Christmas is always a busy time at Seashell, and we’ve been action-packed this month with trips out, activities and treats.
Staff Christmas Treat
Santa’s elves were our our Grotto to give out our Staff Festive Gift. To say thank you to our hardworking and dedicated staff, we’ve put together a little hamper with some tasty treats and festive goodies as we approach the holiday season.
Our salaried team members were able to collect these from our Festive Grotto (aka the Employability Hub), and we also had some treats available for our bank team.
Christmas Jumper Day
Jingle bells were ringing across Seashell today as we celebrated Festive Jumper Day! Staff and students donned their jolliest jumpers and festive accessories to get us in the spirit.
We also had our Christmas Market in the Staff Hub, selling toys and children’s bedding for £1 – and it sold out in record time!
Thank you to everyone who donated £1 or brought in a selection box to spread the festive cheer today.
Christmas Dinner and School Disco
In our School Dining Hall, School and College students tucked into a lovely roast dinner, enjoying all the trimmings and having fun pulling Christmas crackers with staff.
Afterwards, School students headed to the Margaret Mason Hall where they could take part in craft activities, parachute games, and of course plenty of dancing. Santa even stopped by to hand out some tasty gifts, including selection boxes that had been donated.
Come with us to watch The Snowman
After the film, we had a number of fun sensory activities and crafts to help reflect on the story. Students enjoyed colouring and sensory zones, including cold snow to play with. Watch the video below to see more.
Royal College Manchester Christmas Markets
Our Young Enterprise Programme allows Royal College Manchester students to gain real-world business experience, handmaking items and selling them both on and off-campus. This includes our regular stall at John Lewis in Handforth, where students can benefit from interactions from the general public and see the results of their work from start to finish. The funds go back in to the programme to go towards materials for our students to continue making items.
This month, we held a Christmas Market in the Royal College Manchester Hall, where there was a number of handmade Christmas goods on sale, including adorable Christmas ornaments. Thank you to Create It in Cheadle, who donated some colourful unclaimed pottery pieces to sell.
Short Breaks Christmas Activities
Our Short Breaks residents benefit from exciting activities and opportunities both on and off-campus. This month has been very busy, with trips out to Tinsel Town at the Trafford Centre, Gulliver’s World, Warrick Drive, a Christmas train ride, and a magical woodland … it’s been non-stop festive fun!
Residents have also enjoyed some in-house baking and crafts, truly making the most of the festive season.
Family Festive Day
As we come to the end of another wonderful term at Seashell, our Family Festive Day truly pulled out all the stops, providing special moments for staff, students and their families.
Starting off with our School Assembly, we looked back on fun festive moments this term, including the incredible giant snow globe where students could enjoy playing in the fake snow. After a few rounds of signing classic Christmas songs, families and students joined in a collective Hokey Cokey, resulting in lots of laughter and smiles!
After a lunch break, we had an incredible Christmas market selling baked goods, jewellery, clothes, Christmas ornaments, games and toys and much more. Over in the Grotto, Santa was handing out some more selection boxes and toys donated by our lovely supporters.
Our Wheelchair Dancers stole the show with a wonderful performance to We Will Rock You and Christmas music. To close us out, Music Teacher Greg took it away with acoustic versions of classic Christmas Songs with an open mic for any students who wanted to sing along. Merry Christmas!
