Beaming!

I nipped home from school at lunch time today to pick up a ‘princess’ dress. There and back inside 45 minutes. And so worth the rush.

You see, one of the schools I teach in was having a dress rehearsal for the Christmas school panto – an adaptation of Cinderella. A member of staff mentioned earlier in the morning that one girl was without a costume. She had been off school and was not aware that she had to bring a dress in with her today. And she had nothing suitable. Just like the real Cinderella.

I had no idea who the dress was for but, judging from the teacher’s description of the girl, I felt sure I would have one at home that fitted. Well, not me personally, you understand. I don’t dress up as a princess. Much. One of my daughter’s dresses.

On returning to the school and rushing to the class in question I discovered that the dress was for a nine-year old I see once a week for a few hours. This girl, K., is profoundly deaf in one ear and is painfully quiet in class, barely speaking unless directly spoken to. And, even then, in a whisper

When I realised the dress was for her I was worried. This child was going to be one of the Cinderellas! I reassured myself that maybe she had a non-speaking part.

Shortly after one o’clock I sat, along with all the other children and staff in the school, and watched as three classes of children aged 9-11 did their thing. They were great.

K. came on in her princess dress. I was practically holding my breath.

She joined in a song with the others on stage and seemed to be doing well. I relaxed a little despite the fact that she was being overshadowed by two other more confident girls practically standing right in front of her. I wanted to shout, ‘Hey, let Cinderella in!’

The song finished and the next scene was between K. as Cinderella and Buttons. I was blown away.

My gawd, she was brilliant. This bashful child enacted her part with clarity and volume and facial expressions and movements worthy of either of the two ‘real’ pantos I’ve been at in the last few weeks.

Sometimes, people think that Drama, Dance, Music, Art and P.E. are secondary in importance to the principal subjects of literacy and numeracy. Of course, the latter two are important. And I love teaching them . But, I’ve argued for years that the aesthetic and physical subjects develop areas of personality and boost confidence that helps with all areas of school life.

Today, K. showed me and everyone there that there is nothing secondary or inferior in worth in the aesthetics.

She was not the only one. Every child on that stage and in the choir took on roles, some of them humorous – a difficult thing to pull off- all acting and singing their hearts out.

I have seen this over the years with the Expressive Arts and P.E.. The opportunity for teachers to see the children in different learning environments, using different attributes and developing their skills is an eye-opener.

K., for me, was the one who really mattered most today because the difference in the before and after was so pronounced.

I remembered then a conversation from the staff room of a few weeks ago where one of the teachers had commented on a quiet child who blossomed on stage. This was K.!

When her parents see her tomorrow and Friday in the real show they will beam with pride. I did.

27 thoughts on “Beaming!”

  1. I looooved this post! My quiet child that I have messaged you about before absolutely comes to LIFE on the soccer field and basketball court. Of course this is PreK grade and the antics are mostly comical but wow, does she shine! Thanks for being so kind hearted that you’d zip home for a princess dress.

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    1. We need to give everyone the opportunity to shine in whatever field is their forte. Too long has the education system only valued the 3 R’s. I would never undervalue them but they have to be put into perspective with the many differing skills and talents that children have. Only ever lauding the written at the expense of the enacted is demeaning to those whose talents lie in that direction.
      I live fairly near this school so it was no great hardship to nip home.
      It’s great that you already see how much your child enjoys sports. Shining is so important! 🙂 x

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    1. She is a lovely child. I don’t take her for Drama so I was gobsmacked that she was so confident as soon as she was on stage. Like a butterfly emerging. Beautiful to behold. x

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      1. I just reblogged this. Being fond of the arts – it is very dear to my heart to see children blossom in how they are bent. Wonderful. Thank you for posting this. Even those not into the arts – when they find what lights them up – it is priceless.

