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Puppet Portal Hospital C Day 7 | Puppet Portal Project Hospital C
2009-06-10
Puppet Portal Hospital C Day 7
The `travelling puppet` idea is gathering momentum and really inspiring a lot of excitement and enthusiasm. This morning we discovered the gorgeous Ruby who arrived with two lovely letters and two DVDs about her previous adventures in Hospitals D and B. Reading the letters, watching the videos and listening to Ruby`s first words (in many languages!!) in our school was really special and it is developing a tangible link with the other projects - even more so than the virtual link-up on Aite Eile I think.
The wards were very quiet today and we had only two children. One from last week of `fairy-eating-then-repairing Bear` fame returned really enthusiastically. After his operation in previous days his balance was a little unsteady. He arrived holding his mums hand and was guided into his chair. By the time he left, he was wandering around the whole schoolroom unaided with his puppet and the perimeters of the theatre stretched beyond the curtained box with his imagination....and confidence (or distraction!) on his feet. His parents were really positive when they came to take him home and left a lovely card saying the puppet workshops `really made a difference to his stay`.
For me, its becoming so apparent that a child can develop confidence in himself through play because of the positive, supportive attitude of those around him like parents such as these and its our role to provide space and means to nurture that opportunity in children and parents alike. On my first ever visit to the hospital school, I was helping a child by correcting a spelling she was typing. The principal said to me `Its ok. Here we give total support.` This attitude made an impression on me and when I reflected on it later with another teacher, she noted that the fact the child was out of bed, in the school, typing a sentence that she came up with herself after going all that she has been through in previous weeks was more than enough in itself. The point of my story is not anecdotal - its my attempt to illustrate how much I have learned myself in the last seven weeks about what support really means and what a difference it makes. And why not give it to everyone, in every instance whenever you can.....it certainly feels good.
A noteworthy feature of the experience with the second child was that she had been very down and too anxious to eat four days after her operation. At lunchbreak she made a deal with her mum and ate some food just so she could be allow back to do the puppetry.
After all that today, it almost seems like a side effect that we managed to make some great puppet shows and lovely videos!
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