On The Cotswold Community…
Received from Nicola Kelso | Added to the site April 2017.
“Having just looked up the Cotswold Community and read your articles on the closing, I thought I’d write to let you know of the way in which the community has influenced me.
I was a volunteer there in the early nineties for a relatively short period of time. At that age (19), I was , in hindsight acutely ill-prepared for the needs of the boys and, having arrived at the time of Vanessa’s tragic accident and death, it was clearly and very obviously understandably a difficult time for the staff and boys too. However the ethos and work of the community stayed with me and, although I have varied my career somewhat, taking the SEN teaching route, many of the skills first learnt at the community apply still, particularly in those pupils with attachment disorders and complex needs.
Team teach techniques also always remind me of the community and I now realise the benefits of positive holds where absolutely necessary. In other words, to wrap up, I absolutely love my vocation with a passion and feel that, at the foundation of it all, I, like many others, have the Community to thank for that.”