Special Report: Practice: Outdoor Learning - Practice examples: The Valley Project helps children build a better future
By Joanne Parkes
Tuesday, July 28, 2020
The Valley Project based on the Holme Wood Estate in Bradford is using outdoor learning as a means to help tackle isolation caused by poverty and promote social mobility.
- Bradford adventure playground has worked directly with more than 650 children since opening in 2018
- Team of project co-ordinators, support workers and volunteers use activities to tackle inequality
- Levels of antisocial behaviour and crime have fallen since it opened and children’s mental wellbeing improved
ACTION
The Valley Project based on the Holme Wood Estate in Bradford is using outdoor learning as a means to help tackle isolation caused by poverty and promote social mobility.
Despite the area having significant economic problems – 46 per cent of the 2,600 child residents live in households below the poverty line – the project draws its strength from the local community.
“It was important for The Valley Project to be embedded in the community, not to be seen as distant but approachable,” says project co-ordinator Laura Bowen, who jointly set up the initiative with fellow co-ordinator Steve McHugh after seeing the limitations of local authority schemes.
“We pride ourselves on our adaptability and move quickly to address new areas of concern in the lives of our users,” adds McHugh, who together with Bowen has more than 35 years’ playwork experience.
Numerous residents have commented that they see the multiple grant-funded project as being “on their level”, and they say they feel respected, he explains.
The organisers strive to make the service adaptable and to give children and young people the power to change the space and draw on their creativity.
This means that participants are less likely to get bored and turn to gangs, criminality, and truanting for stimulation.
“Children are encouraged to build dens, tree houses and other constructions,” Bowen explains.
“The playground continually evolves and changes – none of the structures or play equipment are permanent – meaning that playworkers can help the children and young people to change the play space, which ensures they don’t ‘grow out’ of it.
“Offering pro-social choice such as exciting, adventurous activities is our main tool of engagement – this brings the children and young people to the project allowing further personal engagement by the staff team.”
Bowen adds: “Once we recognise the collective and individual needs of the children and young people, we can start to develop interventions and projects that directly benefit the users.”
Sessions are based on the principles of the adventure playground movement so there are water fights, time spent messing around in the mud, and tactile play with loose materials such as pipes, tyres, rope and crates.
“Play sessions run outdoors in all weathers and we have seen the weather drive the children’s imaginations in relation to playground design, from open areas for water fights to covered areas for food preparation and even the planning of a drainage system to remove excess water from the land,” says Bowen.
A campsite atmosphere is also evoked during evening sessions, with woodfire cook-ups drawing the whole community together.
Bowen adds: “A hot meal cooked on the campfire is provided for everyone who attends, with many older young people and parents taking charge of this part of the provision.”
Another key element of practice involves role-modelling good behaviours and helping children to have high aspirations for themselves.
Parents are encouraged to support this through care and involvement.
Positive child-parent interactions are also promoted through modelling behaviour and discussions around child development, and parents are encouraged to play with their children thereby strengthening bonds and emotional attachment.
Developing children and young people’s resilience is also a high priority, with a focus on “challenging oneself, trying new things and problem solving with minimal adult intervention”, says McHugh.
He adds: “At the Valley, children and young people choose what and how they play.
“The local community is driving the project forward, increasing community cohesion as people meet and play for the first time, develop friendships and share a common interest in their project and the wider population of Holme Wood.”
IMPACT
Bowen and McHugh keep a close handle on impact through their involvement with individual children, young people and families.
Bowen gives an example of one teenager with learning difficulties who was not attending school, leaving them vulnerable to participating in antisocial behaviour and crime.
After showing an initial interest in the project from the sidelines, the young person eventually opened up and was helped with confidence building, such as helping others during the sessions.
This has led to positive interactions, new friendships and improved education prospects.
Impact is also monitored through surveys and focus groups with local organisations, police and wider estate residents.
The Valley says its approach is proving successful in cutting crime and antisocial behaviour among children aged seven to 13.
“Children and young people who attend are becoming more socially aware and this is being recognised throughout the community,” says Bowen, adding: “We have monitored a reduction in isolation and loneliness within the children and adults.
“By working together to develop The Valley site, parents, carers and the children and young people themselves now feel they have a safe space in both a physical and emotional sense.”