OLD AND YOUNG LEARNING TOGETHER

Pupils from Weston All Saints Primary School in Bath are forming an innovative partnership with the residents of the St John’s Hospital Trust with the support of RSVP West. The Hospital is a famous local institution which has been in existence since the twelfth century; today it provides pleasant apartments for elderly residents around a charming courtyard. The School is a very successful and busy one, in the forefront of the creative arts in the City.

Left: Weston All Saints Primary School   Right: St John's Hospital

The aim is to bring the elderly residents and the pupils together to mutual benefit. The residents are keen to pass on their knowledge, skills and life experiences through the medium of volunteering and the children will be able to apply what they learn in a number of curricular and extracurricular projects and activities.

Visits to St John’s by pupils will involve entertaining residents, for example with carols at Christmas, with choir and band performances and at harvest festival time. They will also take part in discussion groups with residents on a range of topics, such as wartime experiences, vocational or work experience, local knowledge and historical themes, all of which may be linked to curriculum themes.

At the first discussion group a resident describes his World-War-Two experiences to Year 6 pupils as part of a curriculum project.

Some residents are keen to visit the school, where there is a wide variety of activities that they could become involved in. They might well help children read and write, take part in arts and crafts, music, and drama or become involved with learning languages or about computers, assist with gardening and environmental projects or make use of the school’s libraries and after-school clubs and games as well as helpding with general school administration.

© 2003–08 RSVP West. Page last updated on 12 May 2008.