Pupils and staff adapting brilliantly
About sixteen years ago, I found myself standing on a large concourse at the foot of an enormous favela in Rio de Janeiro. Around me were concrete walls patterned with bullet holes and poorly built slums rising up the hill in labyrinthine fashion. As if I wasn’t already humbled by the poverty-stricken nature of the location itself, it was the fact that in front of where I stood were dozens of children from the favela playing makeshift drums out of bottles and cans and teaching the mostly British children I was with how to do the same. They shared their rhythm and love of music; they taught us the dancing martial art of Capoeira; and they delighted in learning how to play cricket and rugby and design large-scale wall art with us.
It was an inspiring visit. The point is that many of these children had nothing and yet they were inspired to learn with whatever they could get their hands on. Primarily this was through music and their inspiration was a group called Affro Reggae, with whom we were working and who went on to play in the opening ceremony at the 2016 Olympics, but also through sport and art. They may not have had all the equipment that many of us enjoy but they made the best of what they had.
Back in January I wrote about award-winning pianist Andrew Garrido who could not afford a piano as a child so drew one instead, mastered the finger positions by watching on a computer and passed Grades 1-5 before his mother found the money to purchase a keyboard. Remarkable! And a great example of how one can adapt.
At the moment, everyone is having to adapt and I have been so impressed by the way the children and teachers have begun the term. You don’t need me to say that tempers have been tested at times but things are already calmer and more settled as routines and expectations are bedding in. Feedback has been excellent and accepting of the fact that things cannot be perfect immediately but we are listening and reflecting on where we can improve. So what we have learnt over these last few days? Well, we have realised that less is more, especially in these early days as everyone is getting used to the new systems. We have learnt that children adapt to new technologies far quicker than adults and already things are settling down into routines.