Rocking Ur Teens: Year 9 pupil Caitlin blogs about conference
Caitlin McShane from class 9D at Southend High School for Girls took part in an empowering conference organised by Rocking Ur Teens, aimed at boosting confidence amongst young people. Here’s how Caitlin found the experience… On Tuesday 12 March, following International Women’s Day celebrations, twelve Year 9 pupils attended the Rocking Ur Teens girls’ conference, which took place at the NatWest offices, Bishopsgate. Rocking Ur Teens is a social enterprise whose goal is to give young people the skills, confidence and ideas needed for their futures. Stepping through the revolving doors perfectly welcomed us to the corporate world that the rest of the day would begin to ease us into. It seemed almost surreal at first to be given lanyards – something only workers are frequently seen with. The vibrant presenter Remel London (Capital Extra, Sky One and a live events host) somehow managed to make approximately 200 Year 9 girls, who had travelled from all over the south of England, feel energetic. The speakers who followed came from a vast variety of backgrounds and jobs; each of them sharing their unique experiences from the working world. Sherah Beckley, a sustainability and corporate responsibility specialist, spoke about how she went from a sixth form student to working with members of the UN. Her message was about re-inventing yourself – telling us that life is not a single pathway and that the only blockade to success is our self. Rocking Ur Teens leads to Rocking Ur Life! Next came Jillian ‘JJ’ Simmons from Houston, USA, a radio and TV host, speaker and author. She taught us about self-empowerment, the power of words and the social empowerment among our friends. After ‘JJ’ was Nick Howe, a businessman working for NatWest, who told us about entrepreneurship and his speciality in supporting small to medium enterprises. We learnt how to push ourselves forwards towards what we want, and about the appeal of working for yourself and the best ways to do so. A corporate panel formed of employees from some of NatWest’s numerous partners (e.g. Hermes, Sage, Coca Cola) followed. This was one of the most informative talks as we were able to discuss almost on a one-to-one basis with a speaker. We spoke to a lady who represented women and ethnic diversity in new businesses and we learnt how to prepare for our futures as well as receiving wisdom about job interviews – something that we have never really discussed before. After lunch Jillian Kowalchuk talked to us about Artificial Intelligence and how it would affect the future. She had great experience in the field, having created an award-winning app, Safe and the City, and it was impressive to hear her story as CEO of the company that developed it. The Armed Forces then showcased their diversity. This section was presented by three women from the Navy, Air Force, and Army. They showed us how leadership isn’t just one person in control but really just organised methods of teamwork. The day came to a close with a vocal performance by Sherika Sherard, a busker turned music star. Her story was particularly inspiring as it showcased how your world can be turned around provided you remain passionate at what you’re doing. All in all, it was an insightful and empowering day. For more information on Rocking Ur Teens and the work it does with young people, see rockingurteens.com
4 Great Reasons to have African Drumming and Dance in Schools
If you’ve never experienced one of our Unbeatable Energy workshops before, you might never have considered the many ways that African Drumming and Dance can benefit children’s health, well-being and ability to succeed. Here are four reasons why an Unbeatable Energy workshop can help create a success in your classroom: 1. African Drumming and Dance brings cultural topics to life! 2. African Drumming and Dance boosts children’s confidence! 3. African Drumming and Dance gets children active which improves the brain! 4. African Drumming and Dance improves listening skills – not just in music! 1. African Drumming and Dance brings cultural topics to life! An African Drumming and Dance workshop provides a fantastic activity for Black History Month, an Africa topic or to include in a Cultural Diversity Day. It is an exhilarating experience for pupils and teachers alike when they make that first rumble all together with the African djembe hand drums. As each pupil plays on their hand made drum, they discover a whole world of history, tradition and culture – not just by passively listening or reading, but by actively playing and participating. This way they really experience the ethnic tradition and culture of West Africa. To quote a recent Headteacher at one of our schools ‘it is the hands-on activities like African drumming which children really take away and remember from cultural topics because they become active participants in the music as opposed to merely spectators.’ 2. African Drumming and Dance boosts children’s confidence! It happens frequently in workshops – a child who really struggles with maths and literacy, or is shy and socially disengaged in class, completely transforms in a drumming session. It is as if they have finally found the thing that ‘pulls’ them emotionally and gives them a sense of release. African Dance is also a fantastic way for children to build their self-belief. Dancers normally perform to a crowd either on their own or accompanied by one or two other dancers. In our workshops, children are invited to dance to their peers in the space inside the drum circle. This part of the workshop is entirely optional for pupils, but we provide some gentle encouragement by saying that the experience will make them one feel great afterwards. After a few of the more confident children have given it a try, we start to see a cascade of other children all wanting to have a go. In this way, some of the most shy and reclusive children amaze everyone by jumping into the circle and sharing their joy of the beat! The smiles on children’s faces after this session speaks volumes about their sense of achievement! 3. African Drumming and Dance gets children active which improves the brain! African Drumming and Dance is a fantastic way to for children to exercise and channel their energy. African djembe drumming builds strength and stamina in the upper body while dance improves cardiovascular fitness and is an all-over body workout. Obviously this is great for enhancing children’s fitness and wellbeing, but studies show that such exercise sharpens the mind; makes for happier children and improves their performance in other areas such as maths and literacy. 4. African Drumming and Dance improves listening skills – not just in music! It is a typical thing which you hear a teacher say in class music lessons – ‘listen!’ For good reason too because good listening is crucial. Like all music, learning African drumming is great for building a variety of listening skills. For example the ability to focus listening on an individual pattern within a poly-rhythmic piece of music (multiple rhythms being played simultaneously) or developing the listening skills required to understand the feeling of a rhythm when hearing against a regular pulse. Whatever the type of listening required, there is a common personal attribute that becomes essential for any budding musician – the ability to give oneself time to reflect and process what has been heard. Experienced African drummers who are learning something new always give themselves time to listen before they start playing, because they are all too aware that their mind can quickly make wrong assumptions of what they have heard, based on what they already know. Although the children often find it hard to resist playing straight away! The great thing is that children can not only improve their listening in music through African Drumming, but can also apply the same skill to social situations – for example in conversation. By giving yourself time to hear what someone is saying, you can stop one’s internal chatter from making assumptions; truly absorb what someone is being said and then create a greater sense of rapport – this is called ‘active listening’ a great life skill for a child to learn at an early age! If you are a school who would love a day of African drumming and dance workshops for your pupils or have an Africa Topic or Black History event coming up and think we could help, we’d love to hear from you! Visit us at http://www.unbeatable-energy.co.uk/education/ Special offer: 10% discount if your school books a workshop in September and October 2016. Just quote ‘QA Magazine’ in your enquiry to us to receive the discount.