There is a cumulative impact of ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) on health and behaviour – the higher the level of adversity the greater the effect.
The common factor associated with ACEs is a toxic traumatic response which in turn triggers and promotes a wide variety of overlapping mental and physical responses, which results in challenging behaviour displayed in adolescence.
Our home’s management teams spent the day developing their practice of trauma informed approaches, identifying protective factors which can reduce harmful effects for the young people we care for.
The conference consisted of a number of different services supporting children and young people to come together in a ‘modular’ approach which integrates research based practice elements distilled from across the field of interventions to work with children and young people’s overlapping mental health needs.
We look forward to seeing our managers implement a number of the elements with their team and multi agency network which they have developed their understanding of today.
The young people at The Cottage love half term, as at Parkview it means a hearty Italian feast for lunch is on its way.
Enzo, one our incredible maintenance team, has a passion for carpentry, but also cooking and sharing his knowledge with the young people.
He enjoys nothing more than downing the tools for a few hours to make some incredible pizzas with the young people. It is always a lovely treat sat around the table sampling the home-made delights.
We can’t wait for the next half term which means pasta is on its way!
A massive congratulations to our superstar at The Cottage, R.
R has previously struggled to manage in education before joining us at Parkview with several exclusions and a history of non-engagement in school. However, with the support of a dedicated, passionate team at Parkview Academy and The Cottage R has had a fantastic term achieving some incredible outcomes and receiving her first golden student award since being enrolled last year.
We are all so proud of R’s accomplishments and as a result she had a surprise waiting from our senior leadership team on her arrival home. R’s efforts have been rewarded with a VIP trip to Butlins with a staff member of her choice for a half term treat with full board and unlimited activity pass!
We all hope you have the best time this half term partying! let’s hope Emma can keep up with you!
A massive thank you to Manea Parish Council who donated this beautiful piano to Ivy Lodge. Our Young people and Staff couldn’t be happier with the addition to the home.
The home has worked incredibly hard to build its links with the local community and this is an example of how the village is invested in the home and organisation.
Hours of entertainment have been added to the home thanks to the parish council’s kind gesture. Here’s Jack one of our talented support workers giving us a little tune trying to hit the right key. The hills may be alive with the sound of music but let’s hope jack doesn’t have people running for them.
We were overwhelmed with all the nominations received from both staff and young people for our first annual Parkview Star Awards.
After we reviewed each one and it really was a privilege to see the hard work of you all and the positive impacts each of you are making every single day which was not just reflected by your colleagues, but also the young people.
Each nomination was reviewed by our senior leadership team and choosing our winners was an incredibly difficult decision as, in our eyes, each and every one of you has made such a difference to the lives of the young people you support. Each of the winners received a two night stay at a hotel, with dinner, champagne and afternoon tea.
We are pleased to announce the winners of the Parkview Star Awards 2021 as follows:
Positive Impacts on Learning
Gemma Barton – Parkview Academy
Gemma stood out to the judging panel having received several nominations from both pupils and staff members. Several pupils identified that the 1:1 support provided by Gemma has enabled them to learn and understand difficult subjects. Several staff and pupils reflected how Gemma actively supports pupils to remain in class and offers an ear to listen to any troubles, which promotes learning in a good environment.
What stood out was Gemma’s behaviour management supporting one pupil working on a 1:1 and forming an incredible relationship. This has impacted in learning across the whole school as the pupil is engaged in her learning for the first time in a number of years.
Quality and Care Planning
Shannon Connolly – Ivy Lodge
Since Joining Parkview Care in the summer, Shannon has made a huge impact on the home and young people. Shannon was new to care, she has taken what she has learnt and applied this in her practice. Shannon has supported in developing a young person’s care plans and creating keywork planners to support young people’s development and significant improvement in various areas of their lives. Examples of this include work around self-esteem, confidence and positive relationships.
Shannon has been willing to support the home since joining by picking up extra shifts and volunteering to take on the role of key worker for a young person. Despite being very new to the role, Shannon has built good relationships with the family of a young person and supervises a number of visits with the family. This helps ensure the young person receives effective care from all areas important to her and she is able to maintain relationships which have previously failed.
Safety and Protection of Children
Melissa Coombes – Parkview Academy
The panel picked Melissa to receive this award following a nomination from a young person which explored how she is always available to support around the school and listens to pupils. The pupil reflected how Melissa has been able to support her directly with advice around her mental health and supported with her self-harming behaviours. The young person no longer does this because of the advice and guidance provided to her by Melissa.
