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St John’s Court

Monthly News Letter

March 2017

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We would like to welcome New Residents to St John’s Court & hope that they are Happy &

Comfortable in their new home:

Joy Denton, Vera Blake, Dorothy Pope & Mary Gibbs

Sadly we say goodbye to the following residents & our thoughts are with their families at this sad &

difficult time.

Joyce Goldsmith, Violet Kenyon, Edna Curnow & Vera Blake

They will be greatly missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing them.

We would like to welcome some new staff members to the team at St John’s Court & we hope that they

enjoy their new jobs:

Louise Collett – Care assistant & Mary Hiatt – Registered Nurse

Forth coming Residents Birthdays:

Pauline Heath – 6th

March

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:

Zoe Olds – 2nd

March, Carol Clifford – 6th

March, Tracey Cooper – 6th

March, Kelly Dews – 7th

March,

Ffion Birch – 15th

March, Faye Upton – 29th

March, Elliott Edwards – 30th

March & Lucia Tranca –

31st March

We wish you all a very Happy Birthday.

SPECIAL CELEBRATIONS:

Muriel Dudley Celebrated her 102nd

Birthday in style wearing her crown for a special birthday

celebration. Muriel received lots of cards & gifts from her family & loved ones having lots of hugs &

kisses.

Muriel surrounded by balloons & with her crown in place

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Mel Whitelock – Office Manager celebrated (reluctantly) her 50th

Birthday – you look fabulous!

Mel & the team presented with flowers & gifts

MoVE:

Heather is the star of the Avamen MoVE clip which is on their site promoting the importance of

keeping active & is available to view on Youtube. It is also accessible on out St John’s Court Facebook

page. The clip shows our ladies & gentlemen enjoying the movement classes & has demonstrated the

benefits of keeping active.

Outstanding:

We have also received a letter from Sajid Javid – MP from the House Of Commons with regards the

teams achievements. The letter reads – Dear Laura, Congratulations on the recently ‘Outstanding’ CQC

rating for the care provided by St John’s Court. Thank you especially to all of the hard working staff

who endlessly work to provide the best services for residents in the care home.

Laura & Faye with the letter from Sajid Javid MP & the banner displaying the Outstanding CQC rating

We were also asked to attend the Trustees meeting to talk about how we had achieved ‘Outstanding’ &

all of the Trustees wanted us to express their thanks to the whole team for the fantastic work you all do.

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Outstanding Celebrations:

Residents, relatives & team members were invited to join the celebrations of achieving the outstanding

rating with CQC & this took place with us holding a cheese & wine evening which was thoroughly

enjoyed by everyone who joined us & I would like to thank you for taking the time to help us celebrate

such a fantastic achievement.

Enjoying the cheese & wine celebrations

Planned Events for the coming Month:

Tuesdays – Pet Therapy – Maisie the Black Labrador visits

Mondays – see the return & Bromsgrove School Games Evening

Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays – MoVE exercise classes

The Move Program is so popular we are now holding three classes a week to which our ladies

& gentlemen are invited to attend together with their family & friends if they would like to join

us. The class lasts for around 45minutes & is a gentle program of exercises & movements to

music. The classes will take place Monday Afternoons & Wednesday & Friday Mornings. We

look forward to seeing you all.

Wednesday 1st March – St David’s Day – we will celebrate by wearing yellow & having a

variety of welsh foods for the day to sample

Thursday 2nd

March – Mini bus Trip – destination to be confirmed

Thursday 9th

March – Tai-Chi with Alan in the Dining Room

Friday 10th

March – Entertainment in the Dining Room with Bobby Thompson 2.30pm-3.30pm

Wednesday 15th

March – We will be visiting Bromsgrove School for the Easter Celebrations for

Afternoon Tea

Friday 24th

March – Spring Fayre 1.00pm – 4.00pm to raise funds for the residents welfare fund

to help pay for trips out & entertainment. Any donations or help will be gratefully received.

For more information on weekly/daily activities please see the information boards.

St John’s Fundraising:

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

We will be holding our Annual Spring Fayre in March & we would be grateful to receive any donations

you have for the Bric-a-Brac, tombola, raffle prizes & bottles for our stalls.

As always there will be refreshments on the day.

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Any help you can offer either with donations, supporting us on the day or having your own stall would be very

much appreciated.

Ffion would like to thank everyone who supports with donations for the crafts which she does with residents,

they are very much appreciated.

All funds raised will go towards the residents fund to help pay for entertainment & trips out.

Employee of the Month:

I would like to thank all of the team at St John’s Court as you all work really hard to make it a lovely home for

the residents & a happy place to work.

You all deserve to be nominated for Employee of the month for making such a difference to all the residents

but…………..

The winner of Employee of the Month for February is:

Bev Barker

Bev was presented with a certificate & a small gift.

Well Done & thank you for making a difference.

The reasons given for the nominations for them were:

How good Bev’s personal care is, she is efficient but very caring.

She is an excellent team player

She is the best carer here, always supports the ladies & gentlemen 100%, so very thorough in everything

she does & the ladies & gentlemen shine from head to toe.

