Lighthouse Motor Skills

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ulwHaCtUTjAfMg2XfnBrV6T93zzzUFZG/view?usp=sharing

Learning Outcomes: LO3-Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience // LO7-Recognise and consider the ethics implications of choices and actions

Service as of lately has been quite difficult to engage in seeing as we have not met our service partners in so long. We have been trying to come up with alternative ideas on what we can do to compensate for that. We have thought about campaigns or interactive activities that we could do in school to help us raise awareness about our issue, potentially work with teachers to develop better strategies when interacting with the kids or even setting up resources for the people who join the service next year.

I believe through this we are still fulfilling LO3 of trying to plan an experience because we are logistically trying to set up an activity for people to participate. We were looking to create a simulation where people are in a dark room and they experience what it may be like to be blind and understand the struggle they feel. Even LO7 is still being fulfilled in the sense that we need to think about what may change about people’s perceptions of disabled folk. For example, we don’t want to spread the message that blind people live horrible lives and always need help. As of right now we are still planning next steps.

Evidence (Jake and Annie helping brainstorm ideas):

Next week, me and two others are in charge of the planning session for the kids. We have tried to look at dividing people up into several activities and keeping them in charge of that station as the kids rotate around us. Our service partners however has been quite unpredictable in terms of their presence however we hope that they come next week.

A key learning takeaway I have made is that you cannot be prepared for every possible scenario. Sometimes things have gone wrong that we would have never seen coming, however what is so important is the communication between us that allows us to fill in roles and close gaps to ensure that changes are made smoothly.

Evidence (our planning):

Research into campaigns for disabilities

Us at our weekly service meeting researching the challenges and successes of inclusivity in SG:

Today was our first time interacting with the kids itself and it was a new experience to say the least. I had to become a lot more aware and notice everything I was doing to compensate for the fact that most of the kids were not aware for themselves. The biggest challenge I noticed was keeping them engaged in one activity at a time. We were constantly needing to adapt because they would get bored or perhaps the activity was too hard and we overestimated ability. One thing that fascinated me was how independent some of them were. They were able to clearly articulate their interests and build friendships with us. Some of them even looked out for their friends that were more impaired than themselves by sharing the material or guiding them through activities. All in all, it was a very inetresting opportunity to partake in and I look forward to seeing the kids again.

You can see evidence of our planning and communication amongst the service team:

Learning Outcomes: LO3-Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience // LO7-Recognise and consider the ethics implications of choices and actions

The service that I will be doing for the entirety of the school year, is lighthouse motor skills. In this service, we will be working with a group of visually and audibly impaired children that go to a special needs school. We meet for 1.5 hours every single week, though not always with the kids. I am doing this because I love working with kids. I always feel like it is a good break for me to just enjoy myself and have fun with them, and forget about the stresses and worries of IB. I also recognise that this interaction is very important for them as they look forward to it very much and they build trusting relationships with us.

Today at our first session the first thing that we looked at was what each of us could contribute to the service. We had a range of responses, some being skills such as communication, others being hobbies such as sports and sometimes just enthusiasm or the liking of little kids. It was very interesting to see the range of things that people can input into the service as that gave us a good idea of what we could do with the kids. For example, I noticed that sport seemed to be quite popular, so we could potentially do some sport based activities.

Afterwards we began to focus on some challenges that we could potentially face. Something I know I’ll struggle with is my lack of patience. I like to be efficient and organised, but kids bring an element of unpredictability. Being patient with changes and dealing with the fact that not everything will happen in perfect time, is something I would like to see myself work on throughout the service. Many people also felt that coming up with creative activities each week could be a challenge, as they also need to be suited for the capabilities of the kids.

We moved on to look at some questions we have, such as the age of the kids, what type of disabilities they have and the size of the group itself. We began to investigate by looking at their website, which actually gave us a very good sense of their school. We could look at their mission and what they aim to achieve as well as some of the clubs they have. I noticed they have a choir and theatre club, and I think that gives scope for some singing and acting activities.

I think this service fits into LO3 well because each week we have to plan and be ready for the kids, not only participate. It will teach us all the things we need to know in terms of planning events for another stakeholder. I think looking at our choices here is crucial because it benefits a group of people apart from us. I see LO7 being implemented here because we constantly have to question what the consequence of our actions will be and whether its beneficial to our stakeholder.