Over Summer, Cosgrove provided a Playscheme over a five week period during the Summer holidays. We supported 32 children, 29 families across three local authorities and we were able to offer up to 6 places per session. Sessions were offered Monday-Friday and split into morning and afternoon which equated to a 3.5 hour slot per session. Each session was allocated by aiming to match children accordingly to have peers of a similar age/interest. To ensure we met everyone’s individual needs, we continued to provide an alternative supports to an additional 20 children and 19 families throughout this time.
The Playscheme was held at Young Enterprise Scotland space within Rouken Glen Park which allowed us to carry out an outdoor playscheme in a safe, familiar environment. We were thankful to our facilitators being able to join us over this period. Susan Kennedy our art facilitator join us for some sensory art sessions with a focus on nature wildlife aswell as Indepen-dance for weekly sessions with a focus around freedom of movement and use of materials. The staff continued to have activities accessible for the children for child led play such as messy play, active play, arts & crafts and sensory play. Having a focus on child led play allows the child to develop their confidence, independence, develop new interests and social skills.
The impact on this playscheme is so great, it is highly sought after and families continue to look for opportunities to tap into further playschemes/activity days. We find more and more families are getting in touch every year to join in as they will say we have been recommended to them via friends, families at school, social work. Being able to carry out this over Summer, it allows the families to have some respite, spend some time with their other children and to also provide time for parents to work. For children with additional support needs, in particular autism, consistency and routine is important. When school holidays come around, the children can struggle being out with the school routine. For us to be able to provide set sessions weekly, allows the child to participate in something which becomes a familiar routine for a short period while school is over.
Here are some thoughts and reflections from some of the families we have supported, and the Cosgrove team: