Specialist Education ServicesUncategorised - Specialist Education Services

At the beginning of August SES attended a jobs fair at The Forum in the centre of Norwich. There were plenty of other companies there and an abundance of information for the many visitors who wanted to learn more about their recruitment options.

We loved chatting to people about the work we do and we had our eyes peeled for potential candidates with warmth, humour and the welfare of children at the forefront of their minds.

It felt like a successful day and we may well be back at the next jobs fair at the same location in November 2021.

Attitude 2021 was the third, and by far the biggest, camping festival at SES to date.

The weather was superb and the mix of activities seemed to work really well, with something for all the young people. Everyone had a fantastic time with plenty of things to get involved in, such as; live music, Forest School activities, festival make-up, crafts, drumming and a bouncy castle. There was a plenty of food available and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the barbecue out in the sunshine.

To have all the young people from Avocet House, Turnstone House and Tower Hill taking part was a real achievement, resulting in a total of 21 tents pitched on the field.

One of the young people from Turnstone House decided to embark on an adventure in North Norfolk, with the goal to walk the entire North Norfolk Coastal Path.

The challenge was set over four (very hot) days in June with two members of staff opting to go with him. Some stretches were a challenge in the heat, carrying all the gear and trudging over shingle beaches, but he persevered and completed the mission!

Several of our young people and staff went on a residential trip to Derbyshire in May. Many of the young people overcame personal fears and worked really well together, offering support to each other when needed.

Everyone showed patience and resilience and had a fun time entering into all the activities, which included; travelling on cable cars up the Heights of Abraham, exploring caves at the top of the Heights, visiting Castleton and Buxton, swimming, climbing Mam Tor, day trip to Alton Towers, hill-walking, arts and crafts.

Despite some extreme weather conditions we have continued to grow vegetables in the poly tunnel. Kale, cauliflower, carrots, herbs and onions have all been harvested and used for meals in the house.

We have been busy planting trees and have so far planted 30 of the 100 we received, including wild cherry, oak, field maple, rowan, apple, hawthorn, dogwood and elder.

Following all the hard work in the garden work last year, we won the Level 4 RHS Schools Garden Award and will be rewarded with £150 worth of plug plants in April. These will include lots more vegetables, salad plants and fruit.

At the beginning of September several of the adults and young people set off on a mission to complete a 1km assault course in the woods. After a practice run it got competitive with everyone racing against each other!

Despite the effort required, everyone had a fun, muddy, action-packed day with hopes to return to conquer the high ropes next time………

The second on-site camping festival was held at Turnstone House this year. All the young people and five adults successfully pitched their own tents (and kept them fantastically neat!), then camped out for three days, wearing the specially designed festival merchandise!

A larger event had been planned for this year and was to include live bands, but due to the current situation the adults had to be a bit more creative. Activities included a drumming workshop, badminton, football, a ‘kidnap’ team challenge and a magic workshop.

As you would expect, there was plenty of cooking on the camp fire! Everyone joined in with all the activities and helped with any tasks required, resulting in a great, fun time for everyone involved!

One of our young people started off-road driving lessons in February with an instructor from Pro-Driver Training. He attended four lessons before the Coronavirus outbreak, and has completed a number of manoeuvres such as using a roundabout, parallel parking and bay parking. His instructor has said he is a natural, and has offered to continue his driving lessons on the roads after his seventeenth birthday.

He completed practice theory and hazard perception tests last year as part of the SES Life Skills programme, and recently has been revising and taking more practice theory tests in preparation for taking the real thing.

He will soon be seventeen and is really keen to pass his driving test and get himself a car.

Gardening lessons began in early spring 2019 and a raised bed was built to hold all the herbs, salad and vegetables to be grown in addition to the ‘allotment area’ for fruit and squash plants. Due to the success of producing and selling the crops to staff, the group raised £40 profit, which is to be used for them to go on a day out (gardening related!).

By the end of January 2020 a poly tunnel was ready to use, all plants were grown from seed and each young person had their own bed within the poly tunnel to plan and work on. The team decided to produce compost from waste materials and have since collected old food, peelings, fallen leaves, egg shells etc.

After much hard work and excellent crops they decided to create a vegetable stall at the Turnstone House gate. This has been made, painted and decorated by the whole gardening team.

Along with all the tasty fruit and vegetables, ten pots of grape jam were made and decorated with home-made labels. Not surprisingly our first sales came on day one!

Well done the gardeners!