Intergenerational Project - An Introduction

For the start of the school year 2024-25, we are building a relationship with  Wyndham House, a local Care Home. Over the coming year we intend to trial an Intergenerational Project between some of Wyndham’s residents and our pupils.

To our mind, the aims of this would be to:

• encourage communication and social skills;

• develop language and reading through shared activities;

• increase pupils’ confidence and self-esteem;

• help pupils develop empathy, care, and kindness, helping them to understand and talk more positively about aging and old people;

• learn and develop respect - many children spend less time around their grandparents than in previous generations and so it's important for them to meet and understand older people. Any child meeting an older person will need to respect the boundaries and limitations of their new friend.

• develop a sense of responsibility - building a new relationship is a big responsibility for anyone, but perhaps more so when it's with someone who might be vulnerable and isolated in the community. If a child is paired up with an elderly person, they will have the opportunity to share stories, and participate in activities and games together, giving them the responsibility of companionship and exploring a unique friendship.

• spend time with an older person can help to ground a child's idea of time and place, as they experience someone with a longer history of the world. They can learn about the past, different generations, local history, community, and more.

Small groups of children will visit Wyndham house a couple of times each half term. The days of the week will vary to allow for different year groups to visit; the timings will be in the afternoon thereby not impacting on Core Learning in the morning. The activities will range from our children reading to the residents, listening to the residents read to them, playing games, sharing memories about their lives in our area, shared topic-related crafting activities, etc. etc.

In turn we would like to invite some of Wyndham’s residents to visit school to: watch our KS1 Nativity or KS2 Summer play; enjoy a coffee morning or an afternoon tea-dance, etc. etc.

The residents of Wyndham have already written some postcards to our pupils; we read these out in Worship. In turn, our pupils will write back to the residents. In addition, some cuddly toys (a sheep, a pig, a dog) have been purchased for Wyndham House. The residents will be writing a “diary” for the animal, telling our pupils about its adventures; in turn we can write back.

Yr.3 Pupil Visit to Wyndham House - 24th Sept' 24

On the 24th Sept'24 a group of Yr.3 children, accompanied by Mrs Littlefield and Mr Smith, visited some of the residents at Wyndham House. Equipped with their reading books, Ronnie, Hollie, Danny, Maggie, Oskar, Lenny, Scarlett and Stanley walked from the school and were, understandably, feeling a little nervous. But within moments of arriving and introducing themselves, all the children quickly settled into some comfy armchairs in Wyndham House's sitting room and started reading with the reading to the residents; and in turn, the residents asked questions about the stories and supported the children with their reading.

Before long, the reading books were set aside, conversations flourished and friendships were being made with Grandma Rita, Valerie, John, David, Heather and others. The children learned a little about some of the residents lives, and in turn were clearly pleased to share their time with a younger generation. Shortly before we left, the children were delighted to play an eight-against-one game of Giant Tumble Tower with David, one of the residents, whilst we all looked on and applauded.

Yr.2 Pupil Visit to Wyndham House - 24th Oct'2024

On the 24th October, 10 Yr.2 pupils visited Wyndham House in order to join some of the residents for an Arts and Crafting session. Again, a little nervous, the children set off for Wyndham House, this time accompanied by Mr Smith and Miss O'Sullivan.

With Hallowe'en only a few days away, upon arrival the children went into a beautifully equipped "Activity Room" and were partnered up with the residents to cut out pumpkins, paint "spooky" masks and decorate edible decorations.

For a couple of hours, whilst they were taking it in turns to cut and paint and decorate, the children and their new "partners" chatted away about their lives. And soon friendships were being made, memories were shared, and new bonds were forged. For some residents it was a chance to play and to interact; for others it was clearly a simple opportunity just to gain pleasure from watching the younger generation. 

Thank you to Ahanna, Alaska, Charlotte, Cory, Daisy, Leon, Malachi and Ronnie for joining us.

Yr.4 Visit to Wyndham House - 18th November 2024 

Having heard much from some of our other pupils who had already visited, a group of Yr.4 pupils - Devin, Harry H, Harry C, Darcy, Daniel, Theo and Scarlett - set off for Wyndham House during the afternoon of the 18th November 2024. Accompanied by Mr Smith and Mrs Howe, the children walked from school little knowing what they would do when they got there, other than they would be playing "games". 

Much to their delight, the Home had very kindly set up a mini-skittles competition for the children and some of the residents. And over the course of the next hour, arranged in pairs (one resident and one child), a brilliant - and slightly competitive - game took place. The children enjoyed showing their new partners certain skittles techniques, only to be amazed as the residents quickly proved themselves to be veterans of the games. 

Harry H: We're going to be old one day so we need to understand what that is going to be like.

Daniel: It was an amazing visit - the old people were so kind.

Darcy: To start with I was a bit nervous but I played with John [a resident] and he was really nice - when we started playing the game he brought me good luck.

Theo: I liked how my partner was really supportive and took care of me.

Devin: My partner was fun and had lots more energy than I thought she might.

Scarlett: It's good that we visited because we can show other people that we care about them.

Harry C: It's important we keep visiting because it helps to put a smile on [the residents] faces.

Mrs Howe: I think this [project] is really important, lots of our children don't have grandparents or great grandparents of this age but the children can learn so much from listening to the stories and their lives.

Mr Smith: Once again, I was so proud to see how well our children interacted with the residents. Most of all I can see how much pleasure it brings to all involved, that's invaluable. 

By the end of three rounds David (resident) and Theo (pupil) were the proud winners.
And we're sure that a rematch will soon be on the cards.