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      2. When you see very young ones play they are naturals and yet they can end up without confidence for one reason or other. I think these subjects help to maintain and develop their confidence and let them relax in learning. Not everyone will be adept at everything, obviously, but we have to value their worth and promote them. Thanks for the reblog. I would like if more people recognised the worth of these subjects. Priceless, as you say, when we discover what makes us beam! 🙂 x

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  4. What a great story, just in time for Christmas, I have worked with children just like that. I ran a choir I cannot sing, I cannot read music, I cannot play an instrument but the kids between 7 and 11 came to sing, one girl like K was very quiet and shy but get her singing she just loved it and then I told them that they will be singing as ‘guest’ singers at the schools ‘got talent’ show in front of the parents and they was ‘I am not doing that…’ but once they were up there on the stage with the words learnt and the dance routine almost learnt and me at the back of the hall giving hand signals. They did themselves proud, it wasn’t as good as some of the other kids from certain classes who had music teachers, but they did it all themselves and their smiles could not have been bigger………….Oh I miss it so much especially at Christmas.

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    1. Kids enjoy play. So they enjoy anything that is made to feel like play. Singing, acting, dancing, maths! Their confidence in taking part in anything is what is so valuable. Just doing it. Going for it. Giving it their best shot. And having fun. I was doing orienteering with a couple of classes last week and they had a blast. Running all over the yard searching out cards with questions on them to answer. Maths combined with P.E. and they enjoyed it. And so did I!
      You must miss it at this time of year, Pete. It is hectic and actually going out to pantos is a bit of a pain in the posterior. Although the kids love that too. 😉 But they are so excited at this time of year and bubbling over with enthusiasm for everything. Lots of squabbles too right enough. But that’s weans for you. 🙂 x

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  5. I can’t even count the number of children I know whose shyness was overcome through participation in school plays and concerts- and that opening up led to fantastic things in all aspects of their scholastic careers- and life in general. Invaluable, I say.
    Lovely post!

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    1. I acted in school as a kid and sang and, despite being otherwise shy, I loved being on stage singing.
      Later, at college, I took Drama and Art as my principal subjects and we had to go round schools putting on plays for all age groups. I wasn’t initially comfortable with the acting but it grew on me!
      As you say, shyness can find an outlet in characterisation.
      Children now do have the opportunity to make presentations to other year groups and in front of adults. A big part of showcasing their work. I could never have done that as a kid. Standing up in front of others as myself! But having the opportunity to enact roles can bring out the inner confident actor! And that impacts on everything else.
      Thanks for taking the time to read and comment. 🙂 x

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      1. I was one of the kids I mentioned. I was very fortunate in that I was given the opportunity to participate in an extra-curricular theatre school at a young age. I very much maintain that it was that which allowed for future success in public speaking (as a student) and the ability to stand in front of a class of 300 undergrads and even attempt to hold their attention.

        After the successful (if difficult) defence of my doctoral thesis one of my examiners commented that she had never seen such ‘grace under pressure’- and noted that the maintenance of a measured tone and the strength of my voice made it among the most impressive thesis defences she had attended.

        Considering the fact that I was essentially frozen in terror- on the inside- I can only assume that the theatre training kicked in and allowed for me to get through that brutal three hours in the hot seat.

        We can’t underestimate the importance of finding a voice through the use of other characters. It really does lead to the ability to express that personal voice as children are encouraged to sing, speak, act, dance in public.

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      2. I love that you were one of the children you mentioned. Awesome to think that something like a theatre group could have so much influence on confidence and positivity. I suppose it’s a bit like martial arts or any of those things where the training takes over in the event of incident.
        My 16 year old daughter was telling me earlier that in Drama today one of the boys in her class was simply amazing. They have the inspectors in school just now and one of them was observing a drama lesson. This particular boy, according to my daughter, is a lovely boy (making me wonder!) and is very talented (still wondering). Anyway, the part he had to play was quite challenging and they then had to maintain character to be in the hot seat and questioned by peers and teacher. Apparently, he was outstanding in role when challenged by the teacher, so much so that afterwards the inspector commended him and the teacher!
        I’m curious now what your thesis was on. I like to know these things. Gives me the whole picture. 🙂 x

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    2. I miss it full stop, I do get quite upset when I think about what I could be doing to help these kids, I know for quite a few of them I am filling a gap in their lives, I know how many need a male role model is in their lives.
      I ran a primary one after school craft club, 16 kids and they just had fun with sticking bits of what ever to make a frame for their weaving..
      Here is something that one of the kids made.

