The saying goes: “Everyday is a school day” – it means you can learn something new every day. It does not state it has to be in a standard academic classroom environment, because as we all know you can learn something new anywhere, from anyone, about anything.
This week has been no exception to this for our young people, but also for our staff – who not only learned new skills themselves, but also had their young people showing them a thing or two!
Here one of our instructors gets a lesson in Welding!
And a lesson in carpentry from one of our young people – destined to be a Pushforward Team Member!
Or young people supporting their peers
Here one of our young people is carrying out a workshop for her youth work qualification – a discussion about ‘why do people take drugs‘?
A session where our young people can openly, without judgement, but with support discuss such an important subject. Many young people live in communities whether high unemployment, low quality housing, poor infra-structure of local services, or just simply stress / boredom or peer pressure can lead to an environment where drugs are common place. Having a better understanding about what other options there are and what support is available, can give young people choices they may not realise they had to enable them to take a different path.
Over in Newmarket this week we have been busy making wooden chopping boards with resin and completing the fencing area outside the front of the building. Our young people have not only learnt a little bit of hard graft, but also maths; learning about depths, sizes, proportions, measuring and a little teamwork to get the job completed.
Mmmm what wonderful smells have been coming from the kitchens at Moreton Hall this week. Our young people having been; buying, budgeting, reading and learning ingredients, mathematical calculations for measure and weighing, learning the skill of cooking and making your own lunch, team work, sharing and of course eating! From cheese scones to brownies, from pancakes to steak & chips!
And sometimes we can use food as an incentive to do Maths!
Different types of fishing this week: From river wading to lake fishing to indoor fishing for high frequency words. Traditional fishing is a lifetime skill and activity that can be enjoyed at any age. Learning to respect the outdoors, patience, sense of fulfilment, relaxation.
Couple celebrations this week – with one of our young ladies celebrating her birthday and receiving a beautiful handmade chopping board with her own initials, kindly made by one of our other young people in their carpentry session.
Also congratulations to jazz-hands Jaz who passed her driving test – watch out Suffolk she is now on the roads!
Art therapy is not limited only to coloring, but and can also include activities such as drawing pictures, writing stories, creating music etc. It is simply a medium where young people can express their suppressed emotions which they may not be aware.
Sensory play is another way of using creativity through exploration, curiosity and problem solving. It helps to build nerve connections in the brain and encourages the development of language and motor skills.
Here we see our young people painting, be creative, enjoying writing stories, building and sensory play.
Outdoor play is such a great way to learn whilst having fun.
Playing can help children develop their social skills with others. By listening, paying attention and sharing play experiences, this helps a child: explore their feelings. develop self-discipline. This week we had a treasure hunt and a game of hide and seek uses sense from sight to hearing.
But also some fun; bubble blowing with friends, tractors in the sand, being pushed around in a your car, and finally time to get those wellies off and bounce your worries away!
By observing animals, children can get an understanding and develop an appreciation for the natural world around them. Geckos, snakes, owls, horses, goats and many more animals were looked at, learned about, fed and held this week. The smiles and thumbs up shows us how much our young people enjoyed these experiences.
Over in photography we had a lesson in how to set up and fly the drone.
Finding that spark – that’s what we do. So when you have a young person interested in busses, to give them an opportunity to ride up front is a dream come true and the smile on his face says it all!
Outdoor manual labor this week helping a young person prepare the ground for a new shed.
Some more traditional academic subjects of English and Maths for those young people that do engage with this style of learning. But we still listen and tailor the lessons to the young person – we don’t sit for hours, we encourage, support and provide 1-2-1 learning that allows the young person to feel comfortable doing what was previously an uncomfortable subject.
Regular physical activity is one of the most important things you can do for your health. Being physically active can improve your brain health, help manage weight, reduce risk of disease, strengthen bones and muscles, improve your ability to do every day activities and physical activity is not only good for you body, its also great for your mind. Being active releases chemicals in your brain that make you feel good, boost your self-esteem, help you concentrate and sleep better.
This week our young people learned about health, fitness, nutrition, and how much fun sport can be. This week we had PT in the gym, boxing, tobogganing and footie!
Well that’s it for this week folks, we finish it off with a great HIGH FIVE! Well done to all our young people who have engaged, learned new skills, enjoyed learning and had fun!
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.