Newsletter 2025:4
'Playing with Heart around the Globe'
Dear Members and Followers,
It was with some sadness that we held the final live workshops for Children First, before I left for home last month. The Diploma students completed their miniature theatres, and presented their performances of a character and story from the Mahabharata. The depth of the performances was very moving. The four Advanced students achieved both their NDP Trainer’s Certificates as well as their Supervisor’s Certificates. This is a first for NDP, as we are just realising that supervisors need some additional NDP Training. (Please keep a look out for the new announcements regarding the Online Supervisors Training).
We also facilitated a workshop for a dozen parents who wanted to know more about NDP – and yes – we did Messy Play! We also did Rhythmic Play and explained the rationale for both, and finally ended with our bedtime story. It reinforced all my ideas about helping parents to understand interventions and how there are some they can instigate at home. We demonstrated the use of ‘freeze frames’ and how they can be used as a ‘still photograph’ to illustrate an issue that may be happening with their child. There was no doubt that the learning was enabled because it was through action methods, and not just sitting still and talking.
Our final group picture for the lovely Inanna story (shown above) brought our NDP weeks to an end. And then the packing! Beautiful scarves, dresses, puppets, a book of traditional Indian Fairy Tales, and more miniatures for the sand tray: traditional musicians, embroidered horses, and a very beautiful lapis lazouli stone – the special jewel associated with Inanna. It is believed to have a protective function, as well as healing; it is also referred to as ‘the wisdom keeper’. There are many stories about lapis lazouli, some of which we will share over the paywall.
I had a wonderful time but India is also a long, long way! We shall see!
My eventful life!
I am still in Appledore and the war is continuing. Lack of certain foods is explained to children plus the artificial replacements such as egg powder. People were antsy with the sugar shortage, and magazines suggested that a sweet tart could be made using parsnips (together with custard powder, custard, described in a previous Newsletter!). The actions of my father seemed at times inexplicable to a five-year old, although there was some clarity when I came to realise, he was probably on the autistic spectrum (there is a strong four generation autistic thread in our family).
To help the ‘war effort’, people were being asked to donate metals for weapon making: everything from frying pans to bedsteads. They also wanted people’s metal fences and gates. Our house was on a corner, so there was a metal gate on both roads, as well as the fence which bordered a thick hedge. When it was removed, there was a time lapse before the wooden replacement fence and gates were put in place by the authorities. So people started taking short cuts through our garden through the two gateways! Well my father was very unhappy about this and eventually instructed my two brother to catch one of the children as they ran through ‘to teach them a lesson’. They brought a struggling seven year old into the surgery, the other boys had managed to escape, and we all crowded in to watch: my father showed him a hypodermic syringe, and said if he came back again, this is what he would feel! The poor lad was absolutely terrified (I shouldn’t be surprised if he avoided doctors for life!). He was let go and told to tell his friends. I was feeling a kind of paralysis, doctors and fathers were supposed to do kind things. I managed to say something, but it was a struggle; I asked my mother what would happen if the boys still kept running through the garden, and she said that next time my father would show them a surgical knife!
I know this was the source of childhood nightmares for me, my difficulties with sleep, and a constant childhood fear, that ‘something might happen’.
Until next time.
Thank you so much for being a part of my network – it feels as if I have lots of friends who are willing to hear about new ideas and contribute their own.
With Love
Dr Sue
Forthcoming Courses
Don’t forget that if you’re one of my Substack subscribers you can attend the below webinars for FREE - see details in the Subscribers’ section below.
We have some more of our new popular ‘Whistlestop’ Webinars coming in June and July – just the right thing if you are looking for extra CPD or only have time for brief encounters, wherever you are!
NDP and Social Anxiety in Children & Young People
Monday 23 June, 1200-1400 (UK time)
Friday 27 June, 0900-1100 (UK Time)
Dr Sue presents this webinar and introduces a new approach for working with anxious children and young people to help them develop social skills and reduce stress. This 'Whistlestop' webinar will be of interest to teachers, teaching assistants, care workers, clinicians, therapists, parents, and all professionals involved in the support and development of children and young people.
NEW COURSE! Developing Positive Thoughts & Feelings
Price includes FREE book
How to turn around a negative self-image or world view…
Children and teenagers need to resolve their emotional distress in order to discover their self-esteem and their potential for their futures. This Whistlestop Webinar gives examples of NDP application where there has been a remarkable turnaround in both children and teenagers to a positive view of themselves and their world.
Changes in self-confidence and a positive attitude towards learning, can bring about changes in learning achievement and behaviour. However, if a young person regards themselves and their work as ‘rubbish’, disruptive behaviours or other symptoms will take over. One of the methods for changing behaviour is through the careful application of dramatic activity. Learn more in this interactive webinar.
Included in the price of this webinar is a copy of Dr Sue Jenning's book '101 Activities for Positive Thoughts & Feelings' (Hard copy for UK customers only; overseas customers will be sent an eBook version.)
