Throughout our 25th anniversary celebrations, we're catching up with members of Prior's Court's alumni, seeing how they are doing now and their families' memories of Prior's Court.

This post focuses on Adam who was at Prior's Court from April 2002 to July 2014.

Where is Adam now?

Adam is now living in Kirk House at Home from Home Care, Dorrington - he is on the home page of their website!

How is Adam now?

"Adam has been happily living at a specialist placement for adults with additional needs since he left Prior's Court School in 2014.  He continues to come home for a weekend once a fortnight and will stay at his family home for holidays during the year as well as Christmas, Easter and his birthday.  

"He is keeping very well and very much enjoys the wide range of activities available to him.  He continues to be very active with many outings alongside individuals with similar needs.  Not only does he access local walks, but he also goes swimming weekly, attends a specialist disco every Thursday (with other adults with special needs), and will meet up with other residents from the other homes on a regular basis partaking in a wide variety of specialist events.  His social life is an extremely important factor in his current care.

"His diet has improved significantly over the past couple of years, with him now attempting an extremely wide variety of foods (previously it was very beige).  He often helps with preparing his meals, which has clearly had an impact on what he will now at the very least try.

"It's not all ‘going out’ and enjoying himself though; there is a very set focus that involves supporting with his household care.  This includes keeping his rooms clean and tidy, washing, gardening and generally supporting colleagues in the main living area when required to do so.  His personal care skills are a key focus for staff as they ensure that he is especially well looked after; he continues to be quite meticulous where this is concerned and enjoys his daily routines.

"Like Prior’s Court School, we attend an annual review with representatives from our Local Authority.  Another useful opportunity to celebrate ALL of Adam’s achievements no matter how small they are!  As parents we are also invited to attend the May Ball and Summer Fair alongside other events that are put on for all the individuals and their families from their respective homes.  These are such fun and always extremely well planned and organised with plenty to keep the family entertained."

What are your memories of Prior's Court as a family?

"Adam joined at Easter just ahead of his 7th birthday.  Up until such time, he was finding mainstream school very much more difficult to cope with.

"With Prior’s Court being so very far away (a typical trip there and back meant we were in the car for around five hours), we did find the distance a challenge in those early days.  We all missed him so very much.  The amazing staff at the school supported all of us so very much throughout his time at the school.  School staff and residential staff always went the extra mile!  We felt part of one great big very happy family and inevitably do miss such an ethos.

"Adam was amongst the first 36 children at the school.  As he was so young he started off in Giles House.  To this day we can still remember patting the dog on his head as we entered the home at picking up and dropping off times.  Adam was a 38-week boarder, so came home for his holidays; and as we do now, we also picked him up fortnightly.

"His skills learnt at Prior’s Court School have so very much prepared him for his current stage of life.  Still as he was when he was younger, with a mischievous twinkle in his eye whatever he is faced with he will comply and always knows exactly what every situation he’s faced with requires.  He still plays his games on staff who don’t know him especially well (those who had the opportunity to work with Adam will know what this means).

"As well as his educational achievements, he enjoyed many opportunities to expel the energy that he still to this day loves to release.  I’m not quite sure how many laps he did around the Track during his break times, however, it always seemed to do the trick.  He also participated in very many days out; which looking back at the photos and write ups in his treasured diaries, he obviously thoroughly enjoyed.

"Adam enjoyed a very happy 12 years, his final home was Henley House prior to graduating in July 2014.

"As a family we were always very dubious about Adam moving from Prior’s Court and wondered what the future might hold:  We should never have worried; he acquired all the life skills he could ever need to move relatively seamlessly onto the next chapter of his life.  Thank you to all the staff and individuals along the way who were involved in supporting him along the way!  Looking back we recognise he could never have achieved all he does without all of your time, energy and patience."

Read more on our 25th anniversary blog