Lewin House Residents go Back to School

Four residents from Lewin House care home with nursing, in Aylesbury, went back to school to see what school life is like in the ‘noughties’ in order to compare it with their own school experiences. Mohammed Waqar, head boy of Sir Henry Floyd School here in Aylesbury, who undertakes voluntary work in his own time at Lewin House offered to arrange the visit, working alongside Gill Gradley, one of Lewin’s activity co-ordinators, in order to participate in UK Older People’s Day. The morning visit for the residents was combined with 8 students from the school paying a return visit to Lewin House the same afternoon.

Four sixth form students acted as hosts for the morning; head boy Mohammed was assisted by deputy head boy Barry Cormick, head girl Fiona Grayson and deputy head girl Zoe Williams. The visit began with a tour of the Humanities block, then onto the Technology block and finished off with a short ‘variety show’ in the school theatre, where refreshments were also provided. “The students were completely charming and established a lovely rapport with the residents. Along with the school, they had gone to a lot of trouble to organise an interesting, informative and very enjoyable morning. They were a credit to themselves, their parents and their school,” said Claire Gajeckyj, marketing manager at Fremantle (who accompanied the group in order to get a story for Fremantle’s in-house magazine, Mantlepiece).

The Lewin residents had a great time and were very impressed with the variety of subjects now on offer at school, together with the depth subjects are studied to and the proficiency of the students’ work which they saw. They were particularly taken with the range of educational trips as there was nothing like that when they were all at school. As one resident commented, "When I was that age I was still green behind the ears, But those youngsters are so confident, you can see they will do well.”

The afternoon also went well; the eight students that visited Lewin House first had a tour of the home, after which students and residents sang together in the lounge. Peter, a violinist, played for the residents and tea and cakes were shared. It was a very pleasant day, for both generations.

Head boy Mohammed said "Now links have been made between the school and the home, we will continue to work towards bringing the two generations together for future years ahead." The school has invited residents to see their in-house performance of "Les Miserables" in February 2010.

UK Older People’s Day was about providing a chance to celebrate the huge contribution older people make, to families and communities everywhere, by making new connections to those who live around us - whatever their age. UK Older People’s Day is organised annually as part of a Government Programme called Full of Life. It is about highlighting the contribution older people make to our society and economy and tries to tackle any negative attitudes and stereotypes by bringing different generations together to promote a more positive view of later life. All of Fremantle’s 15 care homes organised some kind of event or celebration.

For more information please contact:
Claire Gajeckyj, Marketing Manager on 01296 737366
Woodley House, 64-65 Rabans Close, Aylesbury, Bucks, HP19 8RS
email: claire.gajeckyj@fremantletrust.org