The 2012 Gold Challenge

The Olympics are round the corner...not just in time but in distance - just down the road from us here in The Paradise Zone Youth Centre in the East End of London.

Our team is running/cycling/swimming/walking ...

2012km

to raise

£2012

for our club activities.

Check out our progress here

Labels: £2012, 2012km, Club, fundraising, Gold Challenge, justgiving, olympics, Paradise Zone, team, The Paradise Zone Youth Centre

Nativity (2011)

Here is clubs Nativity Factor Entry...
...vote for it here

Labels: 2011, Club, East End, Nativity, The Nativity Factor, youth work

Jon in the Club Office

Those who think that Jon is away in India should think again. Here he is sitting at his desk today. I don't know why he has his hood on indoors or why he likes to wear marigolds at the computer but each to their own.

Me, Sue and Tara have had a scare or two when we have entered the office and seen him there when we didn't expect to seem him - he is supposed to be in India you know.

Oh well looks like Craig's plans to take his chair while he's gone aren't going to come to fruition!

Labels: Club, Jon

LONDON WORK/EXPERIENCE

David's Work Experience took place at The Paradise Zone Youth Centre in the East End of London from the 4th to the 8th of April 2011 generally at the following times and changing according to needs: Monday 11am - 3pm & 5.30 - 9, Tuesday 11am - 7pm, Wednesday 10am - 3pm & 5.30 - 8pm, Thursday 10.30 – 3.30 & 5.30 – 8pm and Friday 11 - 5

David did lots of preparation before sessions like buying ingredients for cooking & planning activities like the 'Going Camping' game for the Young Leaders Project. For each session he set up the main room, put equipment, games and the Carrom Board out, switched the PS2 & WII on, set up the pool & table tennis tables, put out drinks and the fruit bowl, set up the art table, put music on & set up the IT room.

Other prep work he did included:

Risk assessment – looking at hazards etc
Session briefing & Reflection
Studied clubs policies & documents ie. Aims, Framework, Equal Ops
Learning British Sign Language

During sessions whether 1:1 or group evening Open Sessions or day time School Sessions or the Young Leader Project, David signed young people in, got to know them (even using BSL when he could) and worked with and supported them teaching skills and learning from them when appropriate. He ran activities like making origami bunnies and cards with young people with complex needs, did worksheets on subjects such as homophones with a home-schooled girl, ran a scavenger hunt round Poplar with the Young Leader Project and a plethora of other activities including Easter Egg Hunts and Egg and Spoon races, cooking chocolate Easter egg nests, playing musical bunny statues & cotton ball bunny tails with different groups. David also did things like set up the tables for lunch & clear up with the young people and after sessions evaluate the session with the team and switch off, put away, tidy up, clear away and lock up.

For specific groups David had to adapt activities like providing more support in activities for those with specific learning needs and disabilities, providing Easter egg alternatives as gifts for Easter when a member of the group was diabetic, in the Young Leader Project was willing to be led by other young people in games such as tangle hands and line up and used sign language as appropriate. As part of David's development and experience he also observed a British Sign Language Exam at an Idea Store, sat in on a Supervision meeting, climbed at the local Mile End Climbing wall, visited local meeting/eating places such as the Departure Lounge and Noodle Street and the centre cafe for Thursday Breakfast Club.

He did all that as well as experiencing some of London's places of interest, history and culture as can be seen in the picture below...

Labels: Club, David, Easter, london, Work Experience

Table Tennis Health Check

I have decided that I will be monitoring my improving health by counting the number of games of table tennis I can play at club without feeling like collapsing:

Until recently it wasn't even half of a game.

Tonight I played 3 in a row...

I am on the mend!

Labels: Club, health, table tennis

Imagination

This little boy who comes to junior club, had probably seen too much of the down side of life and he hasn't even had a decade of it. I have often wondered if his imagination was somewhere he disappeared to for safety. Whatever the reason he has prompted some of the more unusual activities at our club for 5 to 9 year olds, below are just a few:

A police investigation into the abduction of Nellie the elephant
The subsequent court case re. Nellie the elephant's abduction
The foundation of a weekly French club with French bingo, French snap,French role play parties, French computer games and designing of posters to teach French
A sales consultancy for self published books in a self published catalogue
Mobile phones made of paper, with intricate designs and with special flip open features
A literal reading of a religious easter poster with a cute rabbit saying that the bunny is cute but can't save u which prompted a discussion on whether other rabbits can save you - like dogs can ie St Bernard or sniffer dogs or a blind dog!
An encyclopedial exploration of the habitat, abilities and diet of a frog and the provision of said habitat made of paper including, water, lily pads, lily, garden, flower and fence round the pool and three spiders as part of said diet...all for a plastic frog bought for £1.99 at Woolworths.

You see things; and you say, 'Why?'

But I dream things that never were;

and I say, 'Why not?'

George Bernard Shaw

Labels: Club, imagination, Nellie the Elephant

Y Tree

This is the Y Tree - Full of reasons why people come to club!

These are some of the reasons why some of our new and older youth volunteers come...

Our Y Tree is strategically growing by the Hope Garden that we planted at the start of the (academic) year and shows some of our hopes coming to fruition!

Labels: Club, hope, Y Tree