Newsletter Issue 4
It’s the fourth issue of our newsletter. Bringing you updates about our community and projects, keep reading to see what we’ve been up to since the Summer 2024 newsletter!
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Oarsome Maths Mission - Final Count
What a day! And what an incredible success!
The Oarsome Maths Mission was so much fun - we had over 80 participants in 6 boats, with many members of our community, including Bethan, Sam, and Freya, coming along and getting involved! You can read more about what they had to say about the day in one of our previous blogs.
Like the look of the day? Register your interest for 2025 below!
Learning for Life- New Content Incoming!
We’ve got two new series coming in Learning for Life!
‘Families’ will be released in mid-September, and covers what families may look like, how families function, and your different relationships within them.
‘Understanding Health and Prevention’ will launch in late October, focusing on a wide range of health issues and prevention, including tackling drugs and alcohol, dental hygiene, and sun protection.
As we steam through the primary RSE curriculum, we will soon be moving towards the secondary curriculum. Don’t forget - it’s all taught age appropriately from late childhood to young adulthood. Want to be a part of this development? Join our expert panel to get involved.
“Learn and Thrive is such a valuable resource. Thank you for the amazing work you do.”
Down's Syndrome Association
Important campaigns and events from the DSA:
Upcoming training sessions:
Early Years and Primary Education training workshop - 19th September
Delivering effective differentiation in the classroom - 26th September
My Perspective People’s Choice award:
My Perspective is an international photography competition for people who have Down's syndrome, run by the Down's Syndrome Association. This year's entries have been whittled down to 30 amazing photos (20 in the adult category and 10 in the child category) and now you have a chance to help decide which of the photographers wins the People's Choice awards.
Go to downs-syndrome.org.uk/MyPerspective to see all the shortlisted photographs. You'll also find links to two voting pages, one for the adults and one for the children. Just click the links to make your choice! The winners will be announced at the My Perspective awards event in November.
Spotlight!
Footprints Conductive Education Centre
Footprints is a Nottingham based charity which transforms the lives of children living with mobility and communication difficulties across the East Midlands. At our centre and through our support, babies and children develop the skills they need to thrive and achieve their potential.
Our work is inspired by the principles and practices of Conductive Education, a holistic education approach developed to help children with disabilities consciously learn the life skills that come more naturally to others. Our work encourages the development of physical, communication, social, sensory, self-help and thinking skills, such as sitting, standing, touching, listening, looking, eating and playing.
We work closely with the child and their family in a safe, positive and supportive environment to encourage and motivate each child's desire to achieve tasks. At the same time, we give families the knowledge, confidence and strength to cope with the disabilities their child lives with and understand how they can help.
The age range of children attending our service is between 6 months to 11 years of age and our Education Team, together with children and families in group sessions, ensure a collaborative partnership working approach.
For more information please visit https://www.footprintscec.org/ or email the team at enquiries@footprintscec.org
“We think what you’re doing is incredible valuable, not only to our children with Down’s syndrome but also to society more widely. Thank you!”
Our Team
Goodbye, Alex!
Co-founder and Project Manager, Alex, has been with us since the very beginning, working to bring Teach Me Too out of 21 Together and into it’s own entity as part of Learn and Thrive. She’s been one of the main driving forces behind our projects, including the launch of the Learning for Life project and it’s incredible progress to almost eight series.
We wish her all the best as she returns to give her full focus to 21 Together and their expansion across Kent. We will miss her dearly but her expertise and hard work will live on in everything we do!
Donor
In this newsletter, we are highlighting all of our incredible donors who made the Oarsome Maths Mission worthwhile!
Whether a small, medium, or large donation, every single penny counted towards making our fundraiser successful, and funding a significant amount of our upcoming maths series in the Teach Me Too project. The total raised from the day, including sponsorship from Game4Padel and Initium Corporate Finance, amounted to an incredible £17,210.
CoreTelecom
We extend our heartfelt thanks to Core Telecom for their generous donation of our new free 03 number: 0300 102 4553, and waiving all incoming charges. We're especially grateful to their CEO, Mahmood Mazhar, for reaching out to offer this support. This contribution has significantly reduced our telecommunication costs, allowing us to focus even more on the cause we deeply believe in. They are currently supporting over 500 charitable organisations and helping them save money on their budget. For other charities interested in receiving a similar 03 number donation, we encourage you to contact Core Telecom at: charities@coretelecom.co.uk or call 0330 111 0033.