Intergenerational Visit go virtual with Coopersale Primary & Barchester Ashlar House - Barchester Ashlar House Care Home

Date: Wednesday 07 Oct 2020

Organiser: Barchester Ashlar House Care Home

My name is Oovie Usher and I am a year 4 teacher at Coopersale and Theydon Garnon Primary School. Last year I contacted Ashlar House to see if year 3 and 4 pupils could visit the home to interview the residents to learn about ‘History within living memory.’ Thankfully for us as a school, the home were very accommodating and with help of Rita their Activities Coordinator, we managed to arrange 2 visits for 75 pupils to visit. The children were prepped about dementia and loved meeting, interviewing, and chatting with the residents and their families. Many children came back to school saying it was the best trip they had ever been on – which showed the fantastic impact it had on the children and what a worthwhile, beneficial exchange it was. We later returned to the home in December to sing Christmas carols and pass on the Christmas cards that the children had made for the residents. Some of the children that spoke to a particular resident even made a birthday card for her upcoming 100th birthday as they had warmed to her so much in just the hour they spent with her.
As a previous Activity Coordinator and Wellness Coordinator in dementia specialist care homes, I am acutely aware of how important it is to create these inter-generational links as I have seen first-hand how special the interactions between children and the elderly are, and it was always a focus on mine when in that role. As a teacher, I was determined to keep this link going and utilise my experience to connect with a care/nursing home and it has been brilliant to work with Ashlar House. This new academic year, due to Covid-19 restrictions, obviously not only are the children not able to go on school trips, but care and nursing home residents are not allowed to have visitors which can have a massive impact on their mental wellbeing. Working together with Rita, we have decided to use technology to maintain our connection between children and residents and while physical visits are currently unattainable, we are excited to begin virtual sessions this week. Knowing how positive the reactions with the initial 3 classes were last year, I enquired with other teachers and it is very exciting to say that as a school, every single class is now eager be involved with this project!
We are looking forward to holding weekly sessions presenting our work to residents and opening up opportunities for reminiscing discussions, virtual storytime listening to residents read stories to our classes or potentially even completing virtual quizzes! This is a fantastic opportunity for both the school and the home and we are pleased to continue working together, knowing we can help our local community and play our part in creating sessions that should create meaningful moments both for our children and the residents.