Care home residents keep intergenerational friendship with school by judging photo competition

Care home residents in the Scottish Borders have judged a photography competition for youngsters at a local primary school.

Pupils from St Peter’s Primary School in Galashiels held a school competition to capture images of their favourite part of Galashiels, with residents at Mansfield Care’s Galahill House invited to act as the judges.

Over 30 children across three age groups entered the contest, which was then judged by residents at the home.

Lucky winners of the primary one to three age group, and primary four to seven age group received ASDA gift vouchers; while the winner of the nursery age group received their very own mini gold trophy.

'Having a strong relationship with the local school is very important'

Activities coordinator at Galahill House, Tracy McGeown, found the residents were committed to finding a winner and were "blown away" by the quality of the photographs.

Ms McGeown said: “All the residents who took part in the judging were blown away by the diverse entries, and the talent displayed by every pupil.

“It was a difficult competition to judge with so many high-quality photographs on display, and so our judging panel certainly took a lot of time in picking their winner.

“Having a strong relationship with the local school is very important to our residents. Not only does the interaction with the school fill them all with joy, but it is integral to bridging the gap between the young and the old in our community.”

The friendship between Galahill House and St Peter’s Primary School has been there for many years enjoying a host of activities with the pupils such as Christmas concerts, scavenger hunts and Halloween parties.

Recently the home received positive notes and cards from the pupils sharing inspirational and motivating messages throughout lockdown.

Richard Bramhall, deputy head teacher of St Peter’s School, believes the intergenerational friendship is valuable to the school pupils’ development.

Mr Bramhall said: “During lockdown, we’ve had the children at home learning via iPad. This photo competition was one of the ways to encourage the children to get out and about, and away from screens.

“We’ve had an excellent relationship with Galahill House over the last three years, and thought it would be a good idea to get the residents involved in judging the photo competition.

“Engaging with the home ensures the children are getting involved with the wider community out with the school itself. It adds an important dimension to their learning.”

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