Other pupils also reflected how Melissa is always there to listen and they feel she does really listen and offers good advice which helps pupils to remain calm and subsequently safe.
Unsung Hero
Nicola Manley – Primrose House
Nicola (pictured below) received nominations from several staff and young people. These highlighted the support Nicola has provided in investing in young people, their plans and annual CLA reviews. One young person commented that, with Nicola’s support, they were able to sit through their review for the first time ever. Nicola has invested in young people’s health and wellbeing by putting together support plans for the young people to encourage an active lifestyle and healthy eating.
Nicola has supported a young person to find ways of managing their aggression by learning ways to regulate their anger, this has seen a significant reduction in incidents. Nicola is always willing to go above and beyond to support the home and young people to ensure that they have consistency and stability. Nicola self-isolated during a Covid-19 period with a young person in the home and supported a young person on an outreach trip for 8 days straight when the young person was in crisis and needed reassurance.
Parkview Care students and staff band together as a community to raise money for an amazing cause.
At the start of the new school year, a conversation was held with year 9 students about the possibility of putting together a fundraising event to raise money for a charity of their choice.
With some amazing ideas all-around, the students decided on a Pyjama Day and a Halloween themed coffee morning for Alzheimer’s UK.
As the coffee morning took place on the 22nd October, Year 9 Pupils enjoyed baking the day before in preparation, alongside their form tutor, Terri, who was supervising.
We ended up with a Victoria sponge, apple pie, chocolate apples, chocolate brownies, 60 cookies and 60 fairy cakes of all different flavours. The young people had done themselves proud.
Our Halloween themed coffee morning had a fantastic turnout. Everybody came in their spookiest outfits and enjoyed the sweet treats and raffle prizes. We even had the best fancy dress costume award, which went to the Scarecrow!
Together, as a school community, we had raised an astounding £282.49 for Alzheimer’s Research UK. All our pupils and staff are incredibly proud of this achievement.
We received a wonderful letter of thanks from Alzheimer’s UK:
We are so proud that James Sutton was announced the winner of the Care Home Worker Award at The Regional Great British Care Awards on Friday 19th November 2021!
James is now through to the NATIONAL FINALS which take place in March 2022.
We also want to congratulate both Sarah Lawford and Ben Almond who were also nominated as finalists! The team had an amazing time celebrating at the awards on Friday and we cannot wait for the National Finals.
WELL DONE JAMES!
We couldn’t be more excited to announce that 3 of our incredible staff have been named regional finalists at the Great British Care Awards.
To be named a finalist at the prestigious awards is an honour. It demonstrates the hard work, dedication, and commitment of our staff to shape the lives of young people in our homes. Congratulations to Sarah Lawford, Ben Almond and James Sutton, we wish you all the luck in your perspective categories.
Keep an eye on this space for further updates.
The Cottage have received an Ofsted rating of Good in their latest inspection.
A massive congratulations to the whole staff team for all of their hard work!
Some of the key points are listed below:
- Managers and staff take pride in ensuring that well-planned key-work sessions help children to achieve meaningful goals.
- The positive relationships that children enjoy with staff makes children feel secure and cared for and enables them to make good progress.
- Weekly meetings are a supportive forum for children to express how they are feeling and to have a say in the day-to-day running of the home.
- Meaningful opportunities to talk to staff about themselves and the world around them are empowering experiences for children.
- Safeguarding children is a priority.
- Working closely with other professionals is given high priority by managers.
- Staff receive regular supervision and good-quality training that is relevant to the needs of the children that they are looking after.
Recognising and rewarding those who go the extra mile: Parkview Star Awards
We have heard some amazing stories over the past 12 months from our managers, staff, and young people about those from our teams who have gone that extra mile. We have recognised some of the contributions and commitments our team make through our Recognition and Rewards scheme but would now like to take that one step further and therefore are opening nominations for the first Parkview Star Awards 2021.
Nominations will be reviewed by the senior leadership team following the deadline for entry of the 5th November 2021 and the award winners will be presented in December.
Keep an eye on this space for further updates. If you wish to nominate a member of staff, please contact emily.graham@parkviewcare.co.uk for an application form.
Good Luck to all our staff.