24/06/2016
Today we visited the school again for another observational visit but this time Me and Maisie got more involved with the students and participated in their activities. It was honestly so much fun. I feel this visit allowed us to bond with the students a lot more. I started to get along with a few students just by dancing with them in the morning exercise session and by playing with them during snack time. On a Friday, I think they have a lesson called music therapy where they have a musician come in and they play around with on the instruments etc. This was great as it showed Class 9 are really bubbly and engage really well in active session. Me and Maisie saw that they are really active and based upon this, will come up with art session where everyone is active and is doing something. This visit was so much better than last time as I feel the students have gotten used to us and are now more willing to work with us. I really enjoyed spending time with them and I'm looking forward to conducting the sessions with Maisie. The next step is to start planning and conducting a proposal including our ideas.
Saturday 25 June 2016
Sunday 19 June 2016
First Stages and Progress..
17/06/2016
Today we got given more information about the children we'll be working with and their levels. Pictured below are me and Maisie's class which is class 9. Our class' levels vary from P3(ii) to P5.
One student is working at P3(ii) which means the begin to communicate intentionally and tend to seek attention through using eye contact, gestures or actions. They also participate in shared activities with less support needed. They can only hold concentration levels for a short period of time.
Two of our students are working at P4 which means they show some awareness of cause in a creative process. They tend to repeat an activity to have a similar effect and they show a lot of interest when using a range of tools and materials and taking part in familiar activities with some support. Majority of our class, with around 5 students are working at P5, which means that they handle or use tools and materials purposefully. They also able to choose materials and tools which are appropriate for the activity, for example, picking brushes or rolling pins for a painting activity.
On the other pages were past activities that they've tried out with the pupils. A lot of the activities are sensory and active which gives a great indication of what type of things the students like to participate in. I also noticed when looking through the documents that they usually produce quite large scale works, so I assume that every child takes part and is free hence the use of huge sheets of paper etc. That seems fun though, I did have some ideas revolving around the idea of producing large scale work. On the documents, I highlighted and annotated slightly information which I thought would be important such as their P levels and the activities they've done in the past and key words I thought would be of use.
The next stage is to arrange another visit for the school. Next Tuesday, we're going to come together as a group again and discuss ideas for sessions and hopefully trial out some ideas next Friday.
Today we got given more information about the children we'll be working with and their levels. Pictured below are me and Maisie's class which is class 9. Our class' levels vary from P3(ii) to P5.
One student is working at P3(ii) which means the begin to communicate intentionally and tend to seek attention through using eye contact, gestures or actions. They also participate in shared activities with less support needed. They can only hold concentration levels for a short period of time.
Two of our students are working at P4 which means they show some awareness of cause in a creative process. They tend to repeat an activity to have a similar effect and they show a lot of interest when using a range of tools and materials and taking part in familiar activities with some support. Majority of our class, with around 5 students are working at P5, which means that they handle or use tools and materials purposefully. They also able to choose materials and tools which are appropriate for the activity, for example, picking brushes or rolling pins for a painting activity.
On the other pages were past activities that they've tried out with the pupils. A lot of the activities are sensory and active which gives a great indication of what type of things the students like to participate in. I also noticed when looking through the documents that they usually produce quite large scale works, so I assume that every child takes part and is free hence the use of huge sheets of paper etc. That seems fun though, I did have some ideas revolving around the idea of producing large scale work. On the documents, I highlighted and annotated slightly information which I thought would be important such as their P levels and the activities they've done in the past and key words I thought would be of use.
The next stage is to arrange another visit for the school. Next Tuesday, we're going to come together as a group again and discuss ideas for sessions and hopefully trial out some ideas next Friday.
Tuesday 14 June 2016
Meeting The Kids
14/06/2016
Today, we met the kids we'll be working with at Redgate. We observed a morning class so from about 9:30am to around 11:00am. The classes were quite short, maximum like half an hour as the kids tend to get really agitated if they're waiting or sitting for too long. This visit was really informative as me and Maisie have realised that this is going to be a lot harder than we thought. There is about 3 students I'll say that are working at low levels and are definitely less able, which means whatever ideas we come up with, we have to remember to take those students into consideration. Most of the students in our class don't really speak and a lot of them use Makaton Sign Language but I'm assuming that the staff will helps us out with that.
