During the Easter holidays WWSET were delighted to form a partnership with Chiltern Wood School in High Wycombe that saw us deliver a holiday camp for their students. Chiltern Wood is a special educational needs school that offers specialist teaching and a nurturing approach to children aged 3-19 years old who have a complex range of needs.
The Holiday Camp was made possible via funding received from Buckinghamshire Council as part of their Holiday Activity & Food (HAF) fund which seeks to offer provision during school holiday periods to ensure that children remain active and well fed, as evidence shows that many children are sedentary and don’t receive the nourishment they need whilst on breaks from school.
The children who attended the camp, which included both Chiltern Wood pupils plus more from other local special educational needs schools, experienced the opportunity to try a range of activities and sports, including football coaching and access to fitness equipment, whilst there and lots of fun was had by all. The camp also included hot meals for all the children provided by our partners at “Menu 11” in High Wycombe.
The camp was offered to different children each day for four consecutive days and was a success due to the work of the Chiltern Wood teaching staff working alongside our coaching staff to create a unique and bespoke experience for children with SEND.
WWSET Schools Officer, Will Allen, said of the HAF camp:
“It is fantastic to see WWSET continue to partner with new schools, and it was a privilege to be part of the holiday camp for the week. All the children enjoyed using the wide range of equipment and being involved in the different activities that were on offer. All the staff that I worked with had a great time and were extremely supportive. Hopefully, we can continue this partnership with the school and increase the capacity because I think all the children had a great experience.”
A parent of one of the participants had this to say about the camp:
“The SEND holiday camp this Easter ‘22 was absolutely BRILLIANT!! My daughter has speech delay and possible ASD & even she expressed her excitement each morning as we pulled up to Chiltern Wood saying ‘Yaay mummy we back’ which is saying something!! The staff were amazing with her and all the other children from what I could see and really made me as a parent feel comfortable leaving my SEND child in their care. The school was safe and secure and the whole experience overall was honestly brilliant!! I didn’t think she would ever be able to go to anything like this so again, brilliant and I can’t thank you all enough.”
In total 24 children attended the camp which over the course of the week facilitated 128 hours of fun physical activity.
For more information about the camp and future offerings for children with disabilities or special educational needs, please email Mark Guildea, WWSET’s Head of Education, on Mark.Guildea@wwfc.com.
