Some of the team from Seb's Project were at the School at the same time. It was great to catch up with them again. Laura (recently from Brighton, and formerly from Farnham) was detailed to teach art to two classes.
A pineapple, bananas and an orange were placed in front of the children. They started by drawing a ruled frame as a margin, then many of them stared into space as to what to do next. Freehand drawing (as opposed to tracing) is not a natural medium for many of them. It was good for us all to be involved, to help them grasp Laura's clue "look at the outline". We all suddenly became art experts. My own masterpiece was shown to other classes later to rather underwhelmed spectators! The command of spoken English was good - after all, this is the language in which they have to learn; but only those who can master the English language are going to reach their full potential. If they have no aptitude for languages (and many people don't) that in itself is going to disadvantage them from the outset.
We then joined the same team in a computer class. We were able during the morning to engage with every class at the Senior School, and were asked for autographs, questioned "How old are you, Uncle?", and generally seen as a bit quaint but nevertheless welcomed. During the afternoon we did a similar tour of the Junior School - the admission age is three plus. Each child knows name, age, and how to ask "how are you?"; but it was much more obvious that their grasp of English was minimal, and that of many of the teachers as well. Nancy had a project she wished to share with 5 to 6 year-olds - the children responded with smiles to her requests, but clearly didn't understand, until the teacher interpreted for her.....
A pineapple, bananas and an orange were placed in front of the children. They started by drawing a ruled frame as a margin, then many of them stared into space as to what to do next. Freehand drawing (as opposed to tracing) is not a natural medium for many of them. It was good for us all to be involved, to help them grasp Laura's clue "look at the outline". We all suddenly became art experts. My own masterpiece was shown to other classes later to rather underwhelmed spectators! The command of spoken English was good - after all, this is the language in which they have to learn; but only those who can master the English language are going to reach their full potential. If they have no aptitude for languages (and many people don't) that in itself is going to disadvantage them from the outset.
We then joined the same team in a computer class. We were able during the morning to engage with every class at the Senior School, and were asked for autographs, questioned "How old are you, Uncle?", and generally seen as a bit quaint but nevertheless welcomed. During the afternoon we did a similar tour of the Junior School - the admission age is three plus. Each child knows name, age, and how to ask "how are you?"; but it was much more obvious that their grasp of English was minimal, and that of many of the teachers as well. Nancy had a project she wished to share with 5 to 6 year-olds - the children responded with smiles to her requests, but clearly didn't understand, until the teacher interpreted for her.....
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