Life skills - Hull - session 2

Looking after myself. 
Clothes washing & hygiene. 
Tuesday 24 February 2015. 

Today we explored the reasons why we wash our clothes & the other tasks involved in keeping them clean & smart. 
These included drying methods & the reasons we iron - or not. 

Trevor, the tutor had prepared a simple PowerPoint presentation with the intention that we would add to it & enhance it following our own research & discussion. 

Firstly we asked the question, Why do we need to wash our own clothes?
All students made some suggestions & the answers ranged from:
Keeping them smart & presentable. 
Removing stains & sticky stuff. 
To:
Getting rid of unpleasant body odours & germs & harmful bacteria. 
Making them smell fresh & pleasant.


AUTOMATIC

We discussed the variety & types of washing machines, such as:  Automatics, very popular in most households today. 

Top loaders, usually found in commercial laundrettes & twin tubs, largely a thing of the past. 

TOP LOADING

We then examined the symbols & information that are found on the labels inside clothing to tell us how to wash, dry & iron the different types of fabrics we all wear. The symbols are matched with the program of the machine for accurate results. 









These different instructions need to be followed for natural fibres, like wool & cotton; synthetic fibres like polyester & Lycra; also for the new breed of technical clothing developed for sportswear & active lifestyle. 

Life Skills Hull - session 1

Tues 3 February 2015
Enrolment & introductions
Course aims & course content

The aims are:
To introduce a variety of life skills to learners with additional learning needs in order to enable them to consider:
Healthy living & a balanced diet
Facilities for support, leisure & volunteering in the community
Participating in group research & discussion on agreed topics

We met at the NHS venue in Hull & the group made their introductions to each other & to the tutor.

Students completed their own enrolment forms, with assistance where necessary.

Some of the topics we agreed to explore were:
Facilities such as doctors, dentists & sexual health advice.
Other support services.
Mencap & Mind.
Humber care.
Social services & the Personal Assistant services provided by Danny's Dream.
Avocet.
Adka.
Day centres such as George Ashton Centre, 5 senses, Myers Beck garden centre.
Places to visit, like:
Museums, The Deep, Art galleries.
Budgeting.
Personal care.
Pet care & help with vet fees.

We held a short quiz as an icebreaker exercise.

We conducted a survey to find out how well each individual could carry out tasks associated with life skills. This can be conducted again later in the course to assess whether improvements have been made or confidence has improved.