Lime Group
Welcome to Lime Group and the beginning of your ‘Bowden Journey’.
Our Students:
In Lime Group, we welcome our students from multiple ‘feeder-schools’, situated across numerous boroughs within London and the South East. This catchment-area affords us the opportunity to have a diverse group of eight students, with varying interests, ethnicities and cultural or religious beliefs.
In Lime Group, as is the case across the school, we embrace this diversity and relish the challenge of ensuring that all of our students feel supported and confident in communicating their beliefs and experiences without judgement or impairment.
Our Staffing Team:
Our staff-team is carefully selected and consists of a highly skilled and committed group of people of varied age, gender, ethnicity and with differing interests and experiences. All of our staff receive regular training and supervision to ensure that we are all providing the highest quality service for our students.
Staff work with all students across the group, however each staff member has individual key students for whom they are the ‘go to’ person. This enables each student to have a single staff member, with whom they can develop a trusting relationship, thus offering the student a higher level of comfort and security. This staff member, is also expected to make regular calls with parent/carers, so this familiarity and continuity extends beyond the walls of Bowden and completes the ‘three-legged stool’ (Student/Staff/ Home) ethos that we work to.
Our Facilities:
Lime Group is situated in a wing of a purpose-built building that is only accessible to student’s in our group, thus offering them privacy, a feeling of security and the opportunity to socialise and engage in age-appropriate play without feeling pressure or influence from older students.
Our sleeping quarters consist of eight student bedrooms that are all currently single occupancy, two staff bedrooms (so staff can be accessed at any point 24 hrs a day) and two communal bathrooms. A number of the bedrooms also have an en-suite shower and WC to cater for student’s individual needs.
The students also have a large communal lounge and a fully functional kitchen that they have access to during their social time.
Of an evening, the students have access to the education block, which affords them opportunity to use the ICT suite, gym and fitness suite. The students also eat their evening meal in the main dining hall, unless they opt to cook their own supper in their group kitchen.
As well as having all of these indoor facilities, the students have access to the school’s vast grounds, consisting of football pitches, market-garden, a basketball court and BBQ area.
Our Activity Programme:
To occupy the student’s in the evenings, staff work hard alongside the young people, to provide a multitude of engaging activities: swimming, cinema, theatre, lazer quest, football and ‘man-hunt’ on the field (a firm favourite) - we even visit the Circus’ when they come to town!
Below is an indication of our regular activities that are available to students on a weekly basis, either led by fully qualified members of staff or by external providers:
- Visits to local Zoo
- Man-hunt
- Swimming
- Art/Crafts-club
- Dance Classes
- Visits to local Forest
- Football
- Ten Pin Bowling
- Cooking / Baking
- Mountain Biking
- Visits to local parks
- Parties celebrating student’s birthdays and a variety of religious and cultural festivals
Our Mission:
When our residential students join Bowden House, they will typically join Lime Group and as a staff team, we are acutely aware that it is therefore our job to develop the secure footings for our students to build upon, whilst on their ‘Bowden Journey’.
It is only when a feeling of security and settle is established, that our students will be able to access their education to their fullest capacity and gain optimum success.
So, with this in mind, whilst supporting our students and working closely with our education team, we go above and beyond to ensure that our students, who in a lot of cases are living away from home for the first time, feel safe, secure and happy in a caring and nurture-filled environment. Whilst still being challenged to develop themselves and increase their self-confidence and social integrity.
“Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.” — Charles R. Swindoll