practical living
Montessori student April and Kalyra resident Bonnie Hodgson. Photo: Brenton Edwards, AAP
There’s a school in there
Adelaide launches innovative first
in intergenerational learning.
By Kate Prendergast
T
wo years ago, the Kalyra Woodcroft
aged care facility in Adelaide was
giving another one of its regular
site tours. Neither the guide, Terry Wilby,
Kalyra’s director of care, nor the people
being led through the grounds had any
idea that this tour was in any way unique.
But through sheer serendipity, it would end
up bringing two very different institutions
into remarkable partnership, and even
make history in Australia.
“It just so happened that on this day
there were a brother and sister with their
mother and father, who were simply
looking around,” recounts Wilby. “We
were about to commence our $25 million
building program, and I’d just explained to
them what we were planning to do.”
In a subsequent email, the daughter,
Roslyn Sim, revealed herself to be on the
board of the nearby Southern Montessori
School, just 11 minutes’ drive east. She put
forward a tentative proposal, admitting it
might sound preposterous.
The school, she explained, was
struggling with a problem that was proving
difficult to overcome. Student numbers had
swelled through enrolments, particularly
since they’d expanded to Years 8 and 9 in
2014. Overcrowding had become so dire,
middle school students were taking classes
in a community shed. It was supposed
to be a temporary solution, yet the hunt
for a permanent relocation site had begun
a decade ago. They were running out
of options.
Could Kalyra, Sim hedged, be the
solution they were seeking?
26 agedcareinsite.com.au
Wilby put the proposal to his CEO, who
took it to the board, who got very excited
– and the idea took off. “All from a visit,”
Wilby says, still somewhat amazed.
After a long journey of community
consultation (with notable pockets of
resistance), council approval, collaborative
board discussions, architectural design
planning, and at last, construction,
Australia’s first co-built educational and
aged care facility opened in May. And, to
the tune of $1.25 million, a groundbreaking
intergenerational program kicked off.
It’s early days, but both institutions are
teeming with ideas about how the two
groups can connect. Plans are being made
for small groups of residents to join classes
with students to learn arts and crafts, music
and languages. On occasion, the students
will transform into performance ensembles,
providing background music to residents
during the day, with the Kalyra activity room
used for plays and recitals. Mentorship will
be multidirectional through activities and
conversations: students helping residents
unlock newfangled modern technologies,
and residents imparting invaluable life
experiences and knowledge.
Noel Browne, principal at Southern
Montessori, radiates immense pride in his
school’s new partnership. Viewing age
segregation as an increasing social ill, he is
convinced intergenerational programs are
instrumental in building meaningful bridges
between generations.
“This can only lead to a more balanced
and well-functioning society,” he says.
The school and aged care home are
designated as two separate sites, with
all visits between to be structured and
supervised by trained staff. To ensure safety
at all times, a comprehensive orientation
and induction program is being rolled
out. Students, says Browne, will not
be interacting with residents from the
dementia ward.
The middle school integration is part of
a monumental redevelopment by Kalyra
Woodcroft, purposed to re-envisage the
whole idea of what an aged care home
can be. Rather than a last-stop terminus
– a clinical, moribund environment, kept
apart from the rest of society – Kalyra will
become a haven of vitality, where residents
can feel connected to their community
and maintain continuity with their previous
lives. In what’s to be known as the ‘Hub’,
they’ll be able to access physiotherapy,
spa and therapeutic massage, book their
own hairdressing appointments and GP
visits, head to the gym, and independently
plan their days around a range of other
community-led services. In all, there is the
possibility of students to take part.
Forecast to conclude late this year,
the redevelopment also includes a new
state-of-the-art cafe. Montessori students
happen to be trained baristas under their
school’s unconventional curriculum, and
will be at the coffee station whipping up
residents’ choice of brew.
Much to the residents’ mouth-watering
anticipation, there’ll be a change in dining
as well.
“Nursing home food has always been
terrible,” admits Wilby. In partnership with
the Maggie Beer Foundation, which aims to
improve food experiences for older people,
the students will be getting out to the
vegetable patches and into the kitchens,
cooking up a range of more palatable
and diverse fare. Side by side, with green
thumbs and floury fingers, will be the older
folk, sharing secrets from how to bake
the fluffiest scone to how best to seed a
spinach in the garden soil.
There are even plans for students to
work with the ‘Men’s Group’ to build a pizza
oven in the coming months.
“The possibilities are endless,” says
Browne. “Who knows how many creative
and exciting ideas will evolve over time?”
Intergenerational education programs
are increasingly popular worldwide, with
research furnishing a slew of economic
and social benefits. In the US, there’s a
preschool inside a nursing home in Seattle,
and an intergenerational summer theatre
camp in South Dakota, putting on shows
of Treasure Island and Aladdin. In the UK,
similar initiatives abound, from hiking
groups to computer learning classes to
high school students helping the elderly
write their memoirs.