ARU Research Report 2019

The Up Project 5 First Year & Funding In its first year the Up project was funded by the school, with transportation and support provided by volunteers and teachers. However, there were a number of practical challenges which arose. It was difficult to insure adequate numbers of volunteers each week, particularly as visits could vary by day and time. It was also time consuming each week to organise and transport the materials and activities needed. Despite the teething issues, the school and care home both wanted to continue the project into another school year and another cohort of Year 6 Students. In 2018, to ensure continuity of the project, a Crowd Funding page was set up. A total of £14,000 was raised from contributions from the Essex Community Foundation, Provide, Essex County Council and individual community donations. This sum provided sustainability for the second year cohort of children (Sept 2018-July 2019) and the current third year cohort of children (Sept 2019-July 2020), funding travel costs, staff time and resources and activities. In 2020 funding will need to be sought to continue support for the Up project. Figure 1: Timeline for Development & Implementation of the Up Project July 2017 Governor’s Strategy Day A new vision for the Schools Improvement plan emerged which emphasised community engagement. Sept 2017 Curriculum redesign The inception of the Up project as part of the Shine curriculum and driver for community engagement. Nov 2017 Connection made to local Care Home Contact made with Longfields Care Home & Head Teacher visits care home. Dec 2017 Partnership formed with Longfields Care Home Up project structure collaboratively decided. Sept 2019 Third Academic Year Third cohort take part. Nov 2018 Crowd Funding Funding received until July 2020. Sept 2018 Second Academic Year Second cohort take part. Jan 2018 First Academic Year First cohort of children take part. Learning from First Year Taking the learning from the first year of visits, the project in its second and third has evolved. Travel and support during visits is now provided by the same three staff members, one teacher and two teaching assistants. This consistency has been beneficial in allowing relationships to be built between school and care home staff, and older adults and school staff. Activities have been made more structured and resources, such as arts and crafts, are now stored at the care home; both allowing for more engagement time and less time transporting and organising materials. As a result of these changes, the running of the Up project has become more efficient over time. This has allowed the visits to become more streamlined, with each individual visit now requiring less time, effort and resources at the planning and delivery stages. More efficient delivery of sessions has ensured that all can gain as much as possible within the time allocated to each visit.