OAK LODGE SCHOOL, WANDSWORTH – WORKSHOP
I’ve lost count of how many schools I’ve ran workshops at over the years including SEN schools, but can safely say, being invited to share my work & run something with the students at Oak Lodge School, an SEN school for 10-19yr olds who are D/deaf and/or who have speech, language and communication needs (SLCN), was a humbling and rewarding experience. It was mainly thanks to veteran arts teacher Izzie, who’s been at the school for around 26 years, establishing some real grass root connections with the students and staff over the years, who invited me following a chance meeting once or twice at my pop-up events in the past & connected with my work with great enthusiasm & interest, something which naturally oozes out of her when in person or teaching mode, I found. This very passion, you could say, is the building block to great ‘human’ teaching, especially in challenging environments, where often patience and belief in Self are constantly tested & pushed. Yet this ship only sails forward with a great team of Staff, working together to better understand the needs of those on board – adopting a bespoke, educational approach tailored to the unique needs of each student. Of all the staff I met on the day, including fellow art teacher Darryl, I was humbled each time by the calmness and willingness to connect with each student on a human level, and of course, I was blown away by the students, each with unique qualities and exceptional creative approaches to creating their artworks. We explored portraits & paper collaging with a dollop of graffiti inspired type, which seemed to go down pretty well – it was FUN!
You meet a lot of people on this journey of Life, and seeing the likes of Izzie, Darryl & staff at Oak Lodge do what they do for their students, gives me hope that there are indeed great teachers out there who genuinely care & aim to do their utmost for their students, going above & beyond the basic text book stuff, really tapping into nurturing the human potential in a human way, in a bespoke way…we are all connected & we are all unique, so let’s celebrate that 🙂
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