Pupils at Ormiston Herman Academy are building new friendships across Great Yarmouth with community initiatives designed to unite the young and the old.
The academy has created a new programme of activities which bring together the whole Great Yarmouth community, building important local links and empowering the next generation to become responsible citizens.
Activities have spanned all ages, starting with free-to-attend ‘Stay and Play’ sessions for those aged 0 to 3 where young children can come to the school site to use exciting learning resources, and parents can spend time understanding from experts how their children learn best. At the other end of the spectrum, year 6 pupils at the academy have visited the Lydia Eva Court care home, where they took part in a collaborative and creative arts and crafts session alongside residents.
To mark the darkest part of the year, enthusiastic pupils joined forces with ‘Freshly Greated’, a local community group which empowers engaged creative communities. The school opened its doors to families in the local area to make lanterns in preparation for the ‘Glow Your Own Way’ event, which brought light and community joy to the dark January nights.
The school has also continued to hold its parent cafes which create a space for all carers to come in and take part in their children’s curriculum. To mark Children’s Mental Health Week, parents have been able to spend time learning how they can support their children’s wellbeing, through understanding emotions through colour, creating emotion charts, practicing talking through feelings, and thinking about digital safety and how it can impact emotions.
Kristy Redhead, Principal at Ormiston Herman Academy, said: “Community relations are very important to us all at Ormiston Herman Academy and we are proud to be building connections with the very youngest and oldest members of our community. This is a core part of our vision to support all pupils to become motivated and aspirational young people, so they can make important contributions to society.
“We’ve been pleased to see the positive response from parents and our community to our recent events, and we’ve been really proud to see how our pupils have been incredibly well behaved and enthusiastic in getting stuck in with each activity. We’re excited to continue hosting more community events and we’d encourage anyone interested in getting involved to get in touch!”