Please do request new webinars from me if there is a special topic you would find useful.
Escape into literature
I am obviously heading to Naxos this week to teach my final courses there but this October, I’m heading back to Naxos for a reading retreat—something I’ve been craving for months. The quiet, the sea, the warmth, the bougainvillea spilling over stone walls… it’s the kind of place where time stretches and reading feels like breathing.
I’ll be there with Naxos Creative Reading Retreats, and this year Jennifer Saint (Ariadne, Atalanta) and Naomi Wood (Mrs Hemingway, The Hiding Game) will be part of it—two brilliant writers whose books I can’t wait to sink into, especially in such a peaceful setting.
It’s not structured or busy—just space, stories, and the luxury of uninterrupted reading. Maybe I’ll even go and experience the olive oil refinery this time. It’s that kind of trip—slow, simple, and quietly nourishing.
If that sounds like something you need too, maybe I’ll see you there!
Remember that you can study for the NDP Diploma as a Self-Guided course, in your own time and at your own pace. There are optional ‘live’ tutorials. The elements are the same as the live training and so are the assessments.
Just a little nudge – please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Not only does it help me as a writer, you also gain more, with additional article, stories and techniques, 4 free webinars each year, and 10% discount on any UK training. As a paid subscriber you are supporting new things that I am creating and are closely involved in the process. Just £65 per year or monthly instalments. Thanks and a hug. Deluxe membership is £120 per year and gives free monthly consultations, 6 free webinars per year and 15% off UK training.
Miss Penny-Weather’s Country School
And finally, our bed-time story. This time it is the next section from our story about life at a rural school after WW2.
The Story of Jimmy Swift, the Boy from Somerset:
Miss Penny-Weather’s Country School story is based on events that the author experienced or that she heard about as a child in post-war Britain. It creates the atmosphere of the rural school and is a useful addition to lessons about social history. It will eventually be published as a book, but meanwhile look out for the recording on YouTube.
Episode 12
Jimmy and his Dad went below deck to wash their hands and then headed for supper. Jimmy couldn’t wait with his impatience to hear about the new plans. But he knew he could not rush things, he just had to wait! They had large potatoes in their jackets with cheese and margarine. And mum had made a custard as a treat, which they ate with stewed apple. Jimmy helped clear the table and then got out his homework – he did not want to lose a moment of his reading or his sums.
Then his dad said, ‘Shall we tell the children the new plans?’, and his Mum came and sat near the table with some mending. More clothes needed darning and mending, before they wore themselves out. ‘Well,’ said dad, ‘It’s like this…’ and he went on to say that things were changing, and these days children were expected to go to school instead of helping their father’s work – and that soon it would be the law of the land. Both of the children would be involved, which was impossible now as they were always on the move and their dad always needed help on the boat. BUT! They had an idea and had Jimmy noticed that there was a lock-keeper’s cottage back where they had come through several locks. He remembered it as it was all boarded up and the lock-keeper hadn’t been seen around for a long time.
His dad continued and said that he and his mum had been to see the cottage and discovered that it was available to rent, and the lock-keeper job was vacant. ‘So,’ exclaimed dad, ‘we are going to move into a house and your dad is now the lock-keeper!’
The children were both silent – what a shock! They had always lived on a boat! Then mum started to speak. ‘The cottage has a garden so we are going to grow vegetables and flowers, and we are going to open a shop for the bargees when they come through the locks. Just the basics and some fresh fruit and vegetables’. ‘And some sweets?’ said Sally, and everyone laughed! ‘Why not some sweets!’ said mum. ‘And maybe a few toys too! Things for your fishing, and perhaps for your ball games!’
Jimmy and his sister couldn’t take it all in! What changes! And Jimmy realised that his education was going to be even more important with the prices of things in the shop, and all the reading of the agreements and invoices.
‘So, what do you think?’ said dad. ‘Say something!’ ‘It’s, it’s… amazing!’ Jimmy said, at last. ‘What a big change for all of us! I can’t take it all in… yet!’
And think what I have to tell Mathew, Jimmy thought to himself, when we meet tomorrow near the barn – maybe he would take him to see the cottage….
(If you prefer to listen to these stories, they will shortly be available on YouTube ‘NDP Storytime with Sue Jennings’ and ‘Stories of Mouse and Mouse’. The ‘Moose and Mouse’ stories are available in the paid section below and are written for children under the age of 6 years. They address important issues in child development such as attachment, loss, playfulness, adventure, safety and fears. See our website here.)
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Hello Everybody!
Welcome to some changes and some new additions!
Resources
Please remember there is a free, 84-page E-book (or hard copy if you prefer) with stories, techniques and theory of NDP with lovely illustrations by Charlie Meyer. Please send us an email if you would like a copy, including your address if you would like a hard copy posting.
There is also a charming book of therapeutic stories from Asia which is also available free online. Just send us an email to be sent your copy!
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