Mary Lawlor at the Silver Stream Nursing Home in Ratoath, Co Meath enjoys sharing time with Ella from Happy Days: The empathy of children among older people has to be seen to be believed. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill
Every Monday, a group of pre-schoolers put on hi-viz waistcoats and make the five-minute walk from Happy Days in Ratoath village’s community centre, known as The Venue, to Silver Stream Ratoath Manor Nursing Home, which has 57 residents.
Children reap social, emotional and developmental benefits from the individualised attention and feedback they get from older people John Donohoe at Silver Stream Nursing Home enjoys time with Troy from Happy Days. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill Children reap social, emotional and developmental benefits from the individualised attention and feedback they get from older people. Senior citizens, in turn, have the opportunity for lifelong learning and a sense of purpose in sharing their values, skills and wisdom with children.
The current manager, Mary Barron, who started working here in May of last year, had no doubt it was something she wanted to continue. “I’ve seen first-hand how important it is for the residents and how important it is for the children.” Those attending the pre-school are also involved with more active older adults in the local Tidy Towns group.
Fitzpatrick researched the impact of IGL in five early-years settings for her PhD. “I looked at what the children said, what the parents said and what the educators said.” Feedback was overwhelmingly positive. “We expected that parents would be maybe nervous about their child being brought into a different environment. Almost without fail, every parent said, ‘I would like my child to be doing that’,” she reports. Some parents even said they had chosen a service because of the IGL approach.
Karen O’Grady, owner of It’s a Small World Montessori pre-school in Raheny, Dublin, is one of those courageous educators. She and her staff take groups of children to Raheny House Nursing Home, about 15 minutes’ walk away, every Monday afternoon and Wednesday morning. It works well for children with special needs too, in smaller numbers. She prepares them with social stories, illustrated with photographs of Raheny House and talking them through what will happen on the visit.