PEEP PLUS In Lincolnshire

There are currently over 30 successful PEEP PLUS groups in our county. Practitioners have attended PEEP training and introduced the principles and framework into their own individual groups. Parents and pre-school children are accessing this provision in schools, children’s centres and non maintained pre-schools. Practitioners support each other at cluster meetings in and around Lincoln, Gainsborough, Skegness/Mablethorpe, Grantham, Boston and Spalding. Every group develops individually but all share a common ethos that parent’s are the child’s first and most important educators. PEEP celebrates the diversity of our society and aims to offer access and participation to all members of the community.

Babies, toddlers and pre-school children attend the groups with their parents/carers.  Practitioners encourage parents to play alongside their children – sharing books, singing songs, getting messy and most of all having fun. Talk Time is an important part of the session and a chance to share ideas and concerns.

Following the training PEEP practitioners are given Learning Together materials appropriate to the age range they are working with and also PEEP songbooks.  The ORIM framework is central to PEEP:

• Opportunities for learning and all-round development in everyday life.
• Recognising and valuing children’s efforts and achievements day by day
• Interactive everyday activities and experiences to do together.
• Modelling or setting an example by adults can make all the difference

The Birth to Five Service has accessed funding for groups to get started and have put together Play Packs to lend out to parents. These have proved to be popular. Response from parents has generally been very positive.

'My daughter thoroughly enjoyed the session, after a couple of weeks attending she is recognising familiar faces and is interacting well with both children and parents. She is familiarising herself with the structure of the group and is following it well.'
^{(Quote from parent at Swingbridge Children’s Centre, Grantham)}

The support that parents give their children can enormously influence children’s achievements and parents themselves benefit from the support given to them through the PEEP PLUS groups.