Freshly Minted - Coin Street Community Builders

Freshly Minted Coin Street family and children’s centre newsletter

Issue 23 | Jan 2018

Beating the winter blues at Coin Street CONTENTS Dates for diary Pg.1 FAMILY SERVICES, YOUTH & COMMUNITY PROGRAMMES Pg.2 FAMILY SERVICES Pg.3 NURSERY Pg. 4&5 EVENTS Pg. 6 We have lots of exciting things in store for you to see and do in the new year at Coin Street but, first, we’d like to share a short roundup of highlights from the festive season just gone. Themed celebrations kicked off at our Community Conversation day, on 25 November, which saw attendees enjoying our festive wreath-making activity. On 2 December we were blessed with a dry and bright winter’s day for our annual Magical Christmas event at Gabriel’s Wharf. Visitors enjoyed an afternoon of making sparkly

tree decorations while listening to live music from Daughters of Davis and a signed performance by the National Deaf Children’s Society. We even received some unexpected special guests: a group of French Santas who encouraged everyone to dance. On Tuesday 12 December our Family Services team hosted a Christmas special Cook and Taste session making Christmas snowballs with our community food worker, which was attended by many local families. In 2017, our Community Vision and Values team organised

two Christmas giving initiatives. For the first time we took part in Better Bankside’s ‘Together at Christmas’ initiative. 2017’s gift appeal was their most successful to date; together with other local organisations, we were able to donate Christmas gifts to 1858 homeless, vulnerably housed and elderly people. We also saw the return of the KidsOut Giving Tree, which helps to provide presents to local children living in refuge. A huge thank you to everyone who donated. Pictured above: Magical Gabriel’s Wharf

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY 19 January, 9 February & 9 March Introduction to solids

6 February Speech & Language 10 March Community Day at the neighbourhood centre Drop-in

20 & 27 January Stay ‘n’ Play

Tuesdays Cook and Taste

Tuesdays Gentle Gardening

Until 21 January Lumiere London

Wednesdays Community Cook Up

Tuesdays, 17 April-12 June Positive Parenting Programme

For a full programme of activities visit www.coinstreet.org, pick up a leaflet from the Coin Street neighbourhood centre or speak to a member of the Coin Street team.

FAMILY SERVICES, YOUTH AND COMMUNITY PROGRAMMES

FAMILY SERVICES

Community Conversation

Cook and Taste

On the afternoon of 25 November we threw open the doors of the neighbourhood centre to welcome over 230 local people, including many who attend our Family Support sessions, children from our nursery and parents and carers.

Upon arrival everyone was greeted with free tea and delicious bakes by the lovely team at partner organisation, Blackfriars Settlement.

screenings and the chance to view part of the popular exhibition shown at gallery@oxo in May – Bankside’s Past in the Present, curated by local resident and Coin Street board member George Nicholson. It was inspiring to see people working together to brainstorm ideas, communicate their thoughts and views and have fun.

Feeling inspired to get your child to try new, healthy food? Come along and join in our Cook and Taste workshops, informal sessions to encourage young children to try new flavours and feel different textures. Please check our website at coinstreet.org/community/

families-children/familyactivities/cook-and-taste/ for dates to be confirmed. Meet in the Bernie Spain Room on Tuesdays, 10am-12pm, during Stay ‘n’ Play sessions. No need to book, just turn up. For more information contact Hayley on [email protected].

Community Cook Up It can be fun and rewarding to cook and eat together.

Pictured above: Blackfriars Settlement’s fluffy, heavenly cakes

Pictured above: Enjoying an extended session of Stay ‘n’ Play

It was great to see so many of you getting involved in the wide range of free activities available across four floors, from festive wreath and card-making workshops to cycling on the smoothie-making bike, enjoying massages and much more... We hosted a special extended session of our usual Saturday Stay ‘n’ Play in the nursery, where the children enthusiastically took part in arts and crafts activities and a musical storytelling session led by local resident Kate Portal.

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Pictured above: Getting arty in Stay ‘n’ Play

You shared what you loved and loathed about the community in our ‘tops’ and ‘pants’ activity. We loved watching the washing line fill up with your thoughts and ideas about our neighbourhood.

