“Okay, Amy. Give me five minutes to give them their homework, and then they are all yours.” [...]
I now know that I could be a competent teacher and this experience has given me the skills and inspiration I needed to take steps towards that career.
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| Amy with children from the school. |
" My name is Amy Gledhill, I have just returned from a one month EVS project in the sunshine drenched island of Jamaica. My aim was to offer assistance with creative sessions in a primary school but I ended up doing so much more.
I was introduced to Miss Anderson on my first morning in the school. “Amy has some skills in drama.” I smiled at the teacher, not sure what to expect. “Okay, Amy. Give me five minutes to give them their homework, and then they are all yours.” And there it was. The deep end. And I hadn’t packed my arm bands. Sure enough, five minutes later, I was improvising a drama lesson off the top of my (anxiety riddled) head and this set the pace for the rest of the month.
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| Amy at the On-Arrival Training in Jamaica |
I spent the majority of my time with the ‘A-Step’ class, which consists of pupils that have failed their literacy and numeracy exams and have not been able to move on to secondary education. Some of these children are thirteen and find the alphabet a struggle. Disillusioned with academic subjects and exam pressures, they really enjoyed and excelled in creative tasks. It was such a joy to see them expressing themselves and applying themselves to challenges I was setting them and over the course of the month we formed a really strong bond. Having gained the trust of Miss Anderson, she would often leave me to teach other lessons, such as English, Social Studies and even... Maths! I never thought that would happen in a million years. The children gained notable confidence through drama and arts and I too gained self confidence from their reaction to me and the bond we formed. I now know that I could be a competent teacher and this experience has given me the skills and inspiration I needed to take steps towards that career.
Aside from all the beautiful sights, the sun, the beaches, the incredibly friendly locals and of course the partying, the most memorable moment for me was saying bye to the pupils in A-Step. Miss Anderson put some reggae music on, we all had an ice cream and they children said bye to me one by one and (under instruction from Miss A) they shyly told me why I’d changed their life! I couldn’t believe it. I felt so touched. The lump in my throat reappears every time I think about that moment. "
Amy Gledhill, short term EVS volunteer.
Project part of CREATIVE INCLUSION
and supported by EACEA
and the Youth in Action Programme
of the European Commission.
For more info about Creative Inclusion, visit the special webpage, clicking here.
Amy is on the video CREATIVE INCLUSION:
