Although some disturbances can be extremely tough to deal with, the storm is also a reminder that these times don’t last. As we strive to maintain a positive attitude through the storm, we can also pay attention to specific lessons.

This last week certainly challenged many of us – with staff and students stranded due to the heaving rain and floods. But what also came from this situation was amazing team work with; ideas, solutions, support and ultimately a super hero coming to the rescue.

But the week was not a total washout, with some amazing learning taking place, life skills and academic subjects covered.

Newmarket 2 has been super busy this week. From making a Chess Board – to playing Chess in Moreton Hall.

Chess is one of the oldest and most popular board games. It is played by two opponents on a checkered board with specially designed pieces of contrasting colours, commonly white and black. The objective of the game is to capture the opponent’s king.

To making own Keepsake/Memory box. All handmade from carving the wood to creating the resin inlay.

A keepsake / memory box is a container that holds special things belonging to you. It might include photos, some favourite music, letters, or a recorded message. These objects and messages can help remind you of happy times and can offer some comfort.

And the project Guitar Restoration is well underway, with spray painting this week.

Newmarket 2 is also our main location for plumbing projects and here we have a young person learning how to solder.

From dreaming about owning a super sports car

To our Newmarket 1 MX5 project which is currently having its spray paint makeover!

Now for some cooking treats; Pumpkin Cake, Rice Krispy Cakes, Ginger Bread Cookies, Tortilla Wraps, Apple Crumble, Chocolate Brownies, Churros and burgers.

I always enjoy seeing the photo’s of the food our young people make. Its great to know they are learning how to cook from scratch, learning how to buy the ingredients, read the recipes, learning about hygiene and cooking techniques and ultimately having a lovely treat to enjoy at the end.

Such an important life skill.

Now for some beauty. Our Stable Barn Beauty Room has been busy with eyelashes and nails this week – thanks to our willing models.

Either receiving a beauty treatment or giving the treatment – its about having the confidence to interact with someone else on quite a close personal basis. What skills can be learned from eye lash extensions:

• Patience
• Steady hands
• Attention to detail.
• Being safe (patch testing)
• Excellent eyesight is essential for a lash artist.
• An artistic flair will help.
• Excellent customer service skills shouldn’t be underrated.

In Primary we have been creating a Pokémon themed Zones of Regulation Poster. Labeling each Pokémon or Zone with feelings he associates with them.

Now it may not be everyone’s favourite team, but this young man had an awesome time visiting Tottenham Football Ground.

This week our Managing Director Leon Edwards, together with Delivery Practitioner Sarah Dean attended and supported The Restitute Conference in Norwich ‘Falling Through the Cracks’ – https://restitute.org/sample-page/conference/

The impact of Childhood Sexual Abuse is beginning to be better understood. Resources, research and compassion are rightly provided to survivors.

However, the impact on families – those who care for survivors and those who are traumatised by what has happened to their loved ones – is misunderstood, unrecognised and woefully underfunded.

Because of this, parents, carers, siblings, and loved ones fall through the cracks with services and professionals making assumptions about who is providing support and the legal framework around 3rd party victims.  All too frequently, families are left traumatised, isolated, and stigmatised.

Professionals from Health, Education, Local Authorities, VCSE, Police and Criminal Justice and Carer Services were invited to join Restitute, keynote speakers and high-profile panel members to learn, collaborate and find solutions to ensure that families caring for people who have survived sexual abuse are not left picking up the pieces on their own.

This week would not have been complete without some Pumpkin Carving:

Fine motor skills, reading, numbers and spelling for some of comes naturally for others we need to learn these skills. Here we have reading about the body, threading beads (fine motor skills), learning common exception words, taking part in a spelling & grammar treasure hunt and completing a spelling test.

Being kind, sharing, looking after animals and each other. These two young people showed all of these fine attributes this week.

When it is time to leave home and become independent there are so many life skills we need to learn, some of them are; understanding about your finances, completing application forms for a job, taking courses for the career you want. We are so super proud of this young lady who is learning how to be independent, confident and really showing her spark!

With all the rain this week it is handy this young person is learning about pond dipping and water pollution.

Being outside, being in nature, creating your own stories – what a wonderful way to feed the imagination

Making up a story is a fun activity that gets them thinking, speaking and using their imagination.

Another way to explore the imagination is using a VR headset allowing you to immerse yourself in a virtual experience.

Behind the scenes we have lots administration duties to complete and this week we have been busy setting up new laptops ready for the team to use.

We visited Banham Zoo and Jimmy’s Farm this week. Reading about the animals, navigating using the maps, honing our photography skills and a little bit of fun too!

We finish this week off with a congratulations to one of our Delivery Practitioners – Hannah Ramsey who received her ‘Masters of Science in Psychology’ this week.

“You can do anything you set your mind to”- Benjamin Franklin

Our Ethos

No one can begin to affect the world around them until they are CONFIDENT , COMFORTABLE, happy in their own skin and have found their SPARK! We take the time to understand and develop programmes from where the learner is in the world not where we think they should be.