Our Year 10 TELCO students swapped their pens for paintbrushes on Friday, April 22, when they went along to ‘Branching Out’ respite home in Dongola Road in Plaistow to help paint  a mural.

The home is funded by Newham and provides short breaks for children and young people with learning disabilities, complex health needs and those on the autistic spectrum as well as physical disabilities. There the young people can have fun, gain independence and learn and develop whilst their families take much needed breaks from 24 hour caring. Stays can vary from just a few hours to several days.

Mr Pauro arranged the revamping of the outdoor bare recreation area wall and the boys set to work painting. They spent all day there and put their heart and souls into creating a fun, bright wall of wonder for the youngsters and their families to enjoy.

The group returns this Friday, April 29, to finish the mural. It is already looking much better and very colourful. Staff at the respite home are delighted with the way it is going too.

One student from Year 10, Jamie, commented: “It was great fun and we all worked together to produce a colourful feature that we think everyone will enjoy. We’re all really looking to seeing the finished article this week and we’re glad we could help out.”