St John’s Court
Monthly News Letter
December 2016
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Welcome:
We would like to welcome the following Residents to St John’s Court & hope that they are Happy &
Comfortable in their new home:
Terry Savage & Ifan Griffiths
Goodbyes:
Steve Turton – Steve has lived at St John’s Court since June 2010 & he will be missed greatly by all of
the team.
To thank the team for all the care & support over the last six & a half years his wife & family brought
the team a lovely Thank you cake – they know the team very well! Thank you to you all it was
delicious.
Our thoughts are with her loved ones at this sad & difficult time.
Forth coming Residents Birthdays:
Michael Bailey 29th December & Gladys Cooke & Edna Curnow – 30th December
All residents Birthdays are celebrated with a Card from all at St John’s Court & a Birthday Cake. If
families wish to stay for lunch or have a room made available for family to hold a get together then
please let us know.
Forth coming staff Birthdays:
Trish Spence – 5th December, Bev Barker – 19th December, Gemma Mountford – 31st December
We wish you all a very Happy Birthday.
Good News:
Ffion is now fully recovered following her recent absence & is now back into her role as Activity
Organiser which I’m sure everyone will welcome her back into & wish her well.
It’s good to have you back & paddy your therapy dog!
Lisa Hayward has now become a grandmother to her first Grandchild Bobby & Becky Hayward has
become an aunty. All are doing well.
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St John’s Fundraising:
Christmas Fayre
We held our annual Christmas Fayre on Friday 25th November 2016 & with the support of the team,
residents & visitors we have raised over £300 for the residents welfare fund to help pay for
entertainment over the Christmas period.
We still have the raffle running so if you would like to buy some tickets along with some homemade
craft items which are also still for sale in reception.
Thank you to everyone who has supported us & Good Luck in future fundraising events!
Employee of the Month:
The winners of Employee of the Month for November are:
Faye Upton & Emily Price
Faye & Emily were presented with a certificate & a small gift.
Well Done to you & thank you for making a difference.
The nominations said –
 Emily – she is hardworking & very good with the residents. She is so lovely towards the
residents, nothing is too much trouble.
 Faye – she is an excellent nurse & very supportive in her role as nurse & deputy manager. She
remains calm, professional & is always compassionate. Very hardworking & committed to the
team & has been supportive with the changeover of medication systems.
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Other nominations were for –
 Zoe Olds – she is hardworking & is very good with the ladies & gentlemen.
Amy Westwood – she has settled in very well, is fantastic with the residents & gets on well
with the team.
 Kelly Dews – she is very motivated & proactive in her role
 Lisa Dews – hardworking & committed in supporting the team & residents.
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Collette Matheson - for her support with residents attending the football & other activity
support & this has a positive effect on the residents.
Michelle Du-Roe - for her support with residents attending the football & other activity support
& this has a positive effect on the residents.
 Pat Slater - who supports the different event s which we hold & provides cakes etc
 Laura Wilkes – for supporting the whole of the home.
As always a huge thank you to all of the team for your hard work & support to make this a happy home
for the residents & team.
Planned Events for the coming Month:
 Tuesdays – Pet Therapy – Maisie the Black Labrador visits
 Monday evening – Bromsgrove School visit for the games & chats – which are popular
 Thursday 1st December – sing along in the dining room with Me, Myself & Di
 Friday 2nd December – Decorating the home ready for Christmas followed by a curry
 Monday 5th December – Christmas tree decoration judging 11.30am by William Waddington
CEO & Keren Wilkinson – Director of Operations for Somerset Redstone Trust
 Wednesday 7th December – we have been invited to Bromsgrove Schools Annual Carol Service
in the afternoon followed by mince pies & refreshments
 Thursday 8th December – Tai-Chi 11.00am in the dining room followed by a Minibus trip to
Dodford Village Hall for a full Afternoon Tea
 Friday 9th December – UBA choir for a Christmas Sing a Long
 Monday 12th December – minibus trip to Webbs for a spot of Christmas shopping & to enjoy
their spectacular Christmas display
 Tuesday 13th December – Christmas Show by Me & My Girl in the dining room
 Wednesday 14th December – Christmas Church Service 11.00am in the dining room
 Saturday 17th December – Sing a long with Beth in the dining room
 Tuesday 20th December – Our very own Annual Team Christmas Carol service & Fancy Dress
Competition, this is always popular & certainly provides some laughter
 Sunday 25th December – Christmas Day – Father Christmas will be arriving at 10.30am to
deliver his presents, there will be music, mince pies & sherry around the trees
 Monday 26th December – Boxing Day – Games & Charades
 Friday 30th December –w e will be holding our second annual memorial service to remember
those who we have loved & lost, this will be at 2.30pm in the dining room where everyone will
have the opportunity to light a candle & release a helium balloon followed by afternoon tea –
this was a lovely event last year with lots of reminiscing & happy memories
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Please see the activity board for the events Calendar for all other activities.
