Here's a selection of comments from some of Siren's customers.
Gill Briggs, Area SENCO, Durham Education Development Service.
"We have used The Two Year Old (At Home and Nursery) extensively to aid with transition training and fostering a greater understanding about attachment and the need for secure relations."
Gill Briggs, Area SENCO, Durham Education Development Service.
"The 'Falling Out' DVD has been used to help promote the issues of helping children 'problem solve' and resolve their own conflicts, rather than seeing adults as the people who can resolve conflicts."
Gill Briggs, Area SENCO, Durham Education Development Service.
"The Event and Time Sampling DVD has supported our work to do with observations to support the EYFS and to help plan the 'next steps' for children. It clearly shows how the methods can be used and compares and contrasts the two different methods."
Gill Briggs, Area SENCO, Durham Education Development Service.
"The films have been used quite extensively by both the Area Senco Team and the Early Years Advisory Team for training to practitioners, in both maintained and private settings. We have generally had a good response to the DVD's due to them being set in the North East and featuring children, practitioners and parents in very real situations. The various DVD's we have used have also enhanced our delivery of the Cache Level 3 Effective SENCo Course, and will continue to do so. We look forward to continuing to use them in the future."
Claire Jackson, Nursery manager, Broadfield Nursery.
"We are just about to use them for staff training and some parent workshops. I have watched them and gone through the course material and think thery are fantastic."
The Independent
""If these weren't kids but furry animals instead, this would be considered brilliant wildlife filming.""
Side Cinema
""Mesmerising!""
Time Out
""Wonderful documentary""
Marion Dowling
"The three DVDs (All About the Outdoors) provide spectacular insights into the opportunities that the outdoor environment offers for children in their earliest years. At a time when budgets are restricted spending choices have to be made carefully. These high quality resources are a must for any trainer to purchase."
Penny Lawrence, Research Project Officer, Faculty of Education, University of Winchester.
"I loved the authenticity of it."
Dorothy Y Selleck, Author and Early Years Consultant
"I think the film 'The Wonder Year' and booklet offer important new explanations in an accessible way of how brain development and experience are closely linked. The filming is so delicately done with absorbing episodes of interactions, a range of feelings and play where the camera really 'holds still' and allows us to look and listen to Orson. I am sure all tutors will find their favorite sequences to support their work in helping parents and students to reach a more detailed and empathetic understanding of children in their first year."
A. Potter, Health Visitor, Hexham
"I've found the DVDs excellent when working with parenting groups and individual families. We have a series of all the DVDs for our infant mental health resources library. They are particularly useful when teaching parents about attachment, communication and social interactions."
Julie Stamper, Head Teacher, Schoolgirls Mum's Unit, Hull
"The DVDs and supporting materials are exellent and certainly enhance our delivery of BTEC First Certificate in CCLD and CACHE First Award in Caring for Children."
Kate Reed, Consultant & EYFS Trainer
"I was delighted to discover these films. They illustrate the principles in my training courses exactly and I use them now to help explain and reinforce my message."
Heather Fields, Hartsmere High School and Associate Lecturer for Open University
"Attachment in Practice is an excellent video. I have used it with groups of students studying AS level Psychology and found it very helpful for illustrating, and bringing to life, stages in development of attachment. "
Penelope Leach, PH.D, Development Psychologist
"The Wonder Year is superb, infant observation for everyone: hooray. Makers of reality TV about babies please note: this is 100% engrossing although it helps instead of hurting. I wish all pregnant parents could see this - and come to think of it, why can't they?"
Sandeep Sekhon, Psychology Teacher of AS Level AQA Examining Board
"As the kids watched [Attachment in Practice] they could see the stages of development taking place. It links in with the syllabus and the kids enjoyed the way it was filmed focused on the child's reactions to the different situations."
Sunil Puri, Multi Agency Safeguarding Trainer, Camden Council
"I was very impressed with the quality of the information on the video of Attachment in Practice and I will find it invaluable in working with groups around child development."
Jennie Lindon, Early Years Specialist, and Author
"Life at Two is an excellent record of a year of important early childhood. So far I am regularly using the sequence of Ava playing with the farm animals set with her mother. This is a really good way in to remind early years practitioners of the wide range of kinds of words that a just two year old can be using. The other sequence I use quite often is from the other DVD (Child Observation No. 9 - The Two Year Old) where Ava is at home with her mother, with the lovely scenes of Ava 'reading' her book, 'writing' her shopping list, going to the shops and so on. "
Dorothy Y Selleck - (Early Years Consultant)
"I have just finished viewing Attachment and Holistic Development.I think this film captures the ordinary loving conversations between a baby and his parents -especially his mother - in a way which is truly extraordinary. The booklet with the points to notice, what's special about, questions for reflection and discussion and links to the EYFS are a gift for tutors, managers, professional workers, parents or childminders. "
Early Years Update (December 2008)
"This resource (Attachment and Holistic Development) will be invaluable to trainers providing courses for practitioners working with children under three. It is a wonderful resource to use with new parents, who would also find the film sequences informative, enjoyable and reassuring."
Gail, Senior Practitioner, Coventry Post Adoption Team
"We have used "Attachment in Practice" when working with parents who have adopted children. We find it very helpful as it shows clearly what builds a secure attachment in babies and children. We are able to highlight the attachment experiences that adopted and Looked After children are likely to have missed out on and what the effects of this are likely to be on their emotional development and functioning. The scenes reflecting Leila's emotional development are very useful in that they illustrate the importance of a secure attachment for the development of trust, the beginnings of self esteem, the confidence to explore and learn about the world and the beginnings of self regulation. You do not have to be a professional to understand this film, it is accessible and useful for both workers and for parents."
