Education

Co-op’s £4500 for special needs playgroup

The Superstars playgroup in Fordingbridge is the happy recipient of £4,500 thanks to donations to the Local Community Fund scheme from customers of the Fordingbridge branch of Co-op. Revd Kate Wilson of Avon Valley Churches and its associated charity, Avon Valley Community Matters, collected the giant cheque at the recent celebration event held at the Fordingbridge Store. She said: “I am so pleased to collect these generous funds on behalf of Superstars. Thank you so much to all those who donated and to the Co-op team for supporting our charity. The funds will be put to very good use providing support and sensory toys for children with special needs to use at our weekly sessions.” The campaign was set up to help promote inclusion by integrating pre-school aged children with special educational needs or disabilities, with those who are able bodied, by providing access to developmentally-appropriate activities. The funds will support Avon Valley Community Matters’weekly sensory-based playgroups for 0-5-year-olds and their siblings and carers in the Fordingbridge area; Little Acorns is at 9.30am on Thursdays in Hale Village Hall and Superstars is at 9.30am on Fridays at St Mary’s Hall in Fordingbridge. Each week there are seasonal crafts, sensory activities and toys, as well as storytime, songs and snacks. Avon Valley Community Matters (AVCM) was set up with the vision of strengthening the community by empowering local people of all ages to flourish in their emotional, physical, spiritual and social wellbeing. As well as the two playgroups, the charity runs a monthly Friendship Group, for the lonely and bereaved, on the first Tuesday of every month at the Ship Inn in Fordingbridge. Avon Valley Community Matters’ Friendship Group has been chosen as a sponsored charity next year too! To make a donation please sign up to the donation scheme at coop.co.uk/communities and select cause 68718 when using your clubcard. The direct link to our cause is: membership.coop.co.uk/causes/68718. To date the charity have also organised activity bags for children during lockdown, cupcakes and hot-cross buns for young people and the elderly on Valentine’s Day and at Easter, a Den Building Day, hot meals and activities at Messy Church, with much more planned, including a Miscarriage Support Group. To join one of our groups, become a volunteer or fundraiser, or to find more information about Avon Valley Community Matters, please visit avonvalleychurches. org.uk/avcmatters.

n Revd Kate Wilson with manager Philip

Watson at the Co-op in Fordingbridge

SCHOLARSHIP: Front from left, Millie Gray BSc, Maria-Gorati Okeke MSc, Katie Butler BSc, Tyler Trifari MSc. Back from left, Dr Linda Thompson, Grace Lawrence BSc, Dr Sue Baron and Hayley Bonner

Scholarship funding for nursing students

Five Adult Nursing students at Bournemouth University (BU) who applied for Lewis-Manning Hospice Care’s end-of-life care scholarship scheme will receive £3,000 of funding each for the next academic year. The students not only receive the financial support but also a range of support from Lewis-Manning, which includes online learning, conference opportunities and the opportunity to shadow a member of the Lewis-Manning Hospice Care clinical team, and mentorship from Lewis-Manning’s Academic Advisor, Dr Linda Thompson and Bournemouth University’s, Dr Sue Baron, Senior Lecturer Dr Sue Baron, senior lecturer in adult nursing at BU said: “This is an amazing development opportunity for our nursing students and we are extremely grateful to Lewis-Manning Hospice Care, and the Burdett Trust for Nursing for making this possible. “I am looking forward to supporting our five awardees this year who are passionate about making the most of this opportunity as they also prepare for completing their degrees and qualifying as Registered Nurses in September 2023.” Dr Linda Thompson of Lewis-Manning said: “We were very pleased that the scholarship scheme, now in its second year, is growing evermore popular and I’m extremely impressed by the talent and tenacity shown by applicants.” Lewis-Manning’s director of clinical services, Hayley Bonner, added: “We are delighted to welcome on board Tyler, Grace, Katie, Maria-Gorati and Millie and offer huge congratulations on their success in being accepted onto this scheme which is kindly supported by the Burdett Trust for Nursing. “It’s great to have our fantastic partnership with Bournemouth University and we see the huge value of investing in student nurses to encourage their interest in palliative and end-of-life care. We look forward to nurturing this new talent from Bournemouth University.”

Education Oly rushes in with environmental message

Human fish Oly Rush has taken his environmental messages to a number of schools including Hayeswood and Colehill first schools in Dorset. The world record-breaking swimmer and anti-plastic campaigner gave inspirational talks to inspire the youngsters. He spoke about his crusade to rid beaches of plastics and explained what the children can do to make a better environment. The youngsters were already on board with his message thanks to the work done in the schools, but enjoyed the talk and fired lots of questions at Oly. Kim Hodder, eco lead at Hayeswood, said: “The children were fully engaged and really enjoyed the talk. “Oly has done so much to raise awareness and he certainly inspired them to help improve the environment. “We are taking the children on a beach litter pick so they will be able to do what Oly spends his life doing.” Oly said: “The children have great awareness about pollution and it’s great to know we have a generation coming through which understands the problems we face – and is determined to do something about it. “It’s also great to know that schools are not only teaching about pollution but taking the children outside to help clean it up.” This year Oly became the first person ever to swim non-stop around Grand Cayman in the Caribbean. It took him 37 hours. He also broke the

RUSH HOUR: Kim Hodder, left, Oly Rush and Sarah Wise from Wimborne War on Waste, with members of the school’s Eco Club and a shark made from washed-up plastic

world record for swimming around the Isle of Wight. Hayeswood and Colehill first schools are part of Wimborne Academy Trust (WAT) whose chief executive Liz West said: “Having guests into our schools to give talks is really important. “A character such as Oly is capable of helping inspire our children to do more for their communities.”

Reading and behaviour behind good report

by Lorraine Gibson

Good news for Lockyer’s Middle School in Corfe Mullen as Ofsted rates it as being ‘good’ in all areas. Among the things that inspectors praised were pupils’ pride in belonging to the school, their punctuality and their understanding of how the six values of the school are relevant to tier lives. They added that ‘leaders have high expectations of pupils’ learning, including those who have special educational needs’ and that ‘most pupils live up to these expectations, are keen to learn and are proud of the work they produce.’ It also found that ‘Pupils behave sensibly and enjoy social times’, and that they know the rules and understand the consequences of breaking them. Headteacher Antonia Dufek said: “The report is extremely positive. It is testament to all the hardworking staff who have created a wonderful learning environment for all the pupils.