Pictured above: ‘Tops’ about our area

It wasn’t only adults we hoped to hear from; we wanted to find out what our younger visitors would like to see in the area too. We placed wishing trees around the building including the nursery so that anyone could make a wish and decorate the trees. For those interested in finding out about the history of the area, there was plenty to keep you entertained, including a timeline of the last 30 years, documentary

Pictured above: Tasting new things

Taking place every Wednesday in the Bernie Spain Room from 1-5pm, the Family Services Cook Up session is for families who would like to find out more about Coin Street’s programmes and to meet other families in the local community, with a hint of 1-1 support, a taste of community togetherness and a splash of fun.

Pictured above: Sharing ideas about our community

We’d like to thank everyone who came along and those who lent a helping hand: our fantastic partners, workshop leaders, volunteers and staff. It was lovely to see all the huge smiles on everyone’s faces. We hope you enjoyed the day and look forward to welcoming you to future activities and more conversations.

Triple P - Positive Parenting Programme

Our next Community Day takes place on Saturday 10 March. We’ll be sharing more details in the next edition of Freshly Minted. Hope to see you there.

Parenthood can be extremely rewarding, enlightening and enjoyable. It can also be demanding, frustrating and exhausting.

For more information please contact Hommie or Hayley on 020 7021 1634 or familyandchildrenscentre@ coinstreet.org

This is why our Family Services team is offering an 8 week positive parenting programme, which can enable you to learn new strategies when dealing with challenging behaviour, problem solving and building on your own confidence as a parent or carer.

The FREE programme takes place Tuesdays, 17 April-12 June, 1pm-3pm at the Coin Street neighbourhood centre.

Pictured above: Happy and satisfied Community Conversation-goers

Pictured above: Sharing a meal, advice and chats

If you would like to come, contact Hommie on 02070211623, text 07894422008 or email [email protected]

Advanced booking is required, creche available. Pictured above: Creative sessions in the Bernie Spain Room

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NURSERY Re-opening the nursery We’re delighted to welcome you back into the newly refurbished nursery. Thank you for your patience over the past weeks. After closing to the children on 14 December, staff came in to pack down the nursery and move it into the neighbourhood room for the first week back in January. During the closure, nursery staff completed a number of training sessions: Planning in the Moment, a child-led process which supports children to learn independently, Attachment and

Crafty Christmas In December the nursery held craft afternoons for parents to come in and get creative with their children.

Nurturing, Social Communication Difficulties and Behaviour Management. They also visited The National Maritime Museum and Early Excellence. These activities have further strengthened the practitioners’ skills and knowledge of child development. Meanwhile, Chef Jo has been developing new menus to make in the new state of the art kitchen. We can’t wait to share photos of the new nursery with you soon.

Activities involved making snowflake decorations, fabulous glittery Christmas hats and decorating ginger bread men.

Pictured above: The cots coming in handy for the big nursery move

Autumnal fun

Pictured above: collaborative handprint artwork for our staff lunch

Friday 27 October was a special day in the nursery. The children got stuck into pumpkin carving in preparation for the spookiest festivity of the year. They enjoyed exploring the pumpkins inside and out. After using descriptive words to discuss the outside they took turns to play with the gooey pumpkin guts. They then carved out the pumpkins using child-friendly tools.

The nursery staff cooked a delicious ‘Tastes From Around The World’ feast for all Coin Street staff. The theme celebrated the diverse cultures that make up the Coin Street community. The children were called in to judge the best pumpkin in the annual Coin Street Staff Pumpkin Carving Competition. After much deliberating, this was won by the Investigators’ entry.

Nursery noticeboard Family photo album Explorers are currently working on making family albums. Can parents and carers please email family photos to be included to [email protected]

Boxes full of treasures Explorers are making treasure boxes and they need your help to fill them up. Do you have any small boxes, tins, bracelets and bangles you’d like to donate? 4

Dressing your child for weather and play Please remember that your children will be playing outside every day, weather permitting - these are some of the best puddle jumping days! Please take the weather into consideration when you dress your child for the day. Warm clothing and coats are necessary for your child to bring to the nursery. We have lots of hats, scarves and gloves in the nursery at

this time of year so please remember to label the items of clothing with your child’s name. A good idea is to attach gloves by using a long length of ribbon which can go through the coat sleeves so that pairs of gloves stay together.

