Avocet House
Turnstone House
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Young people and staff at Avocet House have recently raised nearly £400 for the charity Building Lives International UK. The money went to the Gorilla School in Uganda, a particularly poor, rural area. Our donation has bought them:
The shoes are particularly important for the children as many don’t own any. Walking around in bare feet all day in dirt can result in them getting little insects called ‘jiggers’ burrowing into their feet, which then lay eggs, this is not only painful but can lead to infection and gangrene.
The young people at Avocet House have been so inspired by hearing how their donation was spent they have chosen to support the charity again, they will be donating all proceeds raised at the Avocet House annual fete, due to be held on 31 August 2024. They will also be choosing some special gifts for the children that the charity will take to them in January. One gift will definitely be a football as it upset our young people to find out the children at the Gorilla School only have a screwed up plastic bag to kick around.
At the beginning of June 2024 three of our young people boarded the TS Queen Galadriel for a seven day sailing trip from Ipswich to Gosport with Cirdan Sailing Trust, living and working as part of the crew. The benefits gained from the experience can help to build confidence, resilience, motivation, tolerance and team spirit.
The trip had an interesting start, with all the adults (including the three established crew) suffering with sea sickness on the very first day whilst going through a spell of bad weather.
They docked at Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight where they enjoyed fish and chips and then travelled on to dock at Portsmouth.
The young people learnt how to put the sails up, scrub the decks, cook for the crew, climb the mast, and all about the engine below deck.
The younger ones gained a Start Yachting certificate, and the older ones a Competent Crew qualification.
Despite all the hard work they had to do, and feeling absolutely tired out, it was a struggle to get everybody off the boat when it was time to go!
In May one of our young people attended the National Awards Ceremony for Engage in Their Future, a national event to celebrate the achievements of children on the journey through SEMH education. He had been nominated to receive an award to recognise how very willing he is to give anything a go, and just carries on despite the changes in his life and any problems he has had to face. It was decided by the panel that the award for Innovation, Creativity and Arts would best represent his achievements.
Since living with us at Specialist Education Services he has been open to the idea of participating in anything put in place for him, including:
He was very pleased to receive the Platinum Award (the highest level achievable), and we are all very proud of him!
In April our adventurous Scout took his presentation to the Rotary Club in Lowestoft. They were delighted to hear all about his travels and found his presentation excellent, stating ‘the easy way you fielded and answered questions was remarkable for someone of your age’.
They also commented ‘Of all the donations we have made over the last two years, this was the one that has given me the greatest pleasure’.
What a great testimony celebrating the adventures of our young person!
On Wednesday 29 November 2023 our intrepid explorer hosted two presentations to just under 70 people, all keen to hear how his trip to South Korea had gone. He had spent two months producing the most amazing presentation of his whole Jamboree journey.
The presentation lasted about 40 minutes and included a ‘Question time’ at the end. He hosted both events extremely well and received many compliments on his delivery and how he dealt with all the questions.
“The three Rotarians who attended the presentation were delighted with the way they were welcomed, and by the entire evening. His presentation was excellent and his positivity shone through” Rotary President
“He spoke passionately about the impact scouting and the World Scout Jamboree had on him……he delivered his presentation with confidence and with a great sense of humour. He would be a great role model for other care experience young people.” Norfolk Virtual School Advisor
Following a decision to restructure the Senior Executive Team across SES, we are delighted to have appointed Dan Baldock and Phil Hinchliffe as our new Principals.
Phil is the Avocet House Principal and joins the team working in an Outstanding provision. He has most recently worked in leadership and headship roles in mainstream and independent schools, and has worked in the education sector since 2010. Phil has worked mainly with pupils who have been permanently excluded and pupils with SEND and/or autism. He believes all children deserve the very best in education and care.
Dan is the Turnstone House Principal, he joined SES in 2012 as a Care Worker and was quickly promoted through the roles of Deputy Care Manager and Head of Care, before securing the role of Registered Manager at Avocet House in November 2020. Dan left SES briefly in 2023 to further his career with a larger provider, but was tempted back when the Principal role became available. Dan is a strong advocate for the young people and will always put the needs of the young people first.
We are all excited about the future of SES under the leadership of Dan and Phil!
We did something funny for money!
On two days in March, adults and young people from Avocet House cycled a combined distance of 120 miles.
Those who joined in were allocated a slot and had to cycle for 30 minutes, while wearing a funny hat!
The total distance is the equivalent of travelling from Avocet House to the Olympic stadium in London.
We raised £270 for Comic Relief!
Ofsted inspectors visited Avocet House in December 2023, when staff and young people were excitedly preparing for the Christmas period. The inspection carried on around the preparations and we are delighted to share with you the latest social care inspection report for Avocet House.
Avocet House has carried a continuous pattern of an Outstanding judgement as a school and/or children’s home for the vast majority of its 19 years existence. We are delighted this pattern has continued and believe this particular report is the strongest we’ve had in respect of recognising and acknowledging the outstanding practice and efforts of the team and the outcomes for children.
Parents describe the staff’s support as being ‘beyond their expectations’ and ‘life-changing’. Parents said that they are ‘blown away’ by the richness of children’s day-to-day experiences. They said that communication with staff is excellent and that children make ‘phenomenal’ all-round progress from their starting points.
Ofsted report December 2023
Recently at SES we updated our Portfolio of Need learning model for young people to a brand new way of thinking, it’s called My Journey. Important areas to focus on for each young person have been divided into six sections, which include adults identifying and addressing gaps in early childhood development. We are enabling this through various therapeutic approaches, one of them being Thrive.
It was agreed we would hold Thrive-based activities, specifically designed with each young person in mind, every Wednesday afternoon. Our care team will work closely with teaching staff to ensure activities are varied and tailored for the young person’s needs.
The activities will be focussed on filling the gaps in their emotional development while addressing any troubling behaviours. One of our young people is shown here filling a balloon with baked beans, working on cooperation, resilience, fun, problem solving and self-esteem. He was very proud of his achievement and showed his completed effort to every adult on site!
