Did you know the R.E.A.L. Foundation Trust has a new Coffee Lounge open to the public?
Roots opened in November ’22 at the Charity Hub, The Landmark at Pleasley, and runs as an independent subsidiary, staffed by local coffee gurus Phil, Toni and Klair.
Not only does Roots offer a local venue for residents to meet and socialise but it also offers training opportunities for young people who have a desire to enter the world of catering and hospitality.
As the coffee lounge has gathered momentum over the last couple of months (rated 2nd best coffee
shop in Mansfield by the Chad!) the demand to open in the evening has grown too.
On Thursday 26th January, Roots opened its doors in the evening and hosted local jazz duo, Tuesdays Child. To accompany the live music, Roots collaborated with a local pizza maker, ‘Shakin’ Off The Crust’ to offer incredible, fresh food. The night was an amazing success, with tables full right up until 9pm.
Thursday nights will now be a regular late night event. Check out @rootscoffeelounge for updates.
Roots is open from 7am – 4pm for the rest of the week and 9am – 2pm Saturdays. R.E.A.L. staff can
flash their ID for a special discount but, as a not for profit their prices are always low. All surplus is donated to the R.E.A.L. Foundation Trust too so each coffee bought supports the charity’s activities.
There’s space for social and business events with a dedicated space for free hire, just buy
a coffee when you’re there!
We all know the importance of first aid, but it’s not very often we get to put that into practice. A learner from the Nanpantan Hub definitely put their first aid knowledge to the test and incredibly saved a person’s life.
The learner came across a member of the public during the Christmas holidays who was choking. He made the brave decision to deal with the situation using his knowledge from first aid learnt at R.E.A.L. and his qualification at army cadets.
The patient began to fall in and out of consciousness, but the learner stayed calm and used his knowledge to deal with it. The whole time he engaged in an emergency service call where he was commended for remaining so calm.
The patient is very lucky this learner came across them and made the huge decision to help out. We’re all so proud of his heroic, life-saving actions.
Exploring the surface of the moon, travelling through time to ancient lands and sailing high above the earth in a hot air balloon, it’s all in a day’s work for our staff at R.E.A.L. Education.
Using virtual reality headsets, staff explored immersive digital worlds using VR headsets as part of our ICT development group.
Staff are looking at how technology can engage and motivate students, as well as bring learning to life and teaching concepts that are hard or impossible to do in a science lab.
In addition to enhancing learning now, we believe that this technology will be critical to our students’ working lives. We’ve already seen the new kitchen adverts over Christmas, where clients are treated to a virtual experience of their new kitchen in VR! Technology will continue to play a greater part in our working lives.
At R.E.A.L., staff are constantly exploring new creative ways to engage young people and expand their sometimes limited life experiences.
It wouldn’t be right to start a new year, without an Inset Day full of inspiring talks and team building activities.
This year was no different, as R.E.A.L’s staff attended a jam-packed day on ‘The Art of Being Brilliant’; a session filled with motivational advice and challenging ways of thinking.
94% of R.E.A.L. staff that attended felt the session was useful and stated they would be actively using the content in the future.
Staff said: “It’s given us a more positive atmosphere at work, which as stated in the session leads to others being more positive in general. I’m really pleased I got to experience it and get to share it with others in my life.”
“I found the talk very inspiring. I left there with a much more positive outlook on life and feeling more motivated to reach the goals that I have set myself, to benefit my work and personal life.”
“Since the presentation, I’ve felt as though I’m more positive in all aspects of my life and try to help others to think that way too, as it makes you feel so much better. Monday mornings are now for my best pants!”
It’s that time of the year where tinsel is on any surface it can hang on to, and jumpers with reindeers on are acceptable to wear.
Learners and staff across R.E.A.L. have embraced the Christmas spirit, which RIS Ilkeston started in November with a special visit from a gingerbread santa.
Residents at Canal Vue care home in Ilkeston were delivered handmade Christmas cards by learners as a nice festive gesture and learners from RIS Mansfield, Blidworth and Ilkeston all got their skates on at Nottingham’s Winter Wonderland.
On 8 December learners at Woodhouse Road hosted their annual Christmas Fayre. Tables were stocked full of amazing Christas goodies, from handmade Christmas cards and cupcakes to hot chocolate and biscuits.
Ellen Longmate, Learning Manager said: “The learners had created lots of lovely Christmas crafts and food to sell! It was such a nice day as some parents came along too.”
Catering students and staff at Woodhouse Road also put on a three course Christmas meal this month for learners at nearby sites to attend. Ellen said: “The food was amazing! The staff and learners did an excellent job!”
