Pride And Praise Reflects All The Hard Work

It is traditional that each of our RotaKids Clubs has the opportunity to present their achievements to our club at the end of their year.  This year was a challenge since Covid constraints prevented the groups meeting outside their “bubbles”.  Not to be defeated, the children worked with their lead teacher, Suzi Murray, to create a presentation of all that they had achieved.

As their RotaKids leader Suzi explained to us in an excellent slide presentation at a special Zoom presentation meeting on July 12:  “It has taken a lot of hard work by all the kids and we are so proud of them.”
If you set out in kindness and win an award, then that is a wonderful prize. Which is why Quilters Junior School RotaKids are celebrating, having just been recognised for the Dementia Friendly Schools award.

The Alliance paid tribute to the school’s Memory Day effort on June 23 describing the photographs, also reproduced here, as “helping to brighten the whole day for everyone. The award is thoroughly deserved. Well done!”Memory Day consisted of:

• No wearing school uniform. Wear Something Blue
• Memory games run by the children in their classes.
• Memory Walk by all the classes on the school field.

It raised £865 for Alzheimer’s Society

Blue Is The Colour

Much of their main focus under the heading of Helping Billericay Become A Dementia Friendly Town has reported before but it worth highlighting again here.

• Continuing working with Dementia Friends with their Champion, Maureen Lee
• Beginning Quilter’s Intergenerational Pen Pal project
• Continuing relationship with Anisha Grange Care Home
• Working to achieve Billericay Dementia Friends Award ( now achieved.)

Maureen visited to explain how to achieve this; in turn school councillors explained it to their classes.
She also led Assemblies with each year group.   All Quilter Juniors are now Dementia Friends.

Pen Pals Project

Pupils were given list of elderly people with dementia, Alzheimer’s or needing support  likely to welcome letters, some in care, some at home.  Kids wrote one letter, a follow-up letter and sent poems and postcards, some during the pandemic and by remote.

No visit to Anisha Grange was possible due to the pandemic until recently, for a visit with a musical theme.
“Everyone enjoyed it,” said Suzi.

Dementia Friends champion Maureen Lee met the RotaKids to deliver the great news after it had been confirmed by Carl Roberts of the Billericay Dementia Alliance, 2019-21, which is reproduced below:

“I am delighted to confirm that Quilters Junior School has today been awarded the Billericay Dementia Friendly Schools Award.  This reflects the School’s impressive commitment to working towards achieving this prestigious award over the past two academic years, despite the interruptions to school life and significant additional pressures that this last year has brought. Many congratulations to you all.”
“It is fantastic (and we think unique) that all the children in the school have now become Dementia Friends, to which they are showing such strong commitment and maturity of approach. The Quilters intergenerational Pen Pal project is very powerful and is bringing such pleasure and personal benefits to both the children and their older Pen Pals.”