Care home residents joined by local schoolchildren to share life advice and stories

Care home residents at Dean Wood Bupa Care Home were recently joined by pupils from a local primary school to share life advice and stories based on their own childhood memories.

Inspired by a school project to celebrate 100 days of learning, the morning was organised by Julie Mullen, Resident Experience Manager, and Vix Sellars, teacher at Woodingdean Primary School. Eight residents met with the pupils and shared their experiences of what school was like when they were children; including different hobbies they enjoyed, memories from their school years and habits that they’ve formed to live a long, happy life.

One resident, Jean Scott aged 93, commented: “It was lovely to see the children from Woodingdean, they are incredibly friendly and were very keen to hear everything about mine and the other residents’ lives. It was lovely to remember all the happy times, I reminded the children that your school years are the best of your life!”

Vix Sellars, teacher at Woodingdean Primary commented: “Our Year 6 children had a lovely morning visiting the residents at Dean Wood to find out more about their lives as part of a school project. The children thoroughly enjoyed hearing all the residents’ stories - one student was particularly inspired by two residents who have been friends for over 30 years and spoke about the importance of friendship.”

Julie Mullen, Resident Experience Manager at Dean Wood Bupa Care Home, commented: “It was a wonderful morning spent with the pupils from Woodingdean Primary school. It was lovely to hear the residents reminisce about different experiences in their school years, it was thoroughly enjoyed by all in attendance. Inter-generational activities are incredibly beneficial for our residents and we hope to host more events like this with the primary school throughout the year.”

Dean Wood are looking forward to welcoming the pupils from Woodingdean Primary back to the care home for more sessions in the future.

Dean Wood Bupa Care Home is situated in Brighton and welcomes residents in need of nursing or residential care including those living with dementia and Parkinsons. For further information, please visit https://www.bupa.co.uk/care-services