Schools Programme

Transition Year Programme 2020/2021

We usually invite Transition Year students to come to our home for Work Experience or Community Action placements. Unfortunately, we cannot do that this year. In response to COVID-19 we’ve adapted our Transition Year Programme.

There are three strands in the programme:

1. Arts and Crafts for people living with dementia

  • You’ll be using your creative skills to make an item to benefit people living with dementia.

More information coming soon!

2. Pitch Perfect Project 

Based on the popular programme Dragon’s Den, students are invited to:

  • Develop a creative solution to assist people living dementia and/or their family or carers, OR
  • Develop an aid to help/support health care professionals working with people living with dementia.

More information coming soon!

3. Fundraise to keep our home safe during COVID-19

We’re looking for you to develop an innovative way to fundraise whether it’s a daily challenge or an online event in this new social-distancing world.

This is a great opportunity to promote and project-manage a fundraising event from start to finish.

More information coming soon!

For further information contact Nicola on (01) 282 3000 or at Nicola.Yau@sjog.ie

Cherished Memories Art Competition 2019

Explorium: The National Sports and Science Centre hosted the inaugural Cherished Memories Art Competition Prize giving on 18 June 2019 as a part of Saint Joseph’s Shankill primary schools dementia awareness programme; the first of its kind in the country.

Mark Langtry the Science guy and Minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor were on hand to present the students with their prizes.

Forty local primary schools were invited to enter and over 600 students took part in one of the five categories.

The “Cherished Memories Art Competition” focused on cherished memories, and what memories mean to primary school children. Children took part by drawing their cherished memory and wrote a few words about that memory explaining why it is important to them.

Thanks to Lidl Shankill  and Explorium for their support.

Watch this space for 2021. More details coming soon!

Classroom Resources:

Secondary School Resources:

Check out The Brain, from the Fantastic to the Forgetful Workbook; A dementia awareness programme for junior cycle and transition year.  Published by Dementia Services Information and Development Centre.

For more information about dementia in Ireland check out:

The Alzheimer Society of Ireland

Understand Together

National Dementia Strategy

Primary School Resources:

We have compiled some international resources that you may find interesting for classroom discussion.

BOOKS

‘Dear Grandma’ published by the Alzheimers Society of Ireland

This publication is a story book for children aged 8 years and over to help to explain dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The book focuses on two children and their experience with their grandma and the changes that her condition brings.

‘Feathers in my Brain’ by The Crystal Project

This book sensitively addresses how a diagnosis of dementia can be felt by all the family and how inclusion and openness can help everyone. We hope that families will read this book together and gain insights into ways in which children can continue to connect with their loved ones with dementia.

GAMES & WORKSHEETS

These Teachers’ toolkits for 5 – 7  and 7 – 11 years from the UK, includes memory, brain and puzzles games, plus teacher’s notes in the “Creating a dementia-friendly generation” lesson ready resources.

For 5-7 year old children; Alzheimer’s Society – Key Stage One

For 7-11 year old children; Alzheimer’s Society – Key Stage Two

This ‘Generations Working together’ work-pack has some interesting games and links for the upper age group of primary school students.

There are some age-appropriate explanations of dementia along with games and videos and a ‘memory board’ on the Alzheimers Research UK website for juniors and pre-teens below:

For younger children: What is Dementia?

For ages 7 – 12: Which illnesses cause Dementia?

VIDEOS

Find out how memories are made and what you can do to help your memory.

Here is Saint Joseph’s Shankill’s video

FreeDem Films is a series of short, easy to watch videos about dementia.

This video explains “How does memory work?”

Alzheimer’s Society’s UK ‘Memories with Grandma’ is a new animation to help raise awareness of dementia for 7-11 year olds. Schools and youth groups can also use this short film with an accompanying lesson plan to create Dementia Friends.

Mr Alzheimers And Me follows three young people who tell their very personal stories of living with grandparents who have dementia.

Kids4Dementia: What is the one memory you wouldn’t want to forget?

Kids4Dementia: What is it like having a parent or grandparent with dementia?