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      1. You’re right about positive male role models. So many of the children no longer have a regular male role model in their lives and relate very well to males working within the school.
        I remember making something like that myself as a kid with a toy weaving loom I got for Christmas one year. How toys have changed. 😉 x

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  6. this is beautiful and i am in complete agreement with you on all of this. i teach kindergarten (4 and 5’s full day) and i can tell you that the aesthetics are as important as anything else they will ever learn in school. great post and so wonderful you went home to get the dress, you made all the difference in the world for this little girl ) beth

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    1. Very important and perhaps even moreso at that young age when the building bricks are being put in place. Having the opportunity to dabble in all of the arts is so affirmative and also promotes many useful skills necessary for the onset of early stage primary school. For instance, those children who have experience of painting, colouring, clay modelling, etc come to school with improved ability in fine motor skills, actually ready to be taught writing. Having acted out in role play they engage with characters and stories so much better and learn to use their voices with expression, making them more ready for reading. The impact of these things is huge, possibly bigger than we realise. I would love to see more of this in nursery years rather than the shifting emphasis to teaching the children to ‘write’ before they come to school. They have to be really ready so that they are not turned off by apparent failure. Play in all its forms is so valuable. And should also continue to be used as a means of teaching and learning. The experience should be fun and meaningful. I hate that some of the children I see have been turned off school and perceive the experience as a negative one. So much can be done to prevent that sort of scenario.
      Thanks, Beth, for your comments. K. made a huge difference to me today. 🙂 x

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    2. I sat at home for over 4 hours cutting the cardboard out that were from the local shop, you know the signs hanging from the ceilings. I cut 20 to size, then punched holes all around them, then chased around the charity shops getting the wool, then for the frames they are photo mounts with 5×7 aperture and 4 bags of stuff from the pound store to stick on, all for six 45 minutes sessions on a Monday after school, but it was worth ever effort to see the faces, listen to the chatter, answer questions that may sound silly to an adult but it was important to a child and that is the secret to know what is important and I think as adults we can forget that these children have questions to ask and to an adult they may sound silly but to a 6 year old its the only thing that matters. 🙂

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  7. What a lovely post and any wonder you are beaming with pride. To see a quiet little one – come out of her shell must be so exhilarating for you as a teacher and for her – you have taught and been there for her and her parents will be grateful and yes smile with pride as you have done – you go you good thing K!!!!! 🙂 x

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    1. And I had my dates wrong. I won’t even see her! The infant Nativity show was today and tomorrow. The seniors’ performance is next Monday and Tuesday and I’m at a different school on those two days. But I know she will be wonderful. I’m so glad I got to see her in the rehearsal. I would never have known otherwise. A pleasure to behold. 🙂 x

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  8. What a great story! And yes you are right, what happened today was every bit as important as what happens in classrooms. I’m so glad that K had such a good experience! May you be blessed for making it happen for her. Blessings, Natalie 🙂

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    1. I really had nothing to do with her being wonderful. I just supplied a dress. She obviously has a talent for performance which surprised me as I don’t take her for Drama, so I had no idea. It was just so beautiful to witness and it got me thinking about the value of these subjects. So important for children like her. 🙂 x

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      2. She did look wonderful. A real Cinderella. Oh, I could be a fairy godmother. I like that. A couple of my kids have reason to call my sister that. And she loves the title! Blessings. 🙂 x

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