Avocet House
Turnstone House
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Following a decision to restructure the Senior Executive Team across SES, we are delighted to have appointed Dan Baldock and Phil Hinchliffe as our new Principals.
Phil is the Avocet House Principal and joins the team working in an Outstanding provision. He has most recently worked in leadership and headship roles in mainstream and independent schools, and has worked in the education sector since 2010. Phil has worked mainly with pupils who have been permanently excluded and pupils with SEND and/or autism. He believes all children deserve the very best in education and care.
Dan is the Turnstone House Principal, he joined SES in 2012 as a Care Worker and was quickly promoted through the roles of Deputy Care Manager and Head of Care, before securing the role of Registered Manager at Avocet House in November 2020. Dan left SES briefly in 2023 to further his career with a larger provider, but was tempted back when the Principal role became available. Dan is a strong advocate for the young people and will always put the needs of the young people first.
We are all excited about the future of SES under the leadership of Dan and Phil!
We did something funny for money!
On two days in March, adults and young people from Avocet House cycled a combined distance of 120 miles.
Those who joined in were allocated a slot and had to cycle for 30 minutes, while wearing a funny hat!
The total distance is the equivalent of travelling from Avocet House to the Olympic stadium in London.
We raised £270 for Comic Relief!
Ofsted inspectors visited Avocet House in December 2023, when staff and young people were excitedly preparing for the Christmas period. The inspection carried on around the preparations and we are delighted to share with you the latest social care inspection report for Avocet House.
Avocet House has carried a continuous pattern of an Outstanding judgement as a school and/or children’s home for the vast majority of its 19 years existence. We are delighted this pattern has continued and believe this particular report is the strongest we’ve had in respect of recognising and acknowledging the outstanding practice and efforts of the team and the outcomes for children.
Parents describe the staff’s support as being ‘beyond their expectations’ and ‘life-changing’. Parents said that they are ‘blown away’ by the richness of children’s day-to-day experiences. They said that communication with staff is excellent and that children make ‘phenomenal’ all-round progress from their starting points.
Ofsted report December 2023
Recently at SES we updated our Portfolio of Need learning model for young people to a brand new way of thinking, it’s called My Journey. Important areas to focus on for each young person have been divided into six sections, which include adults identifying and addressing gaps in early childhood development. We are enabling this through various therapeutic approaches, one of them being Thrive.
It was agreed we would hold Thrive-based activities, specifically designed with each young person in mind, every Wednesday afternoon. Our care team will work closely with teaching staff to ensure activities are varied and tailored for the young person’s needs.
The activities will be focussed on filling the gaps in their emotional development while addressing any troubling behaviours. One of our young people is shown here filling a balloon with baked beans, working on cooperation, resilience, fun, problem solving and self-esteem. He was very proud of his achievement and showed his completed effort to every adult on site!
On Wednesday 20 December 2023 everyone from all four SES sites got together for the first ever community Christmas Fun Day. This was an ambitious plan and it remained to be seen if the young people would be able to deal with so many people in one place at one time.
There were six different festive activities for each team to participate in, along with the presentation of termly commendations, hog roast for lunch, a disco at a local village hall and Secret Santa presents to hand round.
The disco was hosted by Clownaround Castles and included limbo dancing, a snowman game and a HUGE conga that snaked around the entire hall!
It was definitely a fun-filled day that was enjoyed by all the adults and young people. As the event was such a success it is likely to become a firm fixture in the SES calendar.
On Wednesday 29 November 2023 our intrepid explorer hosted two presentations to just under 70 people, all keen to hear how his trip to South Korea had gone. He had spent two months producing the most amazing presentation of his whole Jamboree journey.
The presentation lasted about 40 minutes and included a ‘Question time’ at the end. He hosted both events extremely well and received many compliments on his delivery and how he dealt with all the questions.
“The three Rotarians who attended the presentation were delighted with the way they were welcomed, and by the entire evening. His presentation was excellent and his positivity shone through” Rotary President
“He spoke passionately about the impact scouting and the World Scout Jamboree had on him……he delivered his presentation with confidence and with a great sense of humour. He would be a great role model for other care experience young people.” Norfolk Virtual School Advisor
We would be delighted to see you at our stand located at the top of the terraces at Norwich City Football Club on Thursday 14 September. If you are considering a career with us it is an ideal place to make initial contact, learn more about the company and discuss your preferred role. We look forward to seeing you!
It’s been a good year for one of our young people, who has has not only nailed his Functional Skills Level 2 English (equivalent to a grade 4 GCSE pass), but has also passed his driving test on his first attempt!
He started driving in an off-road facility and, after only one lesson, was out on the road. He took 20 weekly lessons then an intensive four day course (another 20 hours). Needless to say, we are all super proud of him!
He drove very well and impressed the examiner (those were her words). He absolutely deserves his licence as he worked very hard and was always attentive. I have been instructing for over 30 years, but with him passing, it’s one of the most satisfying and rewarding courses I have done.
Driving instructor, M
He’s such a pleasant lad and it was a real pleasure to be part of his journey to becoming more independent ……… just really happy for him and so glad we could help
Driving instructor, L
Following an adventurous and unusual Jamboree, our intrepid Scout has returned home. There were various issues encountered while in South Korea, as many will have seen reported in the media; they experienced flooding; extreme temperatures which led to issues with water and sanitation; reports of typhoon Khanun and a mass evacuation from the original site. Fortunately there were contingency plans in place, but the Scouts and leaders had more than their fair share of potentially serious incidents to deal with.
Despite the ups and downs he managed the whole three weeks, has had the adventure of his life and has met thousands of other Scouts from all around the world. He has taken part in many amazing cultural activities organised by both the Scout Association and the Korean authorities after they had to move back to Seoul. These weren’t always the activities they were expecting, but were enjoyable nonetheless!
Safe to say, it will be a trip he will never forget!
