Berkhamsted School

Rachael Guy is the Head of the Learning Resources in Berkhamsted School. This is what she had to say about our visit

St Marys in Luton

SOR Studio session #1

Student of Life is presently in the studio recording verses for 'The Science of rap' project. It's all about bringing the world of Hip Hop and Science together. Our aim is to make science more interesting, fun and memorable for children. Check out rap artist BREIS and producer, James Yarde in one of the studio sessions. BREIS was able to get his lines out with assistance from Supermalt and madeira finger cakes!

THE IMPORTANCE OF CREATIVITY

A very interesting and amusing talk from Ken Robinson about creativity in schools. Enjoy

BOYS AND READING

How do you encourage reading, especially in young boys? This is one of the questions posed to Student of Life recently and a question the nation has been asking itself for years now. According to research boys lose interest in reading around the age of 7 and the lack of interest slowly or sometimes rapidly continues from then on. In a climate where a lot of young people in the UK (some as young as 7) have a TV, DVD player, anywhere upto 4 game consoles in their room, a mobile phone and a portable game console a la PSP, Nintendo DS etc, is it any wonder? Maybe I'm just having a go because when I was young it was just about lego and some Fisher Price toys.



Reading for me, was a way of keeping my troubled teenage mind sane. A place of solace, release and nurturing of my imagination. I went from Roald Dahl's The magic finger to The Chronicles of Narnia, Dr Who, Redwall, Back to the future, The famished road and many more. The books became my friend, I was so into them. Reading or wanting to read stems from a desire to learn something or acquire something. A desire to suspend reality, to exercise the imagination, to become that which we can't or experience the impossible. Where has that desire gone and can it be found again? The fast life we live in says, why wait when everything is at your fingertips. Why read when you can watch the movie, TV programme or watch it on youtube? We're becoming a more visual society and science has proved that you retain less by reading. Maybe books will evolve to become more visual. But for now, the question remains how do we get young boys to read more? Is it about the parents, about the schools, or the authors. We're really interested in hearing from you. Thanks

2010 BEGINS

The end of 2009 saw SOL practitioner Michael Adewale being nominated for a Spirit of London Award for his contribution in Education. Not only was he nominated, but he was also invited to #10Downing Street to see the Prime Minister!
His book, Class Dismissed is growing in popularity day by day and is impacting every person that reads it. The award ceremony took place at the Alexandra Palace where the likes of Boris Johnson, Alexandra Burke, JLS, Lemar, Diversity, Natasha Danvers, Michael Caine and many more were all in attendance. It was an amazing night where positive stories, positive people and their contributions were being celebrated and rightly so. The night was put on in conjunction with The Damilola Taylor Trust and the wonderful Richard Taylor was present and was extremely charming.
Michael and a member of JLS
Michael and Mr Richard Taylor

Michael is presently delivering talks and his workshops in schools across the country. Make sure you get a copy of Class Dismissed.


Student of Life would like to wish Michael continuous success and the best of the best in his future endeavours.
Watch out for future updates on Karl Nova, a London based rapper, singer and poet. His music is best described as inspirational hip hop with a socially conscious message which seeks to uplift and inspire. Musical influences include Lauryn Hill, Nas, Bob Marley, Mos Def and Kirk Franklin to a name a few.
“I perform to communicate a message of love and inspiration. I want people to believe in themselves and in their dreams”


As a Student of Life practitioner, Karl’s literacy workshops in schools are designed to inspire children and young adults to recognize the beauty of poetry and creativity