Avocet House
Turnstone House
Copyright © 2026 Specialist Education Services - all rights reserved. Developed by Accent
Turnstone House is looking forward to accommodating additional young people following the conversion of an old stable block on site.
The project started slowly due to the discovery of bats living in the roof space, but once we had been given the go-ahead by Natural England, work could resume on converting the space, which had previously been used as a workshop and storage.
After several months of activity (mainly in scorching temperatures) the builders completed the work and have very successfully converted the space into a large living/kitchen area with enough en-suite bedrooms to accommodate staff and young people. An additional multi-purpose room with a kitchenette has been installed, which can be used to help young people transition to independent living.
We have a few finishing touches to add, but are looking forward to settling young people into this very smart building in the near future.
In September, Turnstone House hosted a Careers Day, organised by our Careers, Information and Guidance Advisor. Local businesses were invited to attend, including representatives from the car industry, health and beauty, deep water fishing, police and army.
Stands were set up in the hall and remained onsite for the whole day to ensure there was plenty of time to ask questions and gather information about career options.
Young people from both Turnstone House and Avocet House visited the displays and engaged with the representatives confidently, spending time with them all. It was remarked afterwards how polite and interested the young people were.
The aim was to expand understanding of local job opportunities, and this was a great introduction to a wide range of possible careers. It is hoped that with this experience in mind, some of our young people will feel more confident when attending larger events elsewhere.
On the hottest day ever recorded in the UK we had a charity football match arranged. After a lot of deliberation and copious risk assessments put in place, it was decided we would continue with it for as long as everyone could bear.
The match was played by mixed teams comprising of staff, young people, and young adults who used to live with us. Frequent breaks were taken and there was plenty of water, which had been generously funded (along with a £100 donation to our charity, Leeway) by Minimum World in Loddon, when they realised what we were intending to do!
The fiercely-played match finished off at 4-2 at which point everyone was ready to return to the shady grounds of Turnstone House to relax and have lunch. The barbecue had been prepared in sweltering heat, and was soon demolished by the hungry teams and spectators. There was a lovely community atmosphere as everyone mingled and caught up with each other.
After ice lollies had been consumed, the raffle was drawn. We had been donated some amazing prizes by local businesses and the raffle raised over £350. This will be added to the money donated on the day and presented to Leeway to help fund their support to those experiencing domestic abuse.
Leeway – Breaking free from domestic abuse
1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men will experience domestic abuse in their lifetime, and 750,000 child incidents of domestic abuse are reported in the UK every year. It’s our aim to provide free and confidential support to anyone experiencing domestic abuse.
This year’s Attitude Festival took place on 14 and 15 July in the fabulous, but somewhat parched, grounds at Turnstone House. A neat camp of tents was set up on the field before the activities began, kicking off with a Treasure Hunt involving all the young people and adults charging around the grounds in a bid to win!
Other activities planned across the two days included; a music workshop, rounders, bushcraft, hair braiding, art, temporary tattoos, fishing, football, cooking, tie dye, bouncy castles, live music and face-painting.
Energy levels were sustained by the welcomed arrival of Bigod’s Kitchen‘s food van and an ice cream van. During the festival there was also chilli and a BBQ prepared for everyone by the housekeepers, with help from other willing sous chefs.
The festival goes from strength to strength and is thoroughly enjoyed by everyone, it really brings the SES communities together and is a real team effort.
The 2 July 2022 saw the 50th anniversary of London Pride, it was the first parade since 2019 and turned out to be the biggest ever!
The first parade in 1972 involved approximately 2000 people – this year over 1 million people celebrated together in the capital.
One of our young people and two adults made the journey to London and managed to catch sight of the mayor of London, Philip Schofield, Linda Robson, Dame Kelly Holmes and other celebrities joining in the parade.
A great day was had by all, which was topped off by watching Ava Max perform in Trafalgar Square.
At the end of June we were joined by Sharon and Steph, hosting separate PATH days for Avocet House and Turnstone House. The entire community of young people and adults gather together bi-annually for this inspiring and motivational look at our journey forward, imagining all kinds of amazing adventures we can have if only we promise to make the first steps.
The colourful illustrations were rapidly and expertly drawn by Steph as everyone shouted out ideas of fun and heart-warming things we could do and places we could visit. Sharon skilfully helped lead us to our end goal, a plan of small steps we can take to achieve a variety of what has been suggested. This plan is presented on an eye-catching banner, which will be turned into a wall-mounted canvas to display at each home, providing a constant reminder of our shared hopes and dreams.
The national Engage Awards were held in Warwick on the 30 June 2022 and we are delighted that three of our young people won awards;
All three were presented with their awards by Tre Whyte who is a former BMX British National Champion.
engage in their future is a charitable organisation that seeks to improve services for children experiencing social, emotional and mental health difficulties (SEMH) and was formed to enable Head Teachers working within SEMH education to address and influence issues affecting this sector locally, regionally, and nationally. It represents a collective group of likeminded leaders who seek innovative solutions to challenging behaviour in the learning environment and provides advocacy for those with challenging behaviour and those working with them.
Lynn Richards, member of the engage in their future Advisory Committee and Chair of the National Awards Judging Panel said – “The engage in their future National Awards is such an incredible scheme and it’s always such a privilege to judge the nominations. Every student that was nominated has achieved something uniquely amazing – whether it’s cohesive team work or personal resilience, innovation and creativity or sporting prowess. Every one of them fully deserves to have their accomplishments recognised and celebrated on a national platform as part of this unique scheme. Their progress and achievements – and the journey they’ve been on to get there – is truly inspirational”
Exciting update since the previous news item…………. our young person has been competing in a team of three formed in January, consisting of another player from the chess club and an adult from Avocet House. The team called themselves the Broadland Kingfishers and got together to compete in the internal cup tournament, this is a knock-out competition and it started back in March this year. Our adult from Avocet House has felt that the other two team members have carried him through the tournament and both maintained a 100% record as they entered into the final. They won the final match by 4.5 points to 1.5 to bring home the trophy. Well done Broadland Kingfishers!
One of our boys regularly attends a local chess club and has proven himself more than capable when representing the club in league matches. He has recently attended Chess Congresses in Great Yarmouth followed by one in St Albans. He had an amazing time and managed to win two games against adults who were rated higher than himself. Checkmate!