From observing, I've learnt that the kids are quite sensory and love to touch things and explore. The first icebreaker activity if you say, was dancing then we sat in a circle and read a book but the book had a lot of items and toys with it, which allowed the students to feel around and have fun. So, I think having those mini activities in the morning allow the kids to wind down a little bit and helps get them focused. I could tell that the kids are really used to routine and I wouldn't like to break that order so that's another thing we'll have to consider. I think keeping lessons under the half an hour limit is definitely a must as some of the students, from what I could see, were getting restless and behaviour started to come out such as being a bit violent eg- kicking, pinching, pulling etc and they started to get noisy and had to go out for a 'movement break' which is a short amount of time outside to let them calm down. The teacher did say she kept them sitting longer just so she can give us the best observation experience but they usually wouldn't sit for long.
The art activities they did today was that they watched a clip on Youtube of Tony Orrico creating live art with his body and pencils. They then did an activity where each student got the opportunity to mimic his live art by lying stomach flat on a wheeled skateboard thing and created the same style of art using coloured crayons. Choosing a colour was really important to them and this gave more of an idea of how the children work and the whole idea of routine and what they're familiar with doing each activity etc. It was really interactive and busy and I feel that's what the student accustom better to, like more active sessions/activities. This was really helpful as it gave an insight into what would work best with for the students.
So far, I'm still really looking forward to working with the students because even though they can let their behaviour come out, after watching today's class, I'm certain that the staff will most definitely be there to step in and help at any given opportunity which was really nice to see. The staff were welcoming and great to talk to, even one of them was a past student at Brit which was nice. I feel like I've built a small bond with about 2 students as one tapped me really nicely and encouraged me to join in with the reading activity in which they used props and actions to tell the story. Another student came up to me and placed his foot on my lap, asking to tie his shoelaces, he's non verbal (I think) so he speaks using sign(makaton) or through using actions. I happily tied his shoelaces and let him join his friends after. Honestly, I was so touched, I initially thought that being new faces they're not used to, might be a bit of an issue as they're quite sensitive at times, but no they were surprisingly welcoming which was really heartwarming. A student even waved goodbye! How cute.
We also got given a tour of the art department and the school seemed to be quite equipped with art supplies eg- non toxic paint as a lot of the students tend to show things in their mouths as their cognitive developing age is from around 3 months to 2 years despite their real ages being around 7/8. This was great to see as it means we don't have to worry about supplies so much.
Overall, the visit was very eye opening and beneficial as me and Maisie both learnt a lot about our class and how they work, which will most definitely help us decide how to conduct activities and will help us come up with them. We also asked the teacher for their abilities list and what level they work at referring to art activities. She said she is more than happy to forward it via email but cannot include the names of the students due to safety reasons etc which is understandable. I definitely feel this will be a humbling experience and I'm really hoping that an amazing bond is created between our class. Maisie and I.
Today, we met the kids we'll be working with at Redgate. We observed a morning class so from about 9:30am to around 11:00am. The classes were quite short, maximum like half an hour as the kids tend to get really agitated if they're waiting or sitting for too long. This visit was really informative as me and Maisie have realised that this is going to be a lot harder than we thought. There is about 3 students I'll say that are working at low levels and are definitely less able, which means whatever ideas we come up with, we have to remember to take those students into consideration. Most of the students in our class don't really speak and a lot of them use Makaton Sign Language but I'm assuming that the staff will helps us out with that.
