Daybreak Nursery in Amersham have linked up with Mansil House Residential Home and through weekly visits are bringing real joy and happiness to not only the residents of the care home but to the inquisitive and excited children from the nursery!
Daybreak Nursery, led by Manager Tina Brindly, have been amazed at the benefits and learning opportunities this venture is having on their Pre-School Children. Tina and her team had been looking at ways of strengthening the children’s knowledge of their local community and had some knowledge of schemes such as this, so began a little more investigation.
Intergenerational care began in Japan in 1976, and has spread to the US, Canada, and the Netherlands. It has since hit the UK with the television programme, ‘Old People Home for 4-Year-Olds’, reaching a wide audience when it was broadcast on Channel 4. This initiative which looks at bringing younger and older people together to create opportunities for care and learning, was backed in 2017 by former Health Secretary, Matt Hancock.
Daybreak Nursery already has a strong presence within the local community in Amersham, with regular visits to the library and Amersham Market. The Children are fascinated by the array of fresh produce on offer at Amersham Market and it gives the children lots of opportunity to learn all about growing vegetables and fruit along with opportunities to see produce that may be unfamiliar to them. Daybreak have found this even more beneficial since the rise is convenience of online deliveries, with the children only having exposure to what is delivered to their door and not having as many opportunities to ask questions, touch, smell, and taste new things.
With all of this in mind, the Nurseries desire to ‘give back’ to the community led to starting this community engagement with Mansil House, and what a hit, these visits have been!
During the visits it has been fascinating watching how the children and residents interact. The back-and-forth conversation and opportunities to strengthen and broaden the children’s vocabulary have been incredible.
The enjoyment is evident, both from the children and the residents. Rounds of dominos, snap and bingo have been participated in with real excitement and enthusiasm. Easter nests were made with a wide variety of arts and crafts and the children from Daybreak nursery picked up some fruit on the way to one of their visits so that they could make a fruit salad to enjoy with the residents at Mansil House.
The residents and children are now looking forward to the warmer weather and can’t wait to begin exploring the outdoors, working together on the gardening and planting of some of their very own fruits and vegetables.
The warm, respectful, and kind relationships that are forming between the children and residents is so beautiful to watch. The positive impact on their wellbeing, mental health, and self confidence is so rewarding for everyone involved.
The children delight in teaching the residents their most loved nursery rhymes and songs. They usually sing a song or two before leaving which often leads to residents calling for an encore, in hopes the children can stay a little longer.
The children and staff from Daybreak Nursery, have been welcomed so kindly. It certainly has become the highlight of the week for the children and the residents. One resident proudly announced it being her most favourite day of the week, whilst another resident got his hair cut, especially for the visit.
Parents from Daybreak Nursery have also been pleased with this initiative, saying, ‘We love that this has been a success. It really is a fabulous initiative! Thanks all for setting it up, this is so wonderful’!
The manager at Mansil House Residential Home says.
“The residents really enjoy the Tuesday mornings they spend with the children as the residents have begun to build a rapport with the children. They enjoy playing and singing with the children and it brightens up their day.”
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