Children are having a tough time. The Covid pandemic interrupted their education, as well as the routine of going to school, and for many led to hard times and trauma at home as they lost family members or witnessed loved ones struggle with losing their jobs, suffer ill health or resort to physical violence – issues that have been exacerbated by the cost of living crisis.
One of our local primary schools noticed that some of its pupils were struggling to reintegrate themselves and reached out to The Arsenal Foundation to help them fund the implementation of A Space for Support, a therapeutic service for children and adolescents who have complex needs. We were able to help through the Gunners Fund, our grants scheme for local charities and organisations in need of financial support.
“A Space delivers a critical service to very vulnerable children and, for this reason, we wish to remain anonymous. All I can say is that the school and A Space greatly appreciate Arsenal’s continued support,” says one of the parents involved in the fundraising process.
“A Space is a therapy service designed to meet the emotional, psychological, educational and social needs of children and young people during curriculum time. With help from The Arsenal Foundation, we have been able to introduce this for children impacted by adverse life experiences and trauma. A qualified child and adolescent psychotherapist provides confidential therapy in a dedicated room in the school, supporting children in processing their experiences.
“The therapy takes a holistic approach including liaising with the children’s family support network to share tools and resources so they can better support their child. This has had a significant positive impact in the classroom.
“Teachers are heroes, but supporting a classroom of 30 primary school-aged children, each with different levels of mental and emotional health needs, is extremely challenging – and Covid has had a big impact on many families. Our teachers identified a few children experiencing significant life-altering traumas that were impacting their ability to come to school, engage with their peers and participate in their education. It was hard for those children, their classmates and the teachers, which is why we contacted A Space.
“Our most vulnerable children face a range of issues: some are in temporary accommodation, some have witnessed severe domestic violence, others have special educational needs, and some have experienced the death of a sibling or parent or being unexpectedly displaced from their country of origin. A Space is changing the course of these children’s and their families lives.
“Without the A Space input these children would be on a waiting list for CAMHS support that currently stands at more than eight months. Support is urgent for these children. A Space has also given parents and carers someone to confide in for support, which is in many cases lacking, absent or difficult to access elsewhere in their family circle or community.
A Space and the Institute of International Visual Arts co-publish boxed sets of emotional learning cards featuring contemporary art, commentary and questions to help children to reflect on their feelings
As a result, these children have returned to regular attendance levels, are re-engaging with their peers and are returning to the classroom calm and ready to learn. This has also helped the teachers to better support all of the children in the classroom.
“We – school, parents and A Space – are eternally grateful to The Arsenal Foundation for recognising the importance of the club’s community. Supporting children who have experienced distressing life events or trauma no more than a mile from the home of the club is a true reflection of Arsenal’s commitment to ensuring the health and wellbeing of the vulnerable children in its community.”
Emotional learning cards
The emotional learning cards used at the school are co-published by A Space and the Institute of International Visual Arts (www.iniva.org). The boxed sets combine thought-provoking images by international culturally diverse artists with stimulating commentary and questions highlighting themes relating to identity, difference and diversity.
As an example, the image at the top of the page by artist Shiraz Bayjoo is from the card set entitled “Let’s talk about values”, which helps teachers and therapists to explore life values and why they are important.
It is now widely accepted that developing an emotional vocabulary, building our capacity to reflect and strengthening our ability to learn from life's challenges are essential life skills. The emotional learning cards cover themes that expand on important conversations relating to identity, belonging and the meanings we give to our experiences. Each set includes a fold-out leaflet with our suggestions on how the cards can be used.
A Space and Institute of International Visual Arts (Iniva) have been collaborating on special projects and creating resources since the early 2000s. As an evolving, radical visual arts organisation, Iniva is dedicated to developing an artistic programme that reflects on the social and political impact of globalisation.
With the Stuart Hall Library acting as a critical and creative hub for Iniva’s work, they collaborate with artists, curators, researchers, and cultural producers to challenge conventional notions of diversity and difference. Iniva engages a wide audience, particularly young people, in discourse and debate on issues surrounding the politics of race, class and gender.
For more information on A Space click here
Find out how Iniva and A Space are use art to teach British Values here
From 1000 Names 1979-80 by Anish Kapoor
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
