Senior Class

This week was our final week before the holidays and I spent it in the Senior Class. Compared to the Junior Class it was a very relaxed atmosphere with nobody trying to escape from the classroom and no biting!

The children in the Senior Class are aged 10 - 14 and suffer from a range of disabilities. There is a girl with Down's syndrome, a boy with cerebral palsy, a couple of children with autism and a couple with brain damage. This means that each child has different needs to the next, so you constantly have to adapt your communication techniques depending on who you're interacting with. The boy with cerebral palsy for example could be your average eleven year old, but he is unable to join the mainstream because of his fragile physical state. He is extremely socially aware and you can have a very nice conversation with him. He actually shares the same birthday as me and when I told him it was all he talked about for the next couple of days. We planned our joint birthday party which is going to be an 'Underwater theme' and gave everyone different creatures to dress up as...

Earlier in the week I was chosen to help the Enrichment Centre children at the swimming gala which was a lot of fun. The kids had to swim one length of the pool while holding a float with us helping alongside them. The boy I was helping suffers from autism so he was a good swimmer but I don't think he fully understood the meaning of a 'swimming' race because when we reached the shallow end of the pool he just stood up and started to run... We did manage to get him to start swimming again but I think he was just very determined to win the chocolate bar.

There was also an 'International Day' festival at the school. It hosted stalls from all around the world that allowed you to try different foods - some nicer than others. When we investigated the South Africa stall we discovered some dried worms and I tried one because I said to myself before coming to South Africa that I would try something interesting. I wouldn't recommend them for taste...

Last night I had a very nice Skype call with my family. It's the first time I've properly spoken to them in a month so it was great to see them all (cousins included). To my immense joy our cat was also included in the Skype call and I think some people got a bit offended when they compared my reaction to seeing them with my reaction to seeing him. But never the less, I obviously love and miss you all and it was lovely to see you all again. And Tom - if you manage to do well in your upcoming prelims I will get you a very cool Christmas gift.  

Apart from that it's been quite a quiet week with everybody getting ready to leave for the holidays. As I mentioned before we're planning to go to Swaziland but are still trying to figure out some cheap transport. At the moment the only thing we can find is a bus that costs over a hundred pounds and we're debating whether it's worth spending that amount of money on transport for just five days away. But we definitely want to go somewhere so if we can't find a cheaper way then we'll go for it. I think we'd rather spend a lot of money and see something than not see anything new.

So I don't know where I'll be next Sunday but if I'm here I will write another blog post. If not then you'll hear from me in two weeks time with some travelling stories!

The Worms

Trying the Worms...

The Grade 00 Concert - A Great Success!

Concert Light Duty

The Enrichment Centre

This week has been a tough one. I've had to adjust my working techniques for the children in the Enrichment Centre because they're so different from the mainstream classes. It's almost been like starting at the beginning again - trying to find out the most effective ways to communicate and interact with these children who suffer from a range of disabilities.

I was placed with the Junior class, which is regarded as the most challenging class in the whole school. After just one week I can confirm that statement to be beyond true... The kids in the class are mostly autistic and two of the boys suffer from it quite severely. They have been given the name 'runners' because they constantly try and escape the classroom and it's quite a workout trying to catch them!

But what's interesting about working with these children is that you slowly begin to recognise their characteristics. Most of the children are non verbal but you gradually notice their small signals to tell you what they want. I've decided to list the children in the Junior class (using initials) with a little bit more information about them individually. That will then hopefully give you a better idea of the classroom environment.