Residents are number one priority at all times.

Other nominations include:

Kath Upton – so gentle with Mum & being a shoulder to cry on.

Sam Patterson – very caring & puts residents needs first & communicate with the nurse.

Zoe Olds – Lovely approach with residents & communicates concerns with the nurse, very caring & puts

residents first.

Michelle Du-Roe – presentation of meals & how she interacts with the ladies & gentlemen at meal

times, always happy to help &nothing is too much bother to her.

Trisha Spence – spending time to chat with residents & hold their hands

Stacey Winters – assisting at meal times & going to residents rooms when care team are busy & sitting

with residents to support with meals.

Collette Matheson – Always putting residents first & supporting with activities in her own time.

Please support us & let us know who has made a difference to your daily life, nomination forms are in reception

& these can be put through the office letterbox.

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Events which took place in February:

Tuesdays – Pet Therapy – Maisie the Black Labrador visits

Mondays – see the return & Bromsgrove School Games Evening with board games & quizzes

played this is always a popular & welcome visit

Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays – MoVE exercise classes

The Move Program is so popular we are now holding three classes a week to which our ladies

& gentlemen are invited to attend together with their family & friends if they would like to join

us. The class lasts for around 45minutes & is a gentle program of exercises & movements to

music. The classes will take place Monday Afternoons & Wednesday & Friday Mornings.

Winnie & Roy enjoying the exercise class

Thursday 2nd

February – Mini bus Trip to Webbs garden Cntre where we enjoyed looking

around & lunch in the restaurant which is being upgraded

Monday 6th

February – Tai Chi with Alan in the Dining room, as always this was very popular

& enjoyed by everyone who joined us.

Friday 10th

February – We held our monthly Church Service in the Dining Room

Tuesday 14th

February – Valentines Day – We wore red & there were lots of hearts around, we

also enjoyed a glass of sparkly wine with lunch & talked about what we have done in the past to

celebrate

Monday 20th

February – Entertainment in the dining room with Me & My Girl which had lots

of audience participation & singing along.

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Wednesday 22nd

February – We held a cheese & wine evening where residents & their families were

invited to join us to celebrate us achieving outstanding with CQC. Everyone had a lovely time trying

new things, chatting & laughing – see pictures under Outstanding Celebrations.

Tuesday 28th February – Shrove Tuesday – Pancake day fun with pancake flipping contest

Other Activities which took place during the month:

Enjoying fish & chips & a drink in the pub at St John’s

Basket Ball Fun – is there some cheating going on?

Planting seeds in prepartation for the Spring Fayre & Garden Project

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Residents & Family Meeting:

The minute from the last meeting are on the notice board if you would like to have a look.

The next residents & family meetings are listed below & everyone is welcome to attend. (These dates

may be subject to change)

Wednesday 8th

March 2017 - 11.00am & 6.00pm

Thursday 13th

June 2017 – 3.00pm

Thursday 14th

September 2017 – 11.00am & 6.00pm

Wednesday 6th

December 2017 – 3.00pm

Cuppa & Cake Meetings with the Cook:

The very popular Cuppa & Cake meetings continue with Pat our Cook alternate months & these are

listed below:

Thursday 9th

February at 3.00pm in the Dining Room

Thursday 6th

April at 3.00pm in the Dining Room

Thursday 1st June at 3.00pm in the Dining Room

Thursday 3rd

August at 3.00pm in the Dining Room

Thursday 12th

October at 3.00pm in the Dining Room

Thursday 7th

December at 3.00pm in the Dining Room

Coffee Mornings & Afternoon Teas: Themes to be planned

Thursday 26th

January11.00-12.00noon – took place

Thursday 23rd

February – 2.30-3.30pm

Thursday 30th

March – 11.00-12.00noon

Thursday 27th

April – 2.30-3.30pm

Thursday 25th

May – 11.00-12.00noon

Thursday 29th

June – 2.30-3.30pm

Thursday 27th

July – 11.00-12.00noon

Thursday 31st August – 2.30-3.30pm

Thursday 28th

September – 11.00-12.00noon

Thursday 26th

October – 2.30-3.30pm

Thursday 30th

November – 11.00-12.00noon

Friday 29th

December – Remembrance Service – Time to be confirmed

Everyone is welcome, ladies & gentlemen, relatives & team members, to join us for this social event

where there will be refreshments & cake & information on relevant subjects to help make

improvements in the support we offer.

Theme Walls:

We continue to develop the theme walls around the home & we currently have three with another two

planned.

We have now added the beach wall mural to the corridor downstairs & are working on the football

theme wall which is based on Bromsgrove Sporting who have donated a signed shirt & programs &

they always provide tickets to home matches for our ladies & gentlemen to go along to which they

thoroughly enjoy (pictures of the football wall will be in next months newsletter).

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The window looking onto the pool & beach – you can nearly feel the warmth of the sun!

Facebook Page:

We continue to update our 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 use 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.

CQC Inspection:

I am absolutely thrilled that we have been awarded OUTSTANDING.

