Newsletter
Autumn/Winter 2013/14
Activity.
Psycholudics
This
can
be
as
obvious
as
a
“… come and do this with me” or as Subtle as a facial
This is a term you may well have heard being used
expression or body language cue. The Playworkers
around the club, but perhaps it hasn’t quite registered
know what they are looking for.
with you. Psycholudics is a Learning Theory cantered
Without this “invitation” then an intervention by a
on play. Put simply, this theory proposes that both
Playworker would actually be a superimposing of
children and adults alike, develop their physical and
their ideas onto the child’s play activity and hence
spiritual
their
would prevent the learning and development function
understanding of their world around them through
from taking place. For this reason, our Playworkers
“play”
are trained to hold back until an invitation is made. Of
identity,
their
cultures
and
course
We all utilise play is to practice building social
our
Playworkers also
relationships, physical skills and mental reasoning,
have
To put it another way, we learn our Life Skills via
play.
a
supervisory
role
to
the
ensure
children
The play cycle
safe,
The Psycholudics Theory is extended through study
but
remain
their
observations should not be mistaken for inactivity.
by breaking play down into its
constituent
parts:
What makes Little Villagers such a good Childcare
this
provider is the range and depth of play activities
becomes known as the Play
created for our children. This allows all of our children
Cycle and children will be
the opportunity to explore
“driven” to complete the
and develop the full range of
cycle in order to gain the
their life skills at appropriate
learning and developmental
function of the play.
points in their developmental
The
Play Drive is not visible in itself but its effects are. At
journey.
Little Villagers we utilise the Psycholudics System
To learn more check out our
and our Playworkers are constantly looking for
website:
evidence
of
the
Play
Drive
in
our
children.
Sometimes the children will be “driven” to play in a
group. At other times it will be a solitary activity. This
http://www.littlevillagers.org.uk/how-the-staff-get-involved-in-play.html
or try here http://www.ludemos.co.uk/members1.htm
depends on what Life Skill the child is subconsciously
developing.
If you prefer a book Playwork - Theory and Practice
The Playworkers are all trained on the Psycholudics
by Fraser Brown (1 Nov 2002)
System and they closely observe the children looking
out for “Play Cues” – and invitation to join in the Play
[Available on Amazon for £16.72]
Staff Update
Christmas Panto
5 Min. Interview
Hollie Wilson will be joining
on a permanent basis,
covering the AfterSchool
Service
and Holiday Clubs
You will no doubt
have met her
around the club
already as she
started with us back in the
Summer on a temporary basis.
Once again this year Little
Villagers will be taking a group to
the Pantomime at Edinburgh
King’s Theatre.
 Who are you? – Hi I ‘m Drew
This year’s we will be taking
the second star on the right to
visit Neverland and see a
performance of Peter Pan,
complete with crocodiles, lost
boys,
fairies
and
pirates.
 How did you get here?.- By
us
Our new Administrator is
Sharon Wilkinson. We hope for
a
smooth
transition
with
Invoicing
but
should
you
experience any
problems please get in touch
quickly and we will resolve them.
default really. If you keep
running off at the mouth,
eventually someone expects you
to step up to the plate.

Where are you going? Hoping to go all the way to a 6
out of 6 Care Inspectorate
Report next time around.
Trish Atkins will be doing
Breakfast,,
After-School and
Holiday Clubs for
us, ably covering
Lesley’s Maternity
Leave.
We welcome a new Clerical
Administrator to the team
because after two years in post
Alison is leaving us to take up a
college place.
Good Luck
Alison.
McLellan the Chair of Little
Villagers
Management
Committee.
 What was your first ever
job? – Delivering Coupons for
Cancer Research Charity
The usual cast is back: the
versatile Alan Stewart; the
hilarious Andy Gray [“Am no
very wellll”] and arch-villain
Grant Stott {Boooo Hisss}. They
always put on a great show. This
is a very popular outing every
year and of course provided at
no additional cost to parents
This year the Panto Outing
will be on
Friday 13th of
December. We will have over 40
kids attending again this year.
Watch out for message nearer
to the time detailing drop off/pick
up etc.

What
would
superpower
be?
Unquenchable energy
match my children
your
–
– to
 Tell us an interesting fact
about yourself – I once flew
with
the
Red
Arrows!
Annual General Meeting & Plea for New Committee Members
This year our AGM will be held on Thursdays 7th of November at 7:30 p.m. Little Villagers belongs to us all. It is
our cub and the Management Committee volunteer their time to ensure that all the necessary business is taken
care of; Staff Recruitment; Paying Wages; Ensuring Standards are Adhered to etc. The Committee numbers are
now as low as they can go and we really need new members to join to enable us to continue the service. We
schedule about 10 meetings a year and we do not expect a 100% attendance rate – Little Villagers is a Child Care
Service for Working Parents so by our very nature we are all busy parents. All we ask though is for a little of your
time to ensure we remain as successful as we have been up to this point..