This article by Linnet McMahon, a former Trustee of the Planned Environment Therapy Trust, and course director of the Readiing University Therapeutic Child Care course, can be found on the Internet Archive, below. It captures one of the ways that the Archive and Study Centre, and the site as a whole, served the needs and wishes of the people who dedicate their lives and memories to working for others therapeutically; commemorating something special and irreplaceable. PETT supported the course in various ways - through additions to their library and awards for students; and recorded their closing event of Large Groups and breakouts at Reading, when the University arbitrarily closed a successful programme. Here with thanks to Linnet.
University of Reading Therapeutic Childcare Tea Chest
University of Reading - Diploma/MA in Therapeutic Child Care 1990-2006
It became a custom of students at the end of their Diploma/MA in Therapeutic Child Care course to help welcome the next cohort of students, with some talking to them about the course on their Interview Day and one or two even welcoming them to their first day.
Sometimes the course group left a gift for the next cohort; the 1992-94 cohort gave a decorated pot with a plant (organised by Michelle Purton), the 1994-96 cohort presented a set of brightly decorated containers for tea, coffee, sugar and biscuits, and several cohorts presented mugs, each person choosing one they felt appropriate (Janet Pettipher's was 'stressed').
The final cohort of Adrian's leadership (1998-2000) gave not only cups but also wrote a guide to surviving the course called The Institution is Not Enough (probably largely the editing of Pete Grady), loosely based on the book about the course, Intuition is Not Enough: Matching Learning with Practice in Therapeutic Child Care (1998 Routledge) edited by Adrian Ward and Linnet McMahon, with team members Paul Cain and Teresa von Sommaruga Howard, and some students, including Deborah Best who was a tutor from 2000, contributing a chapter.
Not to be outdone, the 2000-2002 cohort presented the next cohort with a set of cups painted by course members (under the supervision of Paula Stacey) with course appropriate messages and concepts, including 'holding' and 'containment'. There were similar painted tea-towels.
The 2002-2004 cohort decorated this box on their last day on the course (brought by Dave Goodspeed) to hold all the cups, and tea and coffee supplies. Between course days the box lived in Paul Cain's tiny next door office.
The last cohort were sad that there was no group to follow them. The final celebration after the course ended was a party at Linnet's where students' children (Katrina's especially) brought pretty things they had made, some of which are also in the box.
Course members were clear that they would like these symbolic reminders of their Therapeutic Child Care course to go to The Planned Environment Therapy Trust, together with copies of their dissertations and other TCC information and materials/correspondence.
Linnet McMahon