Events which took place in November:
 Tuesdays – Pet Therapy – Maisie the Black Labrador visits
 Monday evening – Bromsgrove School visit for the games & chats – which are popular
 Thursday 3rd November – We made the Christmas cake ready to be decorated for the Trusts
Christmas cake competition. Those who helped enjoyed mixing & making a wish & talking
about their happy memories of making their own Christmas cakes & when they were children
watching their parents making them.
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Dot & Laura starting off the cake mixing
Sylvia adding fruit to the mix
Making a wish with a stir
Nearly there!
Pat overseeing the mixing
Into the tin it goes
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Friday 4th November – We held Our monthly Church Service in the Dining Room
Tuesday 8th November – the main meal of the day will change to the evening following on from
the meetings we have had & have been agreed to trial due to statistics showing that people tend
to be mores settled & have a better more settled night if eating their main meal at night.
Thursday 10th November – Tai Chi – The very popular Tai Chi movement to music was held &
as always everyone enjoyed it
Friday 11th November – Entertainer Carol Reece Jones – unfortunately Carol had to cancel but
don’t worry she will be back very soon
Tuesday 14th November – Mini Bus Christmas Shopping Trip to Merry Hill or as it is known
locally Merry Hell! We had an enjoyable shopping trip & lunch
Wednesday 16th November – we had a trip to Webbs to the Ice Skating rink & both the ladies &
gentlemen & team had a fabulous time but the team had a few aches the next day – we are
looking forward to the next time. The trip was arranged by Lisa Dews following a conversation
with Harry Heap (resident) who used to be a speed skater & he said how much he missed it,
thank you to everyone who made the trip a massive success & we will definitely be doing it
again. They also enjoyed lunch & a warm drink after with a quick look at the Winter
Wonderland – Webbs always have a fantastic Christmas Display.
The skaters on Ice L-R – Michael & Amy, Gerald & Mel, John & James, Kelly & Ruth, Lisa &
Harry & Trisha & Christine.
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Ice Skating Conga with Kelly, James, John Godfrey & Lisa & Lisa holding Jayne up pushing
Harry Heap with Mel & Gerald laughing at the back
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Amy & Michael enjoying themselves & John & Amy in the Winter Wonderland
Friday 18th November – Children in Need fundraiser – The team dressed in PJ’s or Onsie to
raise funds for the this worthy cause & as always caused a lot of fun & laughter
Saturday 19th November – Singing & dancing with SJP Theatre Arts – we were entertained by
the performing arts group who put on a fantastic show which brought back a lot of happy
memories for lots of the ladies & gentlemen for who going to dances was part of their social life
but also Betty Cooper used to be a dancer with her sister & entertained the troupes.
Group performing & the start of the Rock & Roll Set
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Bringing back memories with Rock & Roll
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Thursday 24th November – Champions Information Afternoon Tea – Elliott Edwards providing
information on Mental Capacity Mental Health
Friday 25th November – Christmas Fayre – will be held in the dining room from 1.00pm4.00pm – funds raised will go the residents welfare fund
Preparations for the Christmas Fayre, Winnie, Annalise, Elsie & Jade
Christmas Fayre in Full swing
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Wednesday 30th November saw us entertained by the Primrose Choir who are really popular &
have lots of interaction
Information Morning coffee/Afternoon Teas:
We have arranged monthly morning coffee or afternoon tea information days which will be held on the
last Thursday of the Month.
All residents, relatives, team members & people in the community (they are in the local paper) are
invited to attend these events which are being hosted by our Champions who go above & beyond to
ensure that changes to benefit the residents take place & changes are cascaded to the rest of the team.
Listed below are the dates of the events together with the time.
Everyone is Welcome & we look forward to seeing you - Please join us for a cup of coffee & a chat,
your knowledge & experiences are welcomed & we would be happy to support with information,
where possible.
 December – Lisa Dews & Jayne Raybould – EOL & Remembrance Afternoon – 29.12.16
2.30pm Afternoon Tea together with a balloon release with personal messages attached
Cuppa & Cake Meetings with the Cook:
The very popular Cuppa & Cake meetings continue with Pat our Cook alternate months & these are
listed below:
 Thursday 1st December
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Residents, relatives & members of the team are all invited to these informal meetings to discuss meal
options & to make suggestions & requests to help with future mean planning & to keep everyone
informed.
Residents & Family Meeting:
The minute from the last meeting are on the notice board if you would like to have a look.
The planned residents & relatives meetings during the year are as below but may be subject to change:
 Tuesday 6th December – 3.00pm & 6.00pm
If you have any comments or suggestions outside of the meetings please let myself or one of the team
know either personally or via telephone 01527 575070 or e-mail:
[email protected]
Facebook Page:
We now have a facebook page for St John’s Court so if you would like to have a look if you have
facebook & like & share that page we would be really grateful.
We will be using the page to advertise forth coming events & to add photo’s of events which have
taken place.
If you have anything which you feel would be good to add the page please let me know.
Website:
St John’s Court website has a link to carehomes.co.uk on which you can leave feedback & this is really
useful information for those who are looking for a care home so they can read real comments so please
take the time if you can to leave your feedback.
Somerset Redstone Trust Competitions:
 The next Trust Competition is a Christmas cake competition so like the Garden competition we
need to evidence resident involvement & choice of design, making the cake. The mixing &
cooking of the cake took place on Friday 11th November with everyone who had a stir making a
wish & it smelt wonderful. Now the planning of the design continues for our masterpiece.
