It was an honour and a privilege to be invited to Langham Oaks SEMH school.

The day was filled with inspiration, connection and optimism.

The staff at Langham Oaks are a special bunch of people, they display high levels of patience, empathy, optimism and fortitude. We kicked off the day with the “Pain 2 Purpose” story of little Steven. The students were taken on a journey through his early childhood years in the care system into his adult life.

Following the assembly, Steven performed his iconic song “Little Steven” for the students and staff. Key message for the children, “The way we speak to ourselves, is more important than how others speak to us” The ice really began to drip as we delivered the “Get some Perspective” work shop.

The workshop allowed student’s to challenge their own thought process, and creatively see things from other points of view. There was a real togetherness at lunch time as we ate lunch together then played some basketball in the hall. Langham certainly has some talented players in the making.

To finish off the day, Steven delivered the “Let’s Connect” workshop. Helping staff to understand the differences between Apathy, Sympathy and Empathy in their responses to the children they support. We looked at our own ice melting powers by using the hair dryer and the ice analogy, a creative way of displaying our own connections.

Key question for the staff, “How do you want them to remember you?”

Elements would like to send a huge thank you to everyone at Langham Oaks, a school full of love, patience and optimism for the children they support.

A special thank you to:

• Joe Cole (Founder of the Right Path) for helping Steven out with the entire day.
• Fay Greaves (Pastoral lead) for making the day happen and for simply being an incredible human being.
• Simon Dawson (Head teacher) for providing the best feedback Elements has ever received.
• David Robson (Founder/Director at Inspire EHC Ltd) for facilitating the podcast that opened the door for this opportunity.

Thank you Langham Oaks! We look forward to seeing you again in the future.