In July 2007, we were part of the first group of North Londoners who travelled to the Flying Angels School in Lusaka, Zambia to teach and to get to know the students and staff. Whilst we had a fantastic time, we felt that there was more that could be achieved. Talking to the students, we were struck by the narrow scope of their curriculum when compared to our own experiences at NLCS. They had a real desire for knowledge about anything and everything – from British history and politics to art to the AIDS pandemic.
With this in mind, we decided to run the Flying Angels ‘Summer Activities Programme’ or SAP. We wanted to give the students the opportunity to learn about topics beyond their syllabuses and to fill their summer holidays in which it seemed that they did not have much to do. After a lot of planning, coordination with the school’s director, Benard Sakala and with a group of six friends in tow, we set off for Lusaka again in August 2008.
Our timetable was jam-packed with workshops on debating, health awareness, English literature and computer skills. We had also included the opportunity to do art, drama and sports. Despite our careful preparations and labelled classrooms, the first day was chaotic: students arrived in dribs and drabs from a last-minute exam and wandered from session to session. Luckily, the Zambian teachers were on hand to get everyone back where they were meant to be!
As it was our first time running SAP, we needed to work out the right level to pitch the lessons to ensure that they were clear but not patronising. We found ourselves rearranging the timetable to scrap the less popular sessions and to give every student three computer skills sessions instead of the one originally planned. This was due to it taking a lot longer for the students to grasp simple concepts than we had imagined (‘double click’ in particular took a while) and because of its overwhelming popularity – we had students staying inside for the whole of break to try to learn more. It was definitely one of the most useful sessions with basic computer skills greatly increasing a school leaver’s chances of finding a job.
Learning in the new Upper School classroom block
Each week culminated in a party where we presented each student with a certificate for their achievements over the week and lots of singing, dancing and drumming. We were sad to be leaving as we felt that we had got to know the students really well but everybody had had a fantastic time. We feel that there is the potential to do so much more at Flying Angels – to expand the teaching of computer skills, particularly to the teachers who can pass on those skills to the students and to continue to provide workshops beyond the syllabus. We are very happy to talk to any North Londoners and their friends who may want to run a similar project in coming years!