Recently, children from the local school have kindly spent time writing lots of letters for the Residents at
Market Lavington care home, in Devizes, which offers residential care.
The care home and St Barnabas school have a long history of engaging with each other and these interactions are always a delight for all!
The letters have made the Residents laugh and have certainly cheered them up during these wet and windy days. Most letters were accompanied by a drawing, whether it was a self-portrait of the child, or a drawing of the child’s family and pets!
Douglas, who lives at the home, commented, “I know they don’t mean to be funny, but they are so funny in a lovely way! These were the kind of things I would say when I was six!”
Riaz Ali, Wellbeing Coordinator, added, “This just added to the charm of the whole experience for the Residents!”
The Residents at Market Lavington are now working hard at composing their replies which they hope to send to the school children soon.
See pictured Angela Wakely, Douglas Murray, Margaret Tomalin, Joy Baker, Violet Lloyd, Dennis Scullard and Gwendoline Bullock, who all live at the home and loved reading their letters.
Angela said, “Oh they are always so delightful and I hope we can get to see them soon!”
Lindsay Clough, Headteacher at St Barnabas, said, "We are always delighted to work with the Residents at Market Lavington Care Home, especially with some of our youngest pupils. Our Year 1 and 2 pupils were thrilled to write letters to the Residents and had so many fun and interesting questions to ask them and also some thrilling facts about themselves to tell. It enabled our pupils to live out our values of compassion and respect but also to develop their sense of community and citizenship. This experience has given their writing an exciting purpose meaning they were all so eager and inspired to get their letters completed and sent off. They can’t wait to continue growing their relationships with their pen pals."
Riaz added, “Thank you again to the staff at St Barnabas, the Head Teacher Lindsey Clough and the Year 6 teacher Liz Orr for supporting the children with this idea! The end result has been so rewarding for the Residents and we hope to make the children smile too when they receive their replies!”