We were awarded the following ratings in the five categories:

Caring – OUTSTANDING

Safe – Good

Effective – Good

Responsive – OUTSTANDING

Well led – OUTSTANDING

I cannot thank the team enough for all their hard work, dedication & support in making a difference

everyday to so many peoples lives – you are all OUTSTANDING.

We are the first Nursing Home in Worcestershire to achieve OUTSTANDING & the first who provide

nursing care for over 65year olds in the West Midlands so that is a massive achievement which

everyone should be very proud of.

Onwards & upwards – we will continue to strive to make improvements ensuring that we maintain or

improve on our current rating, now the hard work really begins!

CCTV:

We now have CCTV in operation which overlooks the front entrance of the building & top carpark &

the rear garden area. The CCTV does record images which will only be accessed in the event of us

needing to look back at images if there has been an incident & the images will not be disclosed to

others without consent if it contains images of residents or visitors.

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The CCTV is for increased security of the home & grounds & for those who live & visit St John’s

Court & for no other purpose, it’s not for constant surveillance & not intended to intrude on individuals

privacy.

If you have any questions or would like any more information then please speak to Laura or Faye.

Inter House Competitions:

As you all know we have taken part in competitions which have been organized by Somerset Redstone

Trust & these have included:

Garden Competition

Christmas Decoration Competition

Christmas cake competition

We need to think ahead ready for this years competitions & any ideas & suggestions you have for the

garden, we know we want to work on the front patio area of the home this year to improve it & make it

more inviting so any ideas which you have which we can start planning & working towards would be

great.

March Facts

Facts

March is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It was the first month of the year in ancient Rome.

Since March is the first month of spring, it was a logical point to begin the year. When the Gregorian

calendar was adopted, it became the third month of the year. It is one of the seven months with thirty-

one days.

Superstition

If Easter should fall on Lady Day – 25th

March then a disaster will shortly follow.

‘When my Lord falls in my Ladies lap, England beware of some mishap’

Traditional Games

All through Lent the traditional games of Marbles & Skipping are played. However, the games were

stopped at the stroke of 12 noon on Good Friday.

These games, in some places, were referred to as Marble Day or Long Rope Day

Birthstone

The birthstones for March are the aquamarine and the bloodstone.

Aquamarine is the more well known birthstone for March. The word Aquamarine was derived from

‘Aqua’ – meaning water & ‘marine’ – meaning sea because it looked like sea water. It was known as

the ‘Sailors Gem’ promising a prosperous & safe journey as well as protection against the perils &

monsters of the sea.

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Aquamarine is thought to symbolise: Good Health, Love, Youthfulness & Hope.

Aquamarines colours range from greenish blue to blue-green. The colour of aquamarine has a calming

effect and is said to cool the temper.

Bloodstone is actually a dark green jasper. Spots of iron oxide show up as vivid red spots in jasper,

hence the word bloodstone. The Babylonians believed the stone had healing powers, especially for

blood disorders.

Bloodstones are most commonly found in rocks or as pebbles in river beds. They are most commonly

found in India, Brazil & Australia.

Bloodstone is the favoured material for carving Religious objects, particularly the Crucifix.

Astrological Signs

Pisces and Aries are the astrological signs for March. Birthdays from March 1st through the 20th fall

under the sign of Pisces. March 21st through the 31st birthdays fall under the sign of Aries.

Historic Events

18th

March 1935 – 30 miles an hour speed limit imposed on built up areas

22nd

March 1888 – English Football League formed

25th

March 1948 – Heathrow Airport opened

29th

March 1886 – Coca Cola was introduced

31st March 1889 – The Eiffel Tower in Paris was officially opened

Flower

The flower for the month of March is the ‘Lent Lily’ or Narcissus (wild daffodil). Since daffodils are

one of the first flowers to bloom in spring, they are considered to be a symbol of rebirth. They may

symbolize rebirth, but beware, because daffodils are poisonous, if eaten.

The daffodil became a popular Welsh symbol in the 19th

Century & continues to be worn to celebrate

St David’s Day – 1st March.

March Quiz

1) Born on this day 1916, Harold Wilson, in which year did he first become Prime Minister?

2) Born on this day Rupert Murdoch, how old is he today?

3) Born on this day 1932, the former editor of the Spectator and Margaret Thatcher's Chancellor of the

Exchequer from 1983-1989, who is it?

4) Born on this day 1952, the author of The Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, who?

5) Died on this day 1959 discoverer of Penicillin, who is it?

6) Died on this day 1957 the creator of Perry Mason, who is it?

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7) On this day in which year was Mikhail Gorbachev elected leader of the USSR?

8) On this day 1985 the Al Fayed brother took control over which company?

9) On this day 1988, which unit of currency ceased to be legal tender?

10) On this day 1990, who became the youngest finalist in a professional tennis tournament in Florida,

just 18 days before her 14th Birthday?

We hope that you have enjoyed our Monthly Newsletter.

If you have any news, facts or poems to go into our News Letter then please let Laura, Faye, Mel,

Heather, Ffion or Doreen know so that it will feature in the next News Letter.