Primary school photography competition helped out with by Border residents

RESIDENTS at a care home in the Scottish Borders have judged a photography competition for youngsters at a local primary school.

Pupils from St Peter’s Primary School in Galashiels held a school competition to capture images of their favourite part of Galashiels, with residents at Mansfield Care’s Galahill House invited to act as the judges. 

Over 30 children across three age groups entered the contest, which was then judged by residents at the home.

Lucky winners of the primary one to three age group, and primary four to seven age group received ASDA gift vouchers; while the winner of the nursery age group received their very own mini gold trophy.

 Activities coordinator at Galahill House, Tracy McGeown, found the residents were extremely committed to finding a winner and were delighted to take part.

Tracy said: “All the residents who took part in the judging were blown away by the diverse entries, and the talent displayed by every pupil.

“It was a difficult competition to judge with so many high quality photographs on display, and so our judging panel certainly took a lot of time in picking their winner.

“Having a strong relationship with the local school is very important to our residents. Not only does the interaction with the school fill them all with joy, but it is integral to bridging the gap between the young and the old in our community.”

Galahill House has had a relationship with St Peter’s Primary School for many years enjoying a host of activities with the pupils such as Christmas concerts, scavenger hunts and Halloween parties.

Recently the home received positive notes and cards from the pupils sharing inspirational and motivating messages throughout lockdown.

Richard Bramhall, Deputy Head Teacher of St Peter’s School, also believes the interaction is valuable to the school pupils’ development.

Richard said: “During lockdown we’ve had the children at home learning via iPad. This photo competition was one of the ways to encourage the children to get out and about, and away from screens.

“We’ve had an excellent relationship with Galahill House over the last three years, and thought it would be a good idea to get the residents involved in judging the photo competition.

“Engaging with the home ensures the children are getting involved with the wider community out with the school itself. It adds an important dimension to their learning.”

Mansfield Care operates 11 care homes across Edinburgh, Borders and the West of Scotland, specialising in small homes which offer bespoke, friendly care and boast state of the art facilities.

Mansfield Care specialises in small, friendly residential care homes in Edinburgh, Borders and west of Scotland; each designed to an exceptional standard with state-of-the-art facilities.

The care homes ethos is inspired by the kind of care we would wish for ourselves in later life – supportive, friendly, bright, positive, empathetic, respectful and homely.

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