15/04/11……Are you educating your disabled child at home?

IF you are educating your disabled child at home, why not learn together with other families at Thomley Activity Centre near Thame?

For varying reasons many families with a disabled child have found it difficult to find the right school for their child and have chosen to home educate. For some families this is their first choice, whilst for others it is their only choice.

On Wednesday, April 27, in Worminghall, Thomley Activity Centre will be holding its first activity day to support families who are home educating disabled children and siblings. This will be the first of many fortnightly home education days at Thomley, the aim of which are to provide a safe, understanding and sociable environment in which disabled children can enjoy their learning experience together with peers.

?Jay is home educated and we would love to come along to an event for home schooling families – we are fairly new to home education so meeting other parents and children would be great,? says Sian Turnbull.

Thomley staff will support children to participate in a variety of activities for children of all ages and abilities. The ethos of the day will evolve and develop according to popular demand within the group and may include creative and sensory activities, cooking and life skills, interactive social games, early vocational skills, sports and outdoor adventure. The variety of activities will be enhanced by Thomley?s brand new facility designed specifically for disabled teenagers which offers a social den, mini gym, kitchen and life skills area and hobbies room.

Thomley home education days will also provide an invaluable support network to parents, enabling them to share experiences and build confidence in issues of home education, disability issues or parenting as a whole. Emma Rissen who is home educating her son said: ?My son has now not accessed full time school since September and I have no outside help, despite it all being promised to me. It would be useful to have someone other than me help for a day, and help Paul with some school work I haven’t had to invent for him to do! It will also be helpful to meet other parents who may be having similar problems.”

Thanks to recent funding from Aiming High for Disabled Children and South Oxfordshire District Council, Thomley also has a new spacious and fully compliant ?Changing Place? which offers a hoist accessible toilet and changing area meaning that home schooled children with widely varying needs can access all facilities at the centre.

For all home education enquiries or bookings, contact 01844 338380 or email [email protected]

BACKGROUND

Thomley Activity Centre is a recreational facility which supports disabled children, their families, friends and schools. The Centre is a lifeline to over 3,000 different children who travel from 20 different counties merely to access a facility which understands and meets the needs of their children. ?It is so hard to find somewhere that isn?t judgmental, where you can have the freedom to get on and do whatever is appropriate. It?s a shame there aren?t more places and people like yourselves? ? Parent

In a perfect world, disabled children should have the choice to play and learn in the same places as their friends, yet in reality this is not the case. Thomley Activity Centre is the only fully accessible facility of its kind within a 35 mile radius and received 5,745 visits from over 885 different children last year.

Thomley?s fully enclosed 7-acre rural site gives disabled children rare opportunity to enjoy space, freedom, safety and choice. Thomley is currently open 5 days per week throughout the year and enables children to learn through freely exploring a 1km cycle track, outdoor play and music equipment, play rooms and a soft play area, reading area, art and craft, IT and music activities. Thomley holds community days when any child within the community is welcome, with aim to encourage understanding & social integration with disabled peers.

Thomley Activity Centre was established in 2002 by parents of children with autism. These parents found that their children were excluded from other play-schemes due to unavailability of appropriate activities and facilities, as well as their child?s considered inappropriate behaviour. These parents also observed the need to cater for the siblings of disabled children as they are often disadvantaged by the fact that attention is focused on the disabled child. In response to their own experiences, they were eager to lessen the feeling of isolation in the challenges of bringing up disabled children.

Thomley Activity Centre was therefore established to achieve the following outcomes:
o To increase the self esteem, health, confidence and social skills of disabled children and their siblings through accessible play and recreation.
o To provide parents with an opportunity to meet others who have disabled children, to lessen their isolation and to increase their ability to support their children through play.
o To help the community gain understanding and acceptance of disability issues so they can include disabled children within their own community activities.

Thomley?s first home education day will be held from 10am to 3.30pm on Wednesday, April 27. All visitors will need to book in advance.

For further information, contact Claire Acworth on 01844 338380 or [email protected]