From observing, I've learnt that the kids are quite sensory and love to touch things and explore. The first icebreaker activity if you say, was dancing then we sat in a circle and read a book but the book had a lot of items and toys with it, which allowed the students to feel around and have fun. So, I think having those mini activities in the morning allow the kids to wind down a little bit and helps get them focused. I could tell that the kids are really used to routine and I wouldn't like to break that order so that's another thing we'll have to consider. I think keeping lessons under the half an hour limit is definitely a must as some of the students, from what I could see, were getting restless and behaviour started to come out such as being a bit violent eg- kicking, pinching, pulling etc and they started to get noisy and had to go out for a 'movement break' which is a short amount of time outside to let them calm down. The teacher did say she kept them sitting longer just so she can give us the best observation experience but they usually wouldn't sit for long.
The art activities they did today was that they watched a clip on Youtube of Tony Orrico creating live art with his body and pencils. They then did an activity where each student got the opportunity to mimic his live art by lying stomach flat on a wheeled skateboard thing and created the same style of art using coloured crayons. Choosing a colour was really important to them and this gave more of an idea of how the children work and the whole idea of routine and what they're familiar with doing each activity etc. It was really interactive and busy and I feel that's what the student accustom better to, like more active sessions/activities. This was really helpful as it gave an insight into what would work best with for the students.
So far, I'm still really looking forward to working with the students because even though they can let their behaviour come out, after watching today's class, I'm certain that the staff will most definitely be there to step in and help at any given opportunity which was really nice to see. The staff were welcoming and great to talk to, even one of them was a past student at Brit which was nice. I feel like I've built a small bond with about 2 students as one tapped me really nicely and encouraged me to join in with the reading activity in which they used props and actions to tell the story. Another student came up to me and placed his foot on my lap, asking to tie his shoelaces, he's non verbal (I think) so he speaks using sign(makaton) or through using actions. I happily tied his shoelaces and let him join his friends after. Honestly, I was so touched, I initially thought that being new faces they're not used to, might be a bit of an issue as they're quite sensitive at times, but no they were surprisingly welcoming which was really heartwarming. A student even waved goodbye! How cute.
We also got given a tour of the art department and the school seemed to be quite equipped with art supplies eg- non toxic paint as a lot of the students tend to show things in their mouths as their cognitive developing age is from around 3 months to 2 years despite their real ages being around 7/8. This was great to see as it means we don't have to worry about supplies so much.
Overall, the visit was very eye opening and beneficial as me and Maisie both learnt a lot about our class and how they work, which will most definitely help us decide how to conduct activities and will help us come up with them. We also asked the teacher for their abilities list and what level they work at referring to art activities. She said she is more than happy to forward it via email but cannot include the names of the students due to safety reasons etc which is understandable. I definitely feel this will be a humbling experience and I'm really hoping that an amazing bond is created between our class. Maisie and I.
Saturday 11 June 2016
Visiting the School
10/06/2016
Liberty managed to get us an appointment today to meet up with the Deputy Headteacher today at 10am at the school, Redgate. We met up at 9am near East Croydon Station and made our way to school. 8/10 of us showed up which was good but inconvenient as we were meeting the headteacher and it would've been preferred if she met all 10 of us.
We prepared questions to ask before getting there while we waited in Cafe Nero for latecomers:
1) What we can and can't do?
2) How long are the session(s)?
3) How many classes will we be working with?
4) Rotating workshops or specific workshops for the classroom?
5) What time of day would we do the workshops?
6) What's the best date?
7) Anything we need to consider?
8) What do the students enjoy?
9) What kinds of learning difficulties?
10) How could we communicate best with the students?
11) Has she got any concerns or ideas?
12) Extra information from meeting
We then met up with Melissa, the headteacher and the head of the art department/activities but I can't remember her name. The meeting lasted for about half an hour and we got to walk through the school a little bit and it's really nice and huge, the size I wasn't expecting. After the meeting, a lot of the questions asked were answered which is good. Here are the answers:
What we can and can't do?
- we aren't limited so we can do a lot and are free what most ideas we will just have to run it through and check that it will be okay with the school.
How long are the session(s)?
- longest half an hour
How many classes will we be working with?
- in pairs so around 4 classes in the middle school department I think she said years 3 and 4
Rotating workshops or specific workshops for the classroom?
- decided on each pair sticking with one class through the whole thing and working with one class, so that means when we find out the different abilities of the pupils we can revolve our workshops on what kind of thing they are able to do.