Susan Bell, Sure Start Durham Area Senco Trainer
"I used the film during a Sure Start training session with a group of nursery practitioners on Physical, Social and Emotional Development. We were looking at the key worker approach and the film was really spot on for what I was teaching. I used the film along with my regular Sure Start training materials and this worked well. The film was great for my teaching around the domain of Being Close. It illustrated the ideas in my teaching perfectly. The practitioners really enjoyed the film. Seeing Ava's little face on her first day of nursery was really moving. It was especially good because they could sit and be reflective about what they were seeing in the film in a way that they can't when they are actually in the situation. I have several other films by Siren and I find them very useful. It is hard to get hold of this type of material. The film is smashing "
Anna Davies, Welsh Joint Assembly, Chief Examiner for Child Development
"About LEARNING THROUGH PLAY - DOCUMENTARY & OBSERVATION SEQUENCES I teach the GCSE pupils aged from 14-16. I will use them in Child Development and Health and Social Care - both GCSEs I teach with the WJEC. They did seem age appropriate to me across all abilities. Videos related to any of the four developmental areas PIES - physical, intellectual, emotional and social can be used as we study all the areas.They could also be used in some sections of my A-level Health and Social where we look at development, again across the PIES. Teachers Review of 'Learning through Play - Observation Sequences' This is also a good example of how to base a lesson on short sections from the Observation films. "
Karen Hudson, Early Year Lecturer, Nearth Port Talbot College
"I have shown the (Bakers) section of (Learning through Play - Observation Sequences) of children playing in the sand to my 1st year students. The aim of the lesson was to prepare the girls to carry out a narrative description observation on a child aged 1-3 years 11 months, based on play. The booklet was really useful in helping me to plan the lesson and to direct the students whilst they were observing the children. The students were able to identify several different areas of the child's development including social, creative and imaginative. They particularly found it interesting to see how the children used their imagination and creativity because there was no adult intervention - and there were ample opportunities for child centred spontaneous play. The students also found it interesting to observe the change in the child's behaviour when an older child joined the group. I can see that the film and pack (Learning through Play (the 3 to 4 Year old) and Child Observation No 8 (Learning through Play) has great potential as a resource for teaching students about development and observation skills. I intend to use the films more next year. I also intend to discuss with our library manager, the possibility of ordering more films. "
Marion Dowling (Early Years Specialist)
"Siren child development films are becoming increasingly well known for their consistently high quality production. This latest addition(Attachment and Holistic Development) is no exception. Apart from the introduction there is no commentary and the absence of voice over means that each sequence provides rich material for observation. Each sequence is usefully timed which is helpful when planning a training programme."
Liz Attenborough, Manager, Talk To Your Baby and The National Literacy Trust
"It is immensely difficult to film babies and small children to much effect, as they don't necessarily 'perform' to make the point that you are after. But Siren Films manage it in their high-quality films through relaxed and patient filming. The films are then edited to show clearly the key aspects of behaviour through the lives of real people in every day interactions, pointing up well how effective child-centred talk can be."
Judith Waters, Educational Psychologist
"This is a wonderful film which is very effective in presenting the importance of attachment in relationships within the family and the ways in which the child's need for attachment, as their world expands outside the home, can be managed in the transition to the social group setting of nursery. I will find this film very useful in working with families who want to think about how their child's relationships within the family and transitions to nursery can best be managed. I particularly look forward to using the film in work with early years setting staff to assist thinking about the use of the key worker role in managing this transition. The way in which the film is presented in short 'chapters' each focusing on different aspects of the child's social and emotional needs and how they are met at home and in the move into nursery really lends itself to use in family support and nursery training sessions. All early years settings including two-year olds and practitioners working with these setting and with families with very young children should have a copy! I am really looking forward to sharing this film with colleagues and using it with families and settings - it's great! "
Deb Gajic, Head of Social Science, Polesworth High School
"This DVD has a clear relevance to A level Psychology Specifications with its focus on attachment. The voice over makes good links to theory and explicitly mentions Bowlby, Ainsworth and Piaget. The breakdown of the DVD into stages of development of attachment implicitly links to Schaffer's stage theory of attachment. I particularly liked the DVD's menu function that allows the user to choose which sections to play and take breaks at relevant points to discuss the issues raised...The DVD comes with extremely good user notes; these include film commentary, suggested questions and activities for students and an extensive reference list...It is nice to see a DVD on attachment that is up to date and doesn't include children and carers who look like they date from the 1970s."
Elaine Turner, Buckinghamshire PCT
"It seems all Siren materials have been produced with great thought to bringing up a child in this modern world, following the information within the DVDs should enable us to produce emotionally and physically well rounded children in the future."
Barbara Briggs, Newcastle College
"The Time and Event Sampling DVD is a wonderful resource which really brings the value of closely observing children to life. I used it to illustrate the importance of using an observational method which is 'fit for purpose'. "
Marion Dowling (Early Years Specialist)
"Firm Foundations for Early Literacy & Supporting Early Literacy - "They are a splendid resource for training. It is so good to have a DVD that spans the age group 0-5 and depicts the distinct developmental stages.""