• K.M - By far the most challenging child in the class and suffers from severe autism. He has a tendency to bite and scratch extremely hard to get attention (I have the bite marks to prove it!) Also a very sweet boy who responds very well to music and dancing. He will constantly try and escape the classroom, so your rugby player mode has to be engaged at all times.  
• T.C - Also autistic. He loves water and it's very hard to get him away from the water tray at break time without getting absolutely soaked. If he starts to get agitated in class he will jump up and down and press your hand firmly against his chin. Apparently some children with autism respond well to firm pressure - explaining Khumo's love for biting.
• O.P - Autistic but very socially capable. He only started talking two years ago but since then has developed an amazing vocabulary and is by far the most talkative in the class.
• T.A- Nobody is certain what she suffers from but she is extremely small for her age, is non verbal and can't walk. She responds very well to music and will rock backwards and forwards to the music while making loud noises. Because she is unable to look after herself you have to feed her, change her nappies and protect her from the more wild children in the class.
• H.R - Suffers from mild autism. He is actually included in some of the mainstream classes throughout the week to improve his social skills. Loves food. We made small cheesecakes on Wednesday during cooking and I've never seen a happier child.
• H.D - Also autistic and non verbal. She has a massive crush on O.P which is very funny to observe. During class time she will slowly walk over to him and just stand their smiling. O.P gets very embarrassed and uncomfortable so he runs away which results in a game of 'catch' round the classroom.
• E.M - Suffers from autism but is also auditory defensive which means he hates low, loud sounds. If an aeroplane flies over the school he will cover his ears and start screaming so you have to try and calm him down. 

So as you can imagine it's been a very tiring week. But it has also been extremely enjoyable and very interesting. Working in the Enrichment Centre is so different to working in the mainstream school, but I can foresee that over the next few months I will begin to understand each child individually. For me, it's going to be extremely rewarding being able to help them improve speech, mobility or behaviour and seeing how they develop over the next year.

Besides work in the Enrichment Centre a lot has been going on... The Grade 00 have their concert on Tuesday which is going to be amazing. The boys do a dance number to the song 'Grease Lightning' and the girls dance to 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun'. It's very difficult trying to control dozens of five year olds who want to be included in every song, but luckily that's not my problem - I'm working the stage lights. Zoe and I have also volunteered to paint the bookcases in the library during our spare time. We're thinking of painting a dragon along the longer bookcase and a woodland scene on the larger one. I think it'll be a nice, relaxing project to do on a Friday afternoon. 

We also, somehow, managed to obtain weekend jobs while buying some frozen yoghurt at the shopping mall. The lady at the counter offered us a job with flexible working hours and we thought it would be a good way of earning some extra travelling money. So we may work there on Saturdays and some days during the holidays. Alongside this, Doug (our hostel manager) has asked us to supervise the 5am swimming training on some mornings... We responded with "Yes, of course" but then proceeded to go to our rooms and weep. 

After all this work we decided to do something nice at the weekend, so on Saturday we visited the Springtime Festival in Polokwane with one of the teachers, Jenny. It was a lovely experience being able to immerse yourself in the South African culture and we saw some beautiful works of art and jewellery. We also visited the Debegeni Waterfalls which were absolutely breath-taking and would be a great place to visit on really hot days. Driving out of the car park we almost ran over a snake which turned out to be one of the most poisonous tree snakes in South Africa. Jenny told us that if it bit you, you'd have 24 hours to live. We kept our distance...

Next week is our last week before the holiday and our travelling plans are finally coming together. The volunteers in Swaziland have offered free accommodation so we'll visit them for about five days. After that we plan to travel on to Mozambique for a couple of days where we might try out the reef diving. Overall it looks like it's going to be a thoroughly enjoyable time and I can't wait to start packing! 

I am aware that this has been a very long post, but I want to leave you with one last thing. Tayo one of the Grade 00 boys came up to me in aftercare and incorporated a very funny joke into our conversation. I was amazed that such a small child could be so witty. Our conversation went like this:

"Hi Tayo!"

"Hello Miss Anna"

"How's the concert practice going? Do you know what you're wearing yet?"

"Miss Anna, I tried looking for some camouflage trousers... but I couldn't find any."

He then laughed at his joke for the next ten minutes. 

Polokwane Spring Festival

Group photo in front of the Debegeni Falls

Viewing point at the falls

The Deadly Snake

'Steve'

Roller coaster Ride

The past week has definitely had it's ups and downs. 

At the start of this week there was a terrible accident outside the school and sadly a pedestrian got killed. What made the incident worse was that some of the children from school witnessed the man being hit. They came into school quite traumatised so we had to take extra care of them on Monday. I also had my first session of 'Grade 7 prep' after school which was ... challenging. Only afterwards when I entered the staff room did I realise how much the teachers fear that class. And rightly so! For 45 minutes you have to persuade fifteen year olds to do their homework in silence. And they just do not listen, it's very tough - probably the hardest 45 minutes I've experienced so far at Mitchell House.

