12Dec By Alex Panton FoundationPartners News Outreach Presentations & Updates The Alex Panton Foundation (APF) is proud to have collaborated with the Department of Education Services (DES) to put together community outreach programmes such as The Theraplay™ Institute and Sunshine Circles to the Cayman Islands. APF helped fund these initiatives which allowed educators to further their training to better assist in developing an integrated therapeutic intervention in education and community.We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Mourant who supported the Theraplay™ one-day programme. To learn more about how you or your company can help sponsor and support further educational, community outreach events, please click the link at the bottom of this email to contact us directly. Sunshine Circles Sunshine Circles is an adult-directed, structured play therapy-based group that incorporates playful, cooperative and nurturing activities that enhance the emotional well-being of children. Unlike other play therapy-based group approaches, theraplay learning takes place on a non-verbal level. Instead of talking about positive social behavior, the group leaders and children participate in positive physical social interaction. Gradually, positive messages from the groups become a part of the child’s internal sense of himself. Children generally embrace the three rules of Sunshine Circles- No Hurts, Stick Together and Have Fun and carry those rules with them throughout the day. Sunshine Circles can very quickly and dramatically improve the quality of the classroom and provide teachers with resources to maintain an emotionally positive and cognitively enriched environment. Theraplay™ heraplay™ is a child and family therapy that focuses on strengthening attachment and supporting attunement. Attuning to your child’s needs can help to reduce unwanted behaviors. Participants learned and practiced activities designed to engage, nurture, challenge, and provide structure to their child/children’s lives. Mandy Jones, M.S.W., J.D., L.C.S.W., R.P.T., was the guest speaker at the event. Mandy is a Certified Theraplay™ Practitioner, Trainer, and Supervisor-in-Training. She is also the Executive Director at The Theraplay™ Institute. Mandy has worked almost exclusively with adoptive and foster families since she began her career. She is interested in helping families with young children form strong attachments and work through sensory concerns. Theraplay™ Workshop 24 parents participated in the Theraplay™ parenting workshop on Saturday 3rd December at the University College of the Cayman Islands (UCCI).Thank you to Ms. Parker and the UCCI team for providing the space and the student teachers’ support. We would also like to thank KY Nannies for providing child care for parents who wanted to attend the event. Sunshine Circles 34 educators, psychologists, and behavioural specialists from DES have been trained in Sunshine Circles. The series of two 2-day training sessions was facilitated by Mandy Jones and Dr Catherine Day. We honour the collaboration with The Theraplay Institute and thank them for their ongoing support in bringing attachment-based interventions to the Cayman Islands.The participating school will start running Sunshine circles in school. This intervention will be targeted at children who experience emotional difficulties and adversity in their childhood. If you are interested in sponsoring or learning how you can partially sponsor programmes like these, please email us info@alexpantonfoundation.ky