can in this newsletter. Sally Ann demonstrated how PBs mirrors and fits into so much of the Department of Education’s Early Years Foundation Programme. She talked about how babies need acknowledgement of their feelings from the word go, and demonstrated ways of developing the language of feelings using different textures or objects to explore– and then connecting physical sensations to the language of emotional feelings.
Using Makaton signs with young children for expressing feelings is very visual and emphasises the importance of feelings. Adults also tend to slow down when they use Makaton signs which is always helpful! Click here to download a PDF of basic Makaton feelings signs. Be alert to the use of every day feelings language in children’s books. We can change the wording in books or songs to be more emotionally intelligent, e.g. rather than ‘If you’re happy and you know it…’ change it to ‘Feeling happy and you know it…’ A new parenting programme called ‘Five to Thrive’ simplifies key messages for parents to remember about their babies’ healthy brain development: Talk, Play, Relax, Cuddle, Respond. When babies feel safe they thrive and research shows that how a parent behaves around their baby in the first three years of life has a direct impact on how their baby's brain develops. When Sally Ann works with parents, to emphasise the rapid early brain development she uses the analogy of a tin of baked beans as the size of a new born baby’s brain which doubles to two tins by the second year and then triples to three tins by third birthday! Sally Ann co-created the new free Protective Behaviours website www.pbpeople.org.uk. The purpose of the website is to promote PBs far and wide with information about trainers, resources, activities and a forum to share ideas. Sally Ann’s recommended cards/books, for working with under 5s: The Bear Cards: Veeken and Harman Baby Strength cards: Jan Player, St Luke’s Innovative Resources (www.innovativeresources.org) The Great Big Book of Feelings: Mary Hoffman Sometimes I feel Sunny: Gillian Shields
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