Working together for a brighter future, starting with our future generation

Hello, my name is Jodie Smart and I am the owner and Founder of Sunny Kids Shine®. Shine stands for Secure, Healthy, Independent, Nurtured and Empowered and I started Sunny Kids Shine® in 2018 to support children to grow up to be secure, resilient and content young people. 

My educational background includes BA (Honours) Childhood and Youth Studies, Mindfulness for Children Diploma and British Sign Language Level 1. I also ensure that I regularly update my Continuing Professional Development (CPD) by attending annual training on areas like safeguarding, child protection, trauma, sensory processing, Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and inclusion - together with other areas of relevance and interest.   

I previously worked in education, both in mainstream, and special educational schools, supporting children with SEND and Behavioural needs. I never liked the term behavioural support, as I firmly believe that all behaviour is communication and it was very apparent that all of these children had strong emotional needs and social and emotional developmental delays. Through every child that I worked with that struggled, I could see a gap or instability in either their personal, social or emotional foundation that lead to their behaviour. This was almost always exasperated by their environment, either in school, at home or sometimes both. 

We are all creatures of habit and we can only do the best that we can with the knowledge that we have. I often quote the late, great Maya Angelou who famously said:

"Do the best you know until you know better, then when you know better, do better."

This is absolutely true to some extent, but sometimes, simply having the knowledge to change alone is not enough. There may be other barriers like financial difficulties, time, bureaucracy, support, confidence etc. This is why everything that I do is with a holistic approach, looking at every individual circumstance as a whole - from the root all the way to the tips of every branch of the situation.  I always work with a child and family centred approach and never work with children alone. If I work with families then I work with the child and the parents/carers together, or professionals, parents/carers and children together if working in a setting - as it is all about learning and growing together through play. 

My experience doesn't just come from educational and work experience. I have also been a parent who has struggled and had my own personal journey as a parent to a child with SEND. I know the waiting lists for services are long, and when the support arrives it is often generic and short term. I also know what it feels like to jump through all of those hoops to get a diagnosis for your child and wait with bated breath for that appointment. That appointment which was meant to be a light at the end of your tunnel, where you finally get the support that you need to be able to help your child, only to find that it lead to yet another dead end.  

I have also struggled with anxiety myself after leaving an abusive relationship and suddenly looked back and realised that I had always had a form of high-functioning anxiety throughout childhood. I could see how low-confidence, low-self-esteem, lack of personal boundaries, people pleasing and many gaps in my own foundation had lead to this moment. It started with years of bullying in school, difficulties with friendships and continued. I could also see the gaps in my parents' foundation and the generational behavior  patterns that had passed down the line. 

This is not about blame at all and certainly not negative in any way. It all goes back to the Maya Angelou quote. 

I used all of my experience, 2 years of research, knowledge and new found comprehensive understanding to develop the Feelings Detective® programme. It incorporates elements of cognitive behavioural therapy, teamed with the foundations of Emotional Intelligence, social skills, prosocial behaviours, self-love, kindness and so much more!

Now I not only know better, but feel better and can do better to support others to feel better and do better too. The same is true for your children. When they feel good on the inside, it shines on the outside!

So let's work together for a brighter future and help every child to SHINE feeling;

Secure, Healthy, Independent, Nurtured and Empowered!