Thank you Saltdean Primary

Some of our children at Happy House have  have formed penpal friendships with pupils at Saltdean Primary School, near Brighton.
This came about because Marc and Thalia Venturi have been coming to visit for many years, often with their daughter Emma and son, Joe.
Emma is now a Class 4 teacher at Saltdean Primary and suggested some of the children exchange letters.
Her parents have been visiting Happy House with her brother and their cousin, and she brought with them letters and friendship bracelets from some of the youngsters from Saltdean.
So it was with great pleasure that our children presented Thalia with bracelets and letters for her to take back to their friends.

Room of the week award

There is great excitement when Mama announces the winners of the  Room of the Week Award at Happy house Kidz Club.
Every group of children wants it to be there room captain's name that is called out.
The winning room receives a mirror for use in their room.
The competition is a great incentive to children to keep their rooms neat and tidy and belongings well organised.
Rooms are inspected and marked every day, so it's not just a weekly look around.

This week there was a win for the girls, when Janet and her room mates were declared winners.

Learn as you play

With 10 iPads being used by children at Happy House to aid their learning in many areas, Mama Sue is eager for all teachers to understand why they are important.
She brought the teachers together so she could explain that new technology was bringing new opportunities to stimulate and engage young minds.
The iPads have been loaded with educational resources - games and activities to improve spelling, reading, colour and shape awareness, vocabulary, maths and telling the time.

She invited the teachers to go round each group of children  so the kids could show them what they are learning.

Planting project

Our gardener Alex is busy planting up the newly created borders around compound at Happy House School.
He and his helpers are dividing shrubs and plants from Happy House and also from the garden at  Mama and Papa's home to use at school.
The  walls around  the raised borders will contain the topsoil and help provide a good drainage system for the plants.
It will all look very colourful when the plants mature.

Acts of kindness; Husna

We asked our children at Happy House what they saw as an act of kindness.
Husna talks about home visits to her grandmother.
She speaks fondly of the many things her grandmother has taught her, the stories she tells and of the love she has for Husna and her brother Hussein. 

The way to learn

With iPads introduced to the children living at Happy House, Mama Sue wanted to make sure teaching staff from school  fully understood the reason for introducing them to our family at home.
She also explained how they would be used and that they were strictly for educational purposes and aimed to motivate the youngsters to learn whilst having fun at the same time.
The children then illustrated to them the educational activities and games helping them improve their skills in numbers, grammar and much more, depending on their age/.

Security cameras installed

We now have a full security system at Happy House School.
As we old you in Monday's video, Mama Sue felt it necessary to increase measures to our security staff (askaris) safe when they are guarding the premise.
Vehicles seen hanging around recently had made them feel vulnerable and with news of our new computer suite spreading through the area, it could be a target.
So in addition to the wall, topped by an electric fence and steel gates, Mama has employed G4S first response to bring in immediate armed support in a crisis, she also had security cameras covering the while site installed.

The computer suite already has tight security of its own but any measures to ensure our staff and property is kept safe is a responsibility that Mama and our charity takes very seriously indeed.