It’s All in a Name: Ferndown Pupils Lend a Helping Hand to Care UK

Home news

Oct 06, 2016

Pupils from Ferndown First School were called upon to lend a helping hand to their new neighbours, when they were invited to take part in a competition to name six of the suites at Ferndown Manor.

The school’s classes put their heads together to come up with a list of names that have cultural reference to them and the local area, which were then whittled down to the top six by the home manager at Ferndown Manor, Janet Lewis.

When the home opens on Golf Links Road next year, the suites will be known as ‘J.R.R. Tolkien’, after the author who passed away in Bournemouth, ‘Mary Anning’, for the Victorian fossil expert from Lyme Regis, and ‘Thomas Hardy’, who was born in Dorset and who set many of his fictional works in Dorset.  These will be joined by ‘Henry Fox Talbot’, the scientist & inventor of photography who was born in Melbury, ’John Gould’, an ornithologist and bird artist born in Lyme Regis, and ‘William Barnes’, who lived in Dorset and wrote many poems in Dorset dialect.

As a thank you to all who took part, Care UK presented Ferndown First School with £240 of vouchers to buy new books for all pupils to enjoy.

Home manager, Janet Lewis, said: “As we gear up to welcome our first residents to Ferndown Manor in January 2016, the all-important naming of the suites within the care home is a priority, and we thought this presented an excellent opportunity to work with Ferndown First School and to get to know our neighbours a little better. The choice of names from the pupils were all of a very high quality and we’re really pleased with the chosen six names.”

Head Teacher at Ferndown First School, Jo Di-Pede commented: “The suite naming activity not only gave the pupils an excellent opportunity to learn all about the new care home here in Ferndown, but it also encouraged them to think about the history and geography of their local area when seeking out inspiration for their entries. The activity was enjoyed by all the pupils here and we hope to do more with Janet and the team at Ferndown Manor in the future.”

Designed to enable residents to live active and fulfilled lives while promoting independence, the new care home in Ferndown will incorporate space for hobby and leisure activities. 

The layout of the building will facilitate the creation of close knit communities and will be configured into a series of individual suites with a dedicated lounge/ dining room.  Each bedroom will have an en-suite wet room, together with a flat-screen television, adjustable profile bed, and a 24-hour nurse call system.