 We have had lots of brilliant ideas & support so thank you & we look forward to seeing the
finished cake which could win us £100 for our residents fund so well worth it - see pictures as
of 3rd November
 If you are a budding Mary Berry or Paul Hollywood & would like to take the lead in the cake
competition then please let myself, Heather or Pat have your ideas & suggestions but we will be
looking for ideas & suggestions from you all in the coming weeks so that we can start to plan &
make an impressive show stopper!
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The other competition is the Christmas Decoration competition & after discussions it was
decided that we would make decorations in three themes as we could not choose from the ideas.
The themes which have been decided are to have the following trees – edible decorations, fun &
nostalgic & already the making of the decorations are underway. The Christmas decorating of
the home will take place on Friday 2nd December which we will support the residents to do, so
if any relatives & friends would like to join us it will start around 11am & once all completed
there will be a curry & jacket potatoes for all who helped. Again there is a prize of £100 & the
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judging will take place on Monday 5th December by William Waddington CEO for the Trust &
Keren Wilkinson – Director of Operations.
Elsie making tree decorations & Winnie & Annalise getting ready for the Fayre & Christmas Trees
Gladys & Winnie making the Christmas decorations
CQC Inspection ( Care Quality Commission)
We have recently had a further CQC Inspection on 7th & 8th November although we had one in May we
raised some concerns around the length of time we waited for the report & inaccuracies contained
within it & this is why they inspected again even though we were already rated good.
The inspector spent time with Residents, relatives & the team here at St John’s & asked them questions
about the five key areas:
 Is it Safe
 Is it Caring
 Is it Effective
 Is it Responsive
 Is it Well led
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We received our Report from May’s Inspection which rated us as being GOOD on all five areas
(ratings are – Outstanding, Good, Requires improvement, Inadequate), the report has been distributed
to all rooms & in reception together with our certificate which is displayed on the landing & in
reception.
Once we receive our most recent report & rating I will make this report available to everyone.
The whole team here at St John’s work really hard to ensure that residents & relatives can feel happy &
confident in the support which is offered.
As always I would like to express my thanks to the team for their hard work & support in making a
difference to everyone who lives at St John’s or visits us.
If you have any questions or comments please do not hesitate to speak with Laura or Faye.
It might seem a bit early but as we all know Christmas arrives quickly & we need to plan ahead.
December
When you think of December, do thoughts of Christmas come to mind? There is a lot more to
December than holidays, presents and last minute shopping. There are other holidays during the month,
many famous people celebrate their birthday in December and many historic events took place during
the last month of the year.
Read on to learn some trivial facts about December.
Basic Facts: December comes from the Latin word decem which means ten. It was originally the tenth
month of the year in the Roman calendar which began with March. When January and February were
added to the Roman calendar, December became the twelfth month of the Gregorian calendar. It is one
of the seven months that has thirty one days.
Birthstones
December has several birthstones. The traditional birthstones are turquoise, lapis lazuli and zircon.
Turquoise is also listed as a modern birthstone for the month along with blue topaz. In 2002, tanzanite
was added to the modern birthstone list for December.
Flower
The flower for the month of December is the narcissus which symbolizes self-love, self-esteem and
vanity. According to Greek mythology, a youth named Narcissus was gazing down at his himself in a
pond of water. He fell in love with his own reflection. While kneeling beside the pond, he fell into the
water and drowned. The narcissus plant sprang up from the place where he died.
Astrological Signs
Sagittarius and Capricorn are the astrological signs for December. Birthdays from December 1st
through the 21st fall under the sign of Sagittarius. December 22nd through the 30th birthdays fall under
the sign of Capricorn.
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December Holidays and Observances
The most well known holiday of the month is Christmas Day, December 25th.
The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah usually begins in December. The dates vary from year to year. Some
years Hanukkah begins in late November.
Kwanzaa is celebrated from December 26th to January 1st. This weeklong holiday honors African
heritage and culture.
In the northern hemisphere, the winter solstice or shortest day of the year occurs and winter begins.
This takes place on December 21 or 22.
Historic Events in December
Many major events happened in the month of December. Here are four historical events that took place
in December.
The bombing of Pearl Harbor occurred on December 7th 1941.
The first flight by the Wright Brothers was made on December 17, 1903.
The Boston Tea Party took place on December 16, 1773.
Famous People Born in December
Many famous people were born in December. Here are just a few of them.
Two presidents: Andrew Johnson and Woodrow Wilson
Several actors and actresses: Kirk Douglas, Jane Fonda, Katie Holmes, Susan Lucci, Brad Pitt and
Denzel Washington
Authors: Emily Dickinson and Jane Austen
Singer/Musicians: Jimmy Buffet, Bette Midler, Donny Osmond and Frank Sinatra
We hope that you have enjoyed our Monthly Newsletter.
If you have any news, facts or poems to go into our May News Letter then please let Laura, Faye,
Mel, Heather, Ffion or Doreen know so that it will feature in the next News Letter.
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