Shelthorpe School serves a large council housing estate and the children are predominantly Anglo-European. There are many social problems on parts of the estate, with drug use and dealing being one of them. About 30% of children at Shelthorpe School have specific educational needs.

For some children the lack of money is an issue, with parents who either can’t afford to pay, or are unable to find time to take their children places. One child commented that he’s not allowed to go to the Leisure Centre, another child said he’s not allowed to play on his scooter, other children were unaware of the Borough Council Summer Leisure Pass Scheme. Many cited lack of money as a major issue in limiting where they could go and what they could do.

Their ideas of adult occupations were mainly geared towards the non academic, with some children possibly not understanding the concept of a job, or getting it mixed up with what they want: ‘when I grow up I would like to go go-karting’; ‘when I grow up I would like a dog.’ Again, these are things that many children would take for granted! Contrast this with children’s ideas/experiences from Wymeswold school for instance.

The Shelthorpe children would like to: play music - go dancing - horse riding - swimming and ice skating but can’t due to lack of finance. Others would just like to feel safe enough to go to the shops on their own. One child wanted to learn to ride a ‘big bike’.

The low mention of ‘professional’ jobs could point to low parental expectations and/or lack of exposure. On the other hand the children expressed things that children their age like or are interested in.

Children like it when they get attention and time with adults: ‘I like it when adults are nice to children’; ‘I like it when my parents tickle me.’

One girl at Shelthorpe wrote that she’d love to go to see her dad unsupervised. Others talked of being looked after/living with extended family members. One person expressed her satisfaction for when adults are not in charge, others of experiencing satisfaction when siblings were away from home.

The main worries the children expressed were to do with being left alone by parents, relatives dying, relatives being at risk whilst the children are at school, fear of darkness and concerns over homework. Worry was also expressed over being beaten up by bullies.

What they’d want to see/have:
A place where they could do some creative/fun stuff, e.g. art centre, arts and crafts centre. (Charnwood Arts ran a park based arts programme in Shelthorpe in the summer of 2001 which was still strongly in the children’s thoughts when this current work was conducted.) They love fairs and want a permanent one in their area. Some are quite happy with what they have and don’t really think they need anything else. They want Playstation 2 and all the rest of it! Others wanted access to a swimming pool and gymnastics. Both of these activities are available at the Leisure Centre 10-15 minutes walk away from the school and there is also a small pool at the school.

At first approach most children didn’t know what else was available and didn’t appear to be exposed to much, so on one level they are quite content with watching TV, doing homework and sleeping!
The children’s dreams reflect their fantasies: a Spanish Dancer, a member of the FBI, a famous cricketer, a pop star - but others are more down to earth. My dreams are: ‘to get a new bike’; ‘to go on holiday’; ‘sleep round my friend’s house’. If they had money the children would buy clothes, toys, go on holidays, share it with family members, save it and buy sweets.

It was clear from other exercises with children that some of them have had access to foreign holidays, horse riding and other opportunities but this was a small minority in the class.

Experiences within the family and ‘freedom to roam’ were also very mixed.

Shelthorpe School produced three body outline surveys. Parents and money were the two most agreed factors influencing out of school activities. There was also agreement by two groups on the importance of each of the following:
Safety, friends and adult in charge. All three groups agreed that culture, choice and length of time were not quite so important. Two groups agreed that bullying and crime, activities and workshops, toys, equipment and transport were less important.

Many children expressed their happiness at being with family and friends, others expressed being happy when they got what they wanted. Some were happiest when they were with grandparents.
When asked what they would like to do, given the opportunity or what they wanted if it were possible the children gave a range of responses. Quite high on the list was being trusted to go to play on their own, particularly at the park and to be allowed to walk to the shops, friends’ houses or go to the Leisure Centre to swim and do other activities. Unsupervised access to fathers was also mentioned by two children. Again money and lack of transport were cited as major factors in constraining choice/ability to get what they wanted. Lack of parental time cropped up frequently as a constraint. Some recognised they were too young at the moment to fully follow their interests.

The children said that they generally felt happy when leaving school and expressed desires for outdoor play and swimming. When asked what they would do if they had a choice the children again expressed simple wishes: ‘I would ride a bike’; ‘go on holiday’; ‘go shopping with my friend’; ‘play outside’; ‘go out when I want’; ‘go out to the pub’.

Ideal village: The children showed a very high level of social awareness and concern for ohers in their construction of an ideal community. Quite a sophisticated response.

‘We have got a bus route so old ladies can go shopping and they won’t have to walk. We have got a train track because if people have not got a car they can go on the train. We put a bridge (over the road) to keep people safe.We have got a cycle path because people can ride places. We have got a bus stop, car park and a cycling path, also a road. We have got a walking path. We have got Tesco because we have to get some food.’
‘The fire station is in the centre of town because it can get everywhere easily. We have a police station because if there were some people being naughty they can catch them. We have got the church near the hospital because it’s the quietest place. We put the shop near the office, also the farm and the football pitch. We have got a sports centre, leisure centre and cricket pitch so we can keep fit and healthy. We have got a swimming pool so people can learn to swim. We have got the school and park near each other because when the children finish school they can walk down the path to the park. We have a park so we can play on it. We have got a pond so the ducks can have a swim. We have got a lake so we can canoe and sail. We have a nursery so people can go out to work and they have somewhere to take their children. We have got the nursery near the park so that the little children can go to play.’

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