These sessions offered a great opportunity for families to spend time together, getting to know other parents, carers and nursery practitioners as well as a chance for parents to see how creative their child can be.

Pictured above: Getting stuck into Christmas craft activities

MEET EMMA, GINA AND BRITTANY Emma Platt, our Interim Operations Manager, joined us after working as an Operations Manager for three years in a variety of industries including, most recently, a holistic rites of passage charity for boys. She tells us: “I love the atmosphere at Coin Street and I am proud to be a part of such an important and supportive organisation.” Georgina White (known as Gina), our Early Years Practitioner working in the Investigators room, has been working in childcare for the past 10 years. She stepped out of her nanny

role to join us here at Coin Street in August. She is also studying for a degree in Early Years and tells us that she feels “very lucky to be working with such an experienced and qualified childcare team”.

support for families, children and the community” she explains.

Gina has also been helping out with the LGBT Parents Group organised by our Family Services team here at Coin Street one Saturday per month. She enjoys the amazing atmosphere and says feedback from parents has been extremely positive: “It’s incredibly exciting to work with a company that provides so much

Her professional background is in childcare in primary schools in Australia. She says that what she is enjoying most about Coin Street is its “friendliness and focus on helping the local community.”

Brittany Littleboy, the newest member of the nursery staff team, joins us as Interim Nursery Administrator.

Pictured below, left to right: Emma Platt, Georgina White and Brittany Littleboy

Pictured right: A handy method to avoid losing mitts

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EVENTS Lumiere London: see the city in a new light. 18 - 21 January, 5.30-10.30pm, FREE

Bigger, brighter and bolder, the Lumiere London light festival returns for a spectacular second edition. More than 50 artworks reimagine London’s architecture and streets, transforming the city into a dazzling nocturnal art exhibition. This year, it is coming to South Bank and Bargehouse, the riverside walkway and other sites owned and managed by Coin Street Community Builders are amongst the spaces to be spectacularly transformed.

Join in to co-create the artistic experience with Vertigo’s ‘The Wave’, an installation of luminous gates on the riverside that respond to movement sonically and visually; admire Simon Corder’s ‘Bough 1’, the vivid tubes of fluorescent light that climb like ivy up the façade of Bargehouse; explore ‘Bottle Festoon’ at Bernie Spain Gardens, an installation of chandeliers made from recycled plastic bottles, with the participation of community groups including Coin Street’s very own Youth Club and

enjoy a beautiful site-specific collaboration between artist David Ward & Rambert, ‘Light on Their Feet: Footfalls for Rambert’ depicting photos of dancers’ feet fading in & out of visibility on the Rambert wall. Visit www.lumiere-festival.com to find out what’s on then grab your knitwear, head into the great outdoors to enjoy the show. Even winter has its silver [and fluorescent] linings. Pictured, left to right: ‘The Wave’, ‘Bough 1’ and ‘Bottle Festoon’

Gentle Gardening, Tuesdays, 11.30am-2pm, FREE Gardening keeps you active and reduces your stress levels and has been proven to do marvels for your wellbeing, making it the perfect new year’s resolution. If you would like to flex your green fingers, why not join us at our Gentle Gardening sessions?

Come along to help make local green spaces more colourful and vibrant and to make new friends. Meet at the Colombo Centre, 3468 Colombo Street, SE1 8DP. Pictured right: Proud Gentle Gardeners with their root vegetables

HAVE YOUR SAY If you have any advice or suggestions you would like to share with other parents and carers, please send them to Jenny Deeks, [email protected] and we’ll try to include them in the next issue of Freshly Minted. Coin Street neighbourhood centre, 108 Stamford Street, South Bank, London SE1 9NH 020 7021 1600 [email protected] www.coinstreet.org facebook.com/CoinStreet

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Coin Street family and children’s centre was judged ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted during its last inspection.

@CoinStreet