Rockdale Partnership and Christmas Concert with local residential home
Walthamstow Hall has a long established link with local old people’s care home Rockdale House. Since 2014, a highlight of the Summer term calendar each year is the organisation of the ‘Rockdale Party’, an afternoon hosted at Walthamstow Hall by all Year 11 students every June, involving a tea, entertainment, lots of chat and quizzes. Around 35 elderly residents attend the themed parties each year. Students also volunteer at Rockdale on a regular basis and each year younger students go to Rockdale to give residents a sneak preview of lower school drama.
Prior to the Rockdale Partnership Walthamstow Hall had a partnership with the Peckham Trust which stretched back decades, to the 1980’s and beyond.
Aims
To entertain the residents of our local senior citizens' care home and assisted living programme, who are the immediate beneficiaries of this partnership.
The Walthamstow Hall Music Department also performed a Christmas Concert for the elderly residents of nearby Wildernesse House and the residents of the Lavenader Fields Care Home. A voluntary collection at the event also raised money for the School Charity Alice's Arc.
Background
Walthamstow Hall students have volunteered at Rockdale for many years and members of the School's alumnae have become residents there in later life. providing an annual celebartion of this connection was a natural progression.
Resources
The Rockdale Party takes place at Walthamstow Hall, in the Senior School Hall, catering is provided by the School and the Sixth Form students act as hosts and provide entertainment. School mini buses are also offered to provide transport. The event is fully funded by Walthamstow Hall.
30 Walthamstow Hall students took part in the concert (from Years 8 - 13), alongside 4 Walthamstow Hall 'Old Girls' and 3 Walthamstow Hall teachers. The programme was devised by Wathamstow Hall's Director of Music who also ran the rehearsals and led the final concert performance. Walthamstow Hall provided an electric piano and transported the students to and from the concert in the school mini buses.
Impact
After every event we receive very appreciative messages of thanks from the residents and their carers.
The immediate beneficiaries of the Christmas concert were the 20 elderly residents in the audience. 30 Walthamstow Hall students took part in the concert (from Years 8 - 13), alongside 4 Walthamstow Hall 'Old Girls'.
Following the Christmas concert, the General Manager of Wilderness House wrote to the Headmistress:
Would you please pass our sincere thanks to all members of the Choir attending Wildernesse House yesterday. The concert was perfect in content and timing and as we have come to expect from Wally girls, behaviour was exemplary. I sincerely hope we can work on your suggestion to build on our relationship, allowing the girls to return to us next year as my owners in residence have already asked me to make the concert an annual event!
Pupil Involvement
The event is run by all Year 11 students.
Frequency
The Rockdale Party is an annual event, taking place every June from 2014 to 2019. It will continue to be held on an annual basis.
