Bringing the Generations Together

As part of a Year 10 Field Day on Friday, 21 May, Year 10s spent the day exploring more deeply the issues they have encountered through their volunteering course with Kissing it Better – a healthcare charity and training provider which works to end the isolation of old age by bringing the generations together.

The pupils began the day by delving deeper into the impacts of dementia and the possible solutions to improving our interactions with patients with dementia to build more meaningful volunteering connections.

They then set to work in the DT workshops to tackle the challenge for the day - designing an ice-breaker item to encourage effective conversations between pupils and those with whom we volunteer with at The Elms Residential Care Home.

Showing brilliant teamwork and ingenuity pupils came up with some fantastic ideas. One group of Year 10 pupils designed a board game peppered with reminiscence to take people on a journey "down memory lane" with references to famous people from the past and items of interest. Another group designed a box full of sensory ideas to build connections, sharing experiences and attachments through taste, touch and sound. And the final group invented a wheel of conversation, designed to start brilliant chats.

Head of the Alleyn's Learners' Programme, Ms Aird, said:

“Our wonderful Year 10 Enterprise Volunteering Teams have worked to the clock today to produce an item to build connections with our friends at The Elms. It has been extremely helpful to allow some deeper reflection on our learning about the important work of Kissing it Better so far and huge thanks go to Head of DT Mr Saville for helping pupils do this in a really engaged and fun way and thank you of course to the staff and residents at The Elms."