It’s sadly not coming home for the England team but it has come home for R.E.A.L.!
R.E.A.L. Independent Schools won Education Today’s Independent School of the Year award.
The national award ceremony took place on 1 December, Nikki Purcell, Head of Schools said: “Winning this award is a testament to the hard work of our learners, parents and staff. Together we have built something incredible that has a massive impact on the lives of our learners and their families.
It’s wonderful that this has been recognised on a National level and gives our whole community something to be really proud of.”
It’s fair to say that 2022 will be a year that’ll go down in history. From the war in Ukraine to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, it’s a year that’ll be poignantly remembered.
All staff and learners at R.E.A.L. have united together throughout the year in ways they can all be proud of.
Nikki Purcell, Head of Schools, kicked off the year by announcing she’d raised £700 for Rainbows Hospice for Children and Young People, by walking 5km a day every day for 50 weeks during 2021.
Two R.E.A.L. learners became published poets in February after their poems were chosen to be included in an anthology.
Throughout March and April, staff and learners rallied together to raise money for those in Ukraine, which included some being featured on BBC’s East Midlands Today.
In June, staff cycled 150 miles over three days to raise money for the R.E.A.L. Foundation Trust and in July a parent sent a heartwarming handwritten letter thanking R.E.A.L. for the progress their daughter made during their time here.
In September, all of our sites, staff and students took time to remember, reflect and give thanks for Queen Elizabeth’s life and dedicated service.
Over the last few months we’ve announced ‘Good’ Ofsted results received for both RIS Ilkeston and Blidworth and we’re now proud winners of Education Today’s, Independent School of the Year award.
These are just some of the achievements at R.E.A.L. over the year and we look forward to how our staff and learners embrace 2023.
As of February 2022, the FSM vouchers supplied ‘out of term time’ (i.e. during the holiday periods) were stopped by the Government. Instead, families in receipt of benefits, would be eligible for funding through the “Household Support Fund” this is designed to provide more support than just “out of term food vouchers” for eligible families, and this funding has been paid directly to local authorities who will distribute these funds.
Nottinghamshire County Council are now in the process of disseminating this funding and this is explained on their website :
https://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/business-community/cost-of-living-support/household-support-fund-phase-3
and
https://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/newsroom/news/700k-package-of-support-planned-to-help-with-the-c?utm_campaign=&utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery&utm_term=
As a group of Independent Schools, we have been working hard to gain access to this fund for our parents, and in order to facilitate this we have been asked by Nottinghamshire County Council, who are using “FSM status” as the eligibility criteria to access the fund, to collate a list of parents who are in receipt of benefits that entitle them to FSM and this we completed in October.
Thank you to those of you who have already completed the form, and if you have not managed to do it yet, the link is here and will be live until the 26th November 2022.
Since 12th October we have been messaging Nottinghamshire LA weekly to get an update on this matter, currently we are told NCC are still working towards agreeing how to distribute these funds and the latest information we have received is that they are looking to have this in place once Nottinghamshire County Council publicise these details as explained on their website.
Once we have this information we will contact all those registered on our list as to next steps.
Based on the core values of humanistic counselling, R.E.A.L. Education Counselling Service offers children and young people high quality, professional support for a wide range of emotional needs. Significant research has shown that counselling can help young people’s confidence, resilience, sense of self-worth, their relationships, school attendance and academic achievement. With its holistic approach, R.E.A.L. Counselling Service welcomes the young people with non-judgemental, empathic support for anything the learner is finding difficult.
Learners who are referred to the R.E.A.L. Education Counselling Service are offered an initial assessment session and if it is mutually agreed that counselling would benefit them, weekly sessions are then offered. Through half-termly reviews, the counsellor and young person will regularly reflect on the therapy and decide together whether they continue to meet for further sessions or not.
Any R.E.A.L. student in Key Stage 3 or above (Year 7 upwards), or their parents/ carers, can now make a confidential self-referral directly to the counselling service using the following link:
R.E.A.L Counselling Referral Form
Alternatively, they could speak to a Tutor or their Learning Manager and ask for a referral to be made on their behalf.
For all enquiries about the R.E.A.L. Counselling Service please email the following address: counselling@real-education.org
Can you believe we’re almost at the half term holiday already?
We hope all learners have enjoyed getting stuck into learning new topics, expanding their knowledge and are excited for what the rest of the year brings.
To view this year’s term dates, you can click here.
At R.E.A.L., we’re always excited to watch our learners develop. If you’re a school or commissioner and looking to find out more about what we offer, you can start the conversation with us by emailing enquiries@real-education.org or calling 01158 220400.
