As the country prepared for their children returning to school and a lot of our resident’s great-grandchildren prepared for their first day of school or secondary school, we were very excited to join the excitement with a back-to-school themed week of activities.
Monday morning our netball team gathered in our gardenview lounges for a penalty shootout, as part of our varied exercise class.
The afternoon cooking club joined in the day lounge for a reminiscing cooking club of school sponges.
Baking stimulates the senses, meaning it can be an effective tool for encouraging older people to enjoy their food more and try new things. The feel of the flour, the smell of bakes, watching the frosting go on; all help to stimulate the senses and build up a healthy appetite.
Tuesday morning as part of our creative crafting we painted and coloured book marks for our new indexed library system.
Others enjoyed a morning playing on our magic Omi table.
That afternoon we engaged in a game of floor trivia pursuit mixing quiz questions with light exercise, each category relating back to a school subject from history, literature to art.
We also read through school day poetry and reminisced about our school days. Leading us to singing old girl guide songs like “ging-gang-goolie”.
Wednesday morning we hosted our monthly residents meeting, followed with a pet therapy session as we welcomed our very own in training PAT dog tinker bell.
That afternoon we returned to the class room, as we attended our fantastic ‘Back to School Experience’. We sat in rows, at desks and in front of Mrs B Goodchild ready to sit todays quiz exams, it brought back so many happy memories and stories for one and all.
Remembering to raise their hand before answering caused a lot of giggling and naughtiness leading to class detention with milk and cookies (not the detentions we all remember).
Later that afternoon we joined a special family as they celebrated the birth of a new grandchild and great child with a bottle of champagne, we raised a toast as we swooned over the photos of the new baby girl.
Our sensory 1to1 have been well received this week. With its bespoke range of sensory options that provide meaningful activities for all ages and abilities to encourage movement, active participation and enjoyment.
We loved exploring the swipe and target interactive activities using their hands or other items to move and engage meaningfully with this great electronic software.
Thursday morning, we arranged the weekly flowers in our floristry club in the day lounge.
Others completed Brain training games.
In our garden view lounges we played bingo while sipping on tea and eating cakes.
Thursday lunch time the news of the Queens ill heath had everyone fixed on the new channel’s others played board games one to one while conversations turned to the queen and how the royal family have been connected to our lives. Others came together for our needle work club in a quiet area of the lounge.
Thursday evening, we all learnt the incredibly sad news about the Death of Britain’s longest reigning monarch and a beloved figure around the world Queen Elizabeth II. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family.
Friday morning, our activities team created a special area for us to come together read the newspapers, drink tea and eat cakes while coming to terms with the sad news that has now taken over the worlds media and was in our every thought. This was a safe and reassuring atmosphere where we felt proud to share our stories of meeting the Queen, seeing her at the local Aldershot Tattoo every year, it was so amazing to hear everyone’s stories.
We arranged a table in the day lounge and laid out all our Royal memorabilia of the Queen from her Wedding, her coronation to this year’s Jubilee pictures.
At 12noon we came together to listen to the bells ring out across the country as a sign of respect and to officially mark the passing of the Queen.
Friday afternoon we chose to invite our singer entertainer into the home as we think this is what the Queen would have still wanted, the mood was calm and we sat together singing songs from Vera Lynn.
Saturday, we welcomed Hudson in for some pet therapy. Pets help to comfort us- Grief can leave us feeling empty and lost, and pets provide a sense of reassurance and comfort to ease us through that void. More specifically, dogs are known to be extremely intuitive and are able to sense when someone feeling down. Hudson brought a smile to everyone’s face as they watched on at the royal traditions after loosing a Monarch this is something residents wanted to watch as a mark of respect.
Sunday we made centre pieces for the upcoming BBQ and made a floral wreath for our upcoming Memorial service.
Others enjoyed our chair-based exercise class and played card games.
