BBC Suffolk Innov8 Workshops Interview
Date : 21/11/23
Case Studies
When Student A joined us, he was a very quiet and shy character. He struggled with communication and English at school, and he was almost mute in lessons. However, he has a real passion for rap and hip-hop music. In his first sessions he was very nervous, and it took him some time to build up the confidence to record his rapping. As the sessions progressed, so did his confidence and his lyrics and rapping became more and more complex. He even progressed to singing and loves using auto-tune to get that particular sound. It’s amazing to listen to his early recordings and compare these to his recent tracks, his rapping is faster with better diction and complexity. His lyrics demonstrate excellent language skills, and he often uses a thesaurus and websites to help him with rhyming words to enhance his lyrics further. He has also started to invest in a computer and music equipment so he can use the skills he’s learnt here in his own time.
Student B struggled with anxiety and was very shy and nervous when starting his music sessions. He struggled with school and to make friends. He’s attended several schools, all of which haven’t worked out as he found the classroom environment overwhelming. It took a few music sessions, but slowly we built a good rapport, and I could see his confidence starting to grow. We’ve worked on a huge range of projects including composing, sound design, podcasts and even singing. It’s amazing to see his confidence grow so much that he is now happy to sing and record in front of others. As he attends many workshops, he also communicates with other students and his confidence has come on leaps and bounds in this regard. He has become one of the most popular students both with the mentors and other students.
Student C was not successful in school. He found the environment very distressing and would often hide or hit out.
He joined us a six months ago, and when he first arrived he was very quiet and it took a good while to build up trust with his mentor. He would sometimes say very little throughout the whole session but he always turned up. Patience is key, and after a while conversation started to flow and he was willing to open up and share what was on his mind. We believe that he now feels safe at Innov8 workshops and so has taken the time to get to know all the mentors. He tells us that he loves coming here and prefers the one-to-one setting and that he can choose what he wants to do in each session. He is a wonderful student and a real pleasure to have at the workshops and now says hello to everyone who works here. Every session is not perfect, but he is now willing to talk about why this is. We can then adapt each session to fit the mood or issue to get the best out of it for him.
We have always kept the parents and staff informed of what is going on with day sheets or a general discussion when they pick him up. His parents are delighted with the change they have seen.
innov8 workshops
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all staff have enhanced
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