We have had a busy couple of months here at FCDC, take a look at what we’ve been up to…

 

  Easter Eggstravaganza!

Our families gathered to at Elmfield school to celebrate Easter and the start of spring. Everyone enjoyed some breakfast, followed by a very cute visit from a mobile farm. The children were greeted by some adorable lambs and bunnies, were able to feed them and give them lots of cuddles. We also had easter themed crafts, games of football in the yard and a healthy easter food activity which involved making fruit easter eggs. A Easter event wouldn’t be compete without a Easter egg hunt so we all headed outside and read out the scavenger hunt clues, and lead us to the final prize. The children went on to find the Easter bunny, who was waiting with some Easter treats for them all.

Bristol Zoo Project

Our next trip in the easter half term, took us to Bristol Zoo Project for the day. Our families went off exploring the site, following the bear hunt trail and paying a visit to the bears, giraffes, wolves and more. At lunchtime we all met up for some lunch. We were able to provide everyone a packed lunch each, thanks to the HAF programme. Our families caught up in the play area before saying goodbye to the animals and heading home.

KS3/4 Locked in a room

For this months youth group meet up our KS3/4 went off to locked in a room, a favourite amongst the group. This time the challenge was to escape from the Wallace and Gromit themed room. We split off into two teams and tried to piece together the clues in the room to help Wallace remember the code to his workshop. Both teams escaped with less than 10 minutes to spare! After all of that thinking we headed off for some well deserve food and a catch up.

St Luke’s ladies group

We were then invited to St Luke’s ladies group in Brislington for their once a month meet up. Myself and Helen went along to talk about FCDC and all that we do here. We explained how we offer support, the activities that we run and answered any questions the ladies had for us. We shared our experiences and any information we had with each other before leaving the ladies to enjoy some tea and cake!

Avon valley play barn

For our final event of the month we headed to Avon valley Wildlife & Country Park, where we had exclusive hire of the play barn. Our families arrived and explored the barns soft play, role play area and giant slides. It was one of our bigger events with just under 100 attendees! There were plenty of catch ups to be had between the families, it was also lovely to welcome new members too. There were a lot of brave parents who lead by example, and took to the death slides (which was pretty nerve-wracking to watch). It was lovely to see the children playing with familiar faces they hadn’t seen in a while, and making new friends too. Once our time in the play barn was over, we headed for some refreshments before leaving the families to explore the Wildlife park together.

Outreach projects

We have also continued to run our outreach projects in Bath and Easton this month. Welcoming new families regularly to New Oriel Hall and Bannerman Road Children’s centre every month for a morning of play, sing & sign and catch-ups. The children are able to play whilst the adults had opportunities to share information, and experiences.

 

Centre for Deaf and Hard of Hearing day

FCDC were invited to CFD’s Deaf information day. Different charities and organisations all gathered to inform the d/Deaf community what support is available to them. It was a successful day, with even more stalls than last year. We got to catch up with some familiar faces and also meet some new ones too. It was great to be able to talk to other organisations, and come up with some plans to work together In the near future.

KS3/4 Bowling

We then went to Hollywood bowl with our teenage youth group. We split of into three teams and played a (very competitive) game of ten pin bowling, before heading over to Nandos for some food. We finished our evening by playing some games of Dobble and Uno. Our youth group is getting bigger. We have welcomed a few new faces in the past couple of months, which has been lovely!

The Teddy Centre (Ear Clinic)

We have recently launched ‘The Teddy Centre (Ear Clinic)’ which is a new project. Deaf children are able to bring along their Teddys for a role play audiology appointment. We have been taking this project on the road. We had previously visited Sensory Support and this time we headed over to the HIRB at Weston All Saints Primary School. The children came in together and sat with a friend one by one to get their Teddys ears tested. It was lovely to see conversations between the children about their new hearing aids, and their own hearing loss. Safe to say we are excited to reach as many d/Deaf children with this project and are are looking forward to our next visit with The Teddy Centre (Ear Clinic).

SENDSenses Forest school

For our first half term event we headed off to the SENDSenses forest school. We invited our families to explore all things sensory. We started off by wondering through their wood to see what senses we could use. After the children were able to play freely around the site. There were sand/water trays, a colouring tent, a chill out zone, ribbon stick making, and a scavenger hunt. There was lots to explore. There was even a bare foot sensory walk, which at first the younger children seemed abit dubious. But once one of the older children led by example and abit of friendly encouragement, they all got stuck in! We finished off our morning with some hot chocolates and marshmallows.

 A morning at Bath City Farm

.Our final event for the month was a trip to Bath City Farm. Our families were greeted by two lovely ladies who knew all about the farm and its animals. We split off into two groups and were taken around the farm to learn about the animals there. The children saw sheep, pigmy goats, chickens, pigs, and a three very cute alpacas. They were able to feed the animals and some of them were brave enough to give ‘pretty boy’ the cockerel a cuddle. After our animal tour we gathered under the pergola for some tea/coffee and cake whilst catching up with each other.