ARU Research Report 2019

The Up Project 31 the environment, or the noise and bustle created by visits. It is also a reality that in being in a care home, ageing, illness and dementia were at the forefront of visits and affected the interactions shared. While in this case children were unfazed by sometimes surprising or unusual behaviour of older adults with dementia and the limitations of the illness, this might not necessarily be the case for all children. What About the Shine Curriculum & Building Community? As a key driver behind the inception and implementation of the project, it is worth considering the findings of this research in relation to the Shine curriculum’s ambitions in promoting community engagement and inclusion. These preliminary results and the feedback gained suggests that the Up project provides an environment which at least fosters some of the skills and attributes within the school’s Shine curriculum. Beyond this, these findings suggest the potential for the character skills which have been fostered within the children to be transferable to other environments and contexts. This is an added bonus considering the age of the children and their forthcoming transition to secondary school where such skills will be invaluable. In terms of community, these findings suggest that a community connection has developed between the school and care home at the very least, perhaps even more widely. Not only that, the children have demonstrated community spirit and principles during their visits to the care home, and describe envisioning themselves as able to engage in supporting older members of their community in the future through this experience.