Corey's Farm
How Tapestry helps to support teams in their work with children with complex needs
Corey’s Farm is a charity run setting which opened in 2022, and is based on the Cornwall/Devon border. The team offer daily sessions for children with complex additional support needs. They have 12 children currently accessing Corey’s Farm, of various ages and stages of development. The children are referred to the setting, which offers a unique Therapeutic Curriculum adaptable to the needs of each child, and includes Animal Assisted Therapy and nature-based activities – the farm now has 140 animals. Corey’s Farm have been using Tapestry for about a year. We spoke with founder and CEO Holli Alway and COO Lotte Skinner about how the team uses Tapestry to support their practice.
Supporting parental engagement
Families can see the experiences their child has at the farm via Observations added on Tapestry. The team include photos and video relating to a target the child may be working towards, as well as lots of fun things that happen around the animals. They also encourage families to share experiences their child has with them.
Hearing from families about what their child has done at home is so important for us in how we support children. For example, it really helps a child’s transition from home to the farm. We can talk to them about what they did at the weekend, and this can enable them to open up and to regulate.
Communicating with families
Holli and Lotte explained that when a child comes to Corey’s Farm, the whole family are involved in whatever way they want to be. Because of the individual approach for each child, there can be a lot of communication between the setting and parents. The team use Tapestry as a tool to manage this important connection:
Before introducing Tapestry, there were a lot of phone calls and emails back and forth with families at all times of the day and evening. Tapestry has helped us and our families to manage our communication in a really caring and professional way, giving us one tool for all our communication needs.
Connecting and informing other professionals around a child
Giving key professionals around a child access to their learning journal means they can work as a team to support that child. It may be that a child doesn’t engage anywhere else, so seeing their journal shows everyone what they can do and how they are reaching their full potential. Tapestry offers a bridge between us and all the other people working with each child. It’s a stepping stone, opening things up for everyone.
The children who attend Corey’s Farm may have other professionals supporting them – teachers at their school, specialists, or social workers. With parental permission, selected professionals can be given access to a child’s learning journal. This allows them to see the progress a child is making through the unique experiences at the farm.
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