Earlier this year in another blog post, Ladies creating sensory blankets & boards for Fernhill School, I spoke with Linsey, one of the coordinators of the Taste of Everything (TOE) Workshops for Women Group, who talked about their new project for Term 3 and Term 4 2019, A Sense of Giving.
TOE Coordinators, Martha & Linsey have been volunteering their time at Fernhill School in Glenmore Park since the first month the school opened in January 2017. Fernhill School is a Department of Education school that was opened as a result of the needs of the community. The school provides educational programs for students who have a primary diagnosis of moderate to severe intellectual disability, with many students having other additional needs such as physical disabilities, sensory impairment, Autism, and mental health.
A large number of the children that attend Fernhill School are non-verbal and learn through sight and touch. Martha had stopped into the school to offer sensory blankets that the women of TOE had made for the school and asked if there was anything else, they needed. Martha & Linsey have been there ever since!
The group sent out a questionnaire to see what items would benefit the students and teachers the school the most. The project, A Sense of Giving, came to life when TOE was successful in obtaining a rolling grant from Penrith City Council. TOE have since used this grant to create sensory blankets and boards, plus some little surprises to enrich student’s enjoyment, comfort and participation at school.
The ladies from the group were so excited to work on this project. Linsey explained that Fernhill, “is a beautiful school with wonderful, caring staff and we wanted to help them in any way we could, so this was an obvious choice, along with our weekly contributions.”
Since then, the ladies had been working hard on their sensory creations and have just presented the sensory blankets, boards and surprises to the students at a presentation at Fernhill School, earlier this morning. The ladies had asked every class what they wanted and then bundled up and gifted to each class.
We would like to congratulate the women from TOE on their wonderful contributions to their local community, we are sure that the students are going to love using their new sensory gifts.
TOE already have some ideas for what they might do with a rolling grant next year. Watch this space!
TOE has a variety of activities for all women to enjoy. Come for a laugh, some fun and an opportunity to make lasting friendships. If you would like to check out what the Taste of Everything Workshops for Women, are up to contact Martha on 0414 557 062 or Linsey on 0448 975 724 for more information.
For more information about Fernhill School, check out their website:
https://fernhill-s.schools.nsw.gov.au/