What time of day would we do the workshops?
-Melissa did say any part of the day but the best thing to do is the morning so that we are there when they start and don't disrupt their day as routine is very important.
What's the best date?
- they were very flexible with dates except school trips but our next visit is Tuesday 14th June where we will just observe the lesson, see how they work and get to know the students.
Anything we need to consider?
- as the pupils have special needs they can kick, punch and bite.
What do the student enjoy?
- they are very visual and also would involve lots of movement.
What kinds of learning difficulties?
- autism, all round severe learning difficulties in general, meaning their cognitive developing age is around 3months - 2 years old but their actual ages are around 7-9 years old.
How could we communicate best with the students?
-many students are non-verbal so lots of pictures and signs and also simple sign language which I can't remember what it was called.
Has she got any concerns or ideas?
- same with the things we need to consider really, just to be aware and also said about movement!
Extra information from meeting:
- we can do more that one session if we wanted to as we might need to do more as each session is only half an hour.
- 8 children in each class same age but different abilities which she will send an email to us for which we should consider our activities as there will be a range.
- is we need any signs or symbols printed out we can email them to her and she will sort it out for us.
- if we use any equipment, it needs to be non-toxic as they like to put everything in their mouths
- it is more about the process and experience the children have with doing art rather than the outcome.
After the meeting, we sat in a park and decided on pairs for each class:
- Mia and Ellie
- Florrie and Liberty
- Me(Jamila) and Maisie
- Dwayne and Josh
As Alyssa and Anna didn't turn up, I assume they'll be a pair, I'm not too sure what will happen with them or the arrangements of classes with them. Other than that, I think the meeting went really well. The school seem really interested and excited to work with us and the feeling is mutual. I am really excited to work with the kids, although it will be difficult as a lot of the students are non verbal and working at low abilities, it will be difficult but I'm really looking forward to it. I feel it'll be a humbling experience.
On Tuesday, we are going back to Redgate to observe a class to see how the students work and to monitor their abilities to help us base workshops around their skills and attention spans etc.
Finding a Placement | Group E
07/06/2016
Finding A Placement
Today, we got given our community brief and were put in our groups. There are 5 groups within our art strand and each group has been allocated a placement to carry out the project. The organisations taking part are The Selhurst Children Centre, The Crescent Primary School in Selhurst, Age Concern in Thornton Heath, St Christopher's Hospice and The Valance - Seven Oaks.The group I was put in was originally meant to work with The Valance, Seven Oaks School which works with disabled children/people. Unfortunately, the school was no longer able to work with us. So today, me and my group spent the time looking for other organisations and schools that we could potentially work with for the community project. We created a google plus page where all of us can share information on what we have found, regarding organisations and for further use such as sharing pictures etc.
My group is: Me, Florrie, Liberty, Dwayne, Josh, Maisie, Ellie, Mia, Alyssa and Anna and Claire is the teacher supervising us.
The photos above give more of an insight on how we share information and the organisations we found. Liberty then emailed a bunch of these organisations. A couple got back to us saying unfortunately they can't take us on and some places we are still waiting for a reply. Luckily, a school called Redgate which provide education for pupils with severe earning difficulties, profound and multiple learning difficulties and autism from ages 4-11, seemed really interested in working with us and the deputy head teacher we contacted replied to emails fast and even brought up the offer to meet up and discuss further. We exchanged contact with her too. So at the moment, my group is at the point where we are waiting for a definite answer whether we can work with the school or not.
We haven't yet assigned group roles as not everyone in my group was in today. Many of them had university open days so didn't attend school for that reason. On Friday, majority of my group will be in and we will assign group roles and hopefully by Friday we'll have a definite answer.
Room 13
I also looked at organisations such as Room 13 for individual research as the work closely with children to help enforce art even more:
I feel like looking at Room 13 helped a lot as they offer workshops where young people and artists can engage with different sectors of society. They also run art studios in schools and community settings worldwide. I just thought looking at this before the project starts will help give an insight for what's to come.
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