Miriam Lord Community Primary School learners and residents from Priority Care enjoyed learning together at Intergenerational Play workshops in Autumn 2025. The sessions, led by Yorkshire based acoustic musicians, Reuben and Bridget, culminated in a finale event at the care home with a lively celebration of music, friendship and community for everyone taking part in the project.

Residents at Priority Care commented that the workshops had become a real highlight and how much they looked forward to the children visiting. Their shared enjoyment of music and creativity was a happy reminder of childhood memories, prompting Michael, a retired police officer, to remark, “we were all young once!”.

Amelia, who previously worked as a spinner at Salts Mill, reflected on how she felt her life experiences were respected by the young people, while fellow resident Maurice appreciated the children’s thoughtfulness, describing their attitude as being “spot on”.

Meeting older people in a care setting was a new experience for many of Miriam Lord’s Year Four children and they were quick to notice that music can help different generations connect with each other.

“I met a Grandma called Alice. She’s fun and she does the dance moves – I played the instruments with her!”

“We’ve done music in school before, but never with Grandmas and Care Workers”

The children talked about meeting people at the music workshops and why these new friendships can be special.

“I made a friend in the care home called Rosalina and she has been a good friend”

“You learn more things spending time with older people. They’ve finished school and they can tell you more things about folk and nature”

Experiencing music in an intergenerational setting is particularly poignant for former music teacher Gerald, who now lives with memory and language loss. His wife, Gill, describes their 53 years together as “a life bound by music”, she felt that the workshops in the care home had helped him to reconnect with his past. Gill highlighted a moment during the celebration event where Gerald was sat right at the heart of the group, singing with the children – almost as if he was ready to start teaching again.

Sarah Jagger, Assistant Head Teacher at Miriam Lord Primary, believes it is important for children to see that older people living with health conditions can be well supported and happy. She describes how, alongside the joyful energy of the music workshops, the compassion and kindness shown by the children has helped build valued friendships with residents.

Now that their Intergenerational Play project has now come to an end, Sarah would like to see the relationship between the school and the care home continue and is already exploring opportunities to arrange a visit in December. They are fortunate, she says, that the care home is close by and an accessible part of their community.

“I’ve been a teacher for quite a long time now … and [this is] one of the best experiences in nearly thirty years of my career.”