It has only been a few months since our first assembly and already we are back to schhol again, which is great because we like to keep busy! This time we could relax a little because we felt more confident about our plans. We even added in a few fun extras because it was the end of term. Lucy gave a short musical interlude on the clarinet which seemed to go down very well and everyone at the school was really interested in our inclusive message. In fact, there is even talk of inviting us back!
A teacher told us,
‘We really enjoyed having One For All! It was great to actually show the children that disability isn’t something to be scared of.’
The children said,
‘We had lots of fun and we know it’s ok to be different.’
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Now, we at One For All are all very busy with our own plans in further education these days and our own education sometimes makes it difficult for us to fit inclusion workshops into our busy schedules, as in June 2003 when we were all frantically sitting our A-Levels!
However, we never like to refuse a challenge and where possible will always try to find a solution. So when Chris Harrison requested the presence of One For All at a SENCO conference in June 2003 we decided to rely on technology in order to make a video about our views on inclusion, which Chris could show to his colleagues and keep for reference.
Generally, One For All prefer to create an interactive workshop, rather than speaking in front of a camera, but the video served its purpose and meant our ideas could still be used.
Chris said,
‘One For All certainly gave us some key issues to consider in a way we never have before.’
A fellow colleague told us,
‘One For All’s experience is invaluable to all those in the education system. You can learn so much.’
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This was One For All’s first big challenge so it was quite daunting, but it went very well, even if we do say so ourselves! We asked the children to work together, then answer some challenging questions and we even put our acting skils to the test in a short role play, to help them understand disability and how important friendship is. The children were very attentive and understood our message, ‘It’s much better when we are all together!’
The staff told us,
‘The children have never had an assembly like this, so it made a refreshing change!’
The children said,
‘Now we know it’s better when everybody can be friends.’
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