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This site is a way of making  papers available and sharing other materials from my work in child care.

I have worked in the child care field since I graduated in 1969. By far the longest period and most formative was at the Cotswold Community from 1972 – 1999. I joined ISP – Integrated Services Programme – in 1999.

During my period at the Cotswold Community, and especially after 1985 when I became Principal, I wrote several papers which were mainly published in the journal, “Therapeutic Communities”. This meant they had a pretty narrow readership, hence the wish to make them accessible here.

I have also gathered a variety of material which can be found in the “Scrapbook” section. I have had the privilege of working with, and learning from, some amazing people and I hope that this personal archive will be of interest to others and give a flavour of a way of working and thinking which is less prevalent now.

I am anxious that this is not seen as the Cotswold Community’s unofficial website. The Community has moved on and may or may not regard this historical material as relevant to its current work. What I am clear about is that it is very relevant to my own work – my own ethos, my principles and values.

I am conscious of the fact that there is less material from my time with ISP. I am in the thick of ISP’s day-to-day life which makes it more difficult to stand back. It is easier for me to look back over my time at the Cotswold Community and lift out what I believe to be of value. This will be an evolving website so there will be more material from ISP as time goes on.