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Children
We provide a variety of educational sessions, which are delivered weekly in Newton Aycliffe. Our sessions are based on age, and provide tailored support to our young people, and their family and friends.
Early Years
Our Early Years group runs for 2.5 hours every Friday morning during school term time. We welcome children from birth to 4 years in this group, and their parents play and learn together.
The focus during these sessions is to support each child in the 3 prime areas of development in the early years (Communication & Language, Physical Development and Personal, Social and Emotional Development). Each session is made up of a group time and one to one focussed activity for each child and parent.
Our sessions aim to provide tailored intervention suited to the learning profile of children with Down syndrome and appropriate for the age and stage of individual children, to help parents to understand where their child is at in terms of development and equip them with the skills and knowledge to continue the learning at home. These interventions aim to close the attainment gap in preparation for children starting school and to set the foundations for our children to become life long learners. Each child has a personal online journal where learning and progress is documented and shared with parents. This session has a high ratio of staff to children in order to provide the one to one tailored interventions.
Primary
Our Primary age group runs for 1.5 hours on a Saturday morning. This group is for children age 5-11 years.
The session is play based and focuses on developing social and personal skills through a variety of games, craft, singing and dancing.
The sessions are often thematic and are planned to follow the interests of the children where possible. Parents stay on site for this session, often accessing our café to benefit from peer support.
Life Skills
Our Life Skills group is for young people aged 12-18 years, and runs for 1.5 hours on a Saturday lunch time.
This group encourages young people to work together to develop skills they will need as they approach adulthood such as communication in a variety of settings, personal safety, health and hygiene, teamwork, feelings and relationships.
We practice important everyday tasks and talk about our goals and aspirations for the future.
Events, Outings and Holiday Activities
These provide opportunity for families to come together and practice the skills we have learnt, enjoy peer support and develop relationships in the wider community.
These experience days and events help increase the cultural capital of our children and young people.