Tuesday and Wednesday were much better than the emotionally challenging Monday. It's amazing how much the kids can cheer you up at Aftercare with their dancing and singing. On Tuesday I accompanied the Grade 00 class to P.E which turned out to be hilarious. There was one little boy called Langa who would not stop picking his nose and whenever the coach saw him picking he'd say, "LANGA! Stop digging for diamonds!!" During the P.E lesson they tried hurdles (very small ones obviously), but one boy just couldn't master them. It was extremely funny watching him tackle them. He'd run up very fast to each hurdle, then stop in front of it and step over it. That lesson made my day!

Sadly on Friday one of my partners, Michelle, went home after battling homesickness for the past two weeks. We will miss her but also think it was the right decision. It does mean that Zoe, Kathryn and myself will have an extra load of work but I'm sure we can handle it.

Now onto the weekend... And what a weekend it was! Saturday wasn't too exciting, we just did our washing. But today was absolutely fantastic because we went on a safari and a lion tour. During the safari we got the opportunity to get close to some amazing animals but nothing could prepare us for what was going to happen next... 

The tour guide led us to the lion and cheetah enclosure and said, "Come in!" We followed him in a bit hesitantly, but then he proved to us that the cheetah and lions were quite tame. We even got to stroke the cheetah and hold some of the lion cubs! The lion cubs were so sweet but very smelly. And they had such big bellies. 

Overall it's been a very intense week, but the good points have definitely outweighed the bad. Tomorrow I finally start work with the junior class in the Enrichment centre. Most of the children are autistic and it will be interesting to learn how to deal with their different needs. I also have the Grade 7 class tomorrow... Wish me luck!

Hello (or Domela) Everyone,

I've settled in very nicely to Mitchell House since arriving last Monday. On arrival we were taken on a tour of the school and the Enrichment Centre so we could get our bearings. It was quite an overwhelming experience - meeting all the staff and being taken into classrooms, but everyone was so welcoming. Our pictures had been stuck up all over the school so that the children could learn our names before our arrival. While we were walking around the school they'd shout "WELCOME ANNA, MICHELLE, KATHRYN AND ZOE". I can honestly say I have never had such a warm introduction to a place.

The following day we were all given our classroom placements for the next two weeks. After that we are going to be starting the rotation of work placements around the school and Enrichment Centre. I was placed in the mainstream school with the Grade 00 (P1s). I have now been working in the class for a week and am loving it. The children are so funny and such fantastic characters. One thing I have learnt from the previous week is: don't trust cuteness. Children aren't stupid, and they will try and manipulate you! From watching the other teachers I've learnt to be a bit stricter with the children. It's not a nice feeling having to raise your voice to a five year old at times, but if you don't have respect then you're not going to get anywhere...

The children here have so much love to give. On my first day they were running up to me and giving me the biggest hugs. By the second day when I walked into class they all ran over and started shouting: "Miss Anna, Miss Anna!! Morning Miss Anna!!" . There is one boy in particular called Lechlabile who is extremely funny. He doesn't even reach up to my hip and yet he manages to cause so much chaos. Walking to lunch is always an event because he's so slow. And it's only because his legs are so short.

Apart from working in the classroom I also have to look after the children in Aftercare (after school club).  There's usually about 40 of them so it's a massive task getting them all registered. It's actually quite an intimidating experience because you're being swarmed on by dozens of five year olds, all shouting their names so they can be registered first. But after that you just sit in the playground and deal with fallouts and bashed limbs. For five hours. It's a long time but it's never dull. You're forever sticking on plasters and dealing with crying children. Some of the kids even offer to give you shoulder massages which is fantastic! And they're not bad at it either.

After our first week of work we decided that at the weekend we would like to see more of Polokwane and its surrounding area. So today (Saturday) we took part in the school hike up the highest mountain in Limpopo. The day was made even more special because we were joined by Lee - the first South African woman to ever conquer Everest. It was a huge privilege to have her walking along side us and the kids and once we reached the top she handed out South African flags to everyone. It was a great experience and a huge achievement for some of the children to get to the top.

At the summit of Iron Crown - the highest mountain in Limpopo

The view from the top of Iron Crown

A group photo with Lee