A message from Mr Gannon

In the same spirit as last year, I’d like to salute first and foremost the children and young people on the tremendous courage they have shown in navigating the past 12 months. I would like to then extend this to all families for their support and understanding over what has been a tumultuous period. It is with sincere hope that you have all valued the stability that the team here at Falkland House School have offered over the course.

This past year more than any has highlighted the importance of mental health, personal and social growth. A change in culture has reflected this, with more structured outdoor pursuits and activities coming to the fore.

The boys have greatly benefitted from this vision through a number of new initiatives, including the roll out of the Duke of Edinburgh Award with Gordon Shaw, the Young Leader programme with Kevin Robb, Outdoor Learning and the Bike Club to name a few. We have been conscious to include day boys in these offerings where they exist out with the school hours, and it is our expectation that this will continue.

Managing the mental health and wellbeing of the children and young people, alongside a range of other therapeutic interventions, has also been at the forefront of our initial engagement with the group’s clinical services team, and in order to structure and put into action the array of strategies and programmes on offer we will be soon be appointing a wellbeing coordinator to lead in this area.

Another area of focus has been in promoting the independence of the boys, with work ongoing around budgeting, cooking, washing, and soon the creation of imitation bills. This in turn promotes interdependence with the boys learning how to work together as a group to manage their living area and meet their needs. In this area, we have also appointed a designated Throughcare Coordinator, Aimee Findlay, in order to more effectively prepare the young people for their next steps and ensure smooth transitions to their varied destinations.

Looking forward to next year, there is hope and anticipation for us all that the vestiges of lockdown and levels recede and we can engage the young people in more socially inclusive activities: clubs, volunteering and external work experience. We will also look to embed a variety of other initiatives, including a new set of values which will inform all aspects of our organisation.

Finally, all fingers will be crossed that the only waves encountered will be those on outdoor learning.

Patrick Gannon