Sharpham Barton Family Camp - Workshops (5th-6th August 2010)

"Never work with children or animals."
— W.C. Fields

Never have truer words been spoken

This particular opportunity came about at pretty short notice. A text came through from Sandy to say that Amy Shepherd was looking for someone to help out running 2 days of drama workshops at a local holiday camp. As this was something I had never done before, I took the opportunity.

Before I arrived, I had an idea of what I wanted to achieve:

Aim: To assist Amy in running Drama workshops over the 2 day period

Objectives:

- Gain first-hand experience of working with young children
- Assist Amy in running and explaining the games
- To be prompt and attentive for all the sessions

When we arrived on the first day, the weather was pretty miserable. After wandering round, we eventually found the tent that we assumed was assigned to us. Slowly, people began turning up. It became clear to us that we had to work with the children to put together a short performance to show to the parents on the Saturday night.

The first 10 minutes very much set the tone for the next 2 days. I never thought that children could have such short attention spans, yet still be so overflowing with energy. Our biggest challenge was trying to keep the children focused on the project. While Amy took a commanding role, I always tried to help her out when explaining exercises or playing games.

If nothing else, I pride my self on my perseverance, which is a key skill in my passion of genealogy. I was given the choice of whether or not to return for the second day. If I am being honest, the first day may normally have been enough to put me off ever working with children. However, I decided to stick it out, partly to make the most of the placement, partly so as not to leave Amy at the mercy of the hyper-active children.


Reflection

For my first objective, I must honestly say that although I did gain experience at working with children, I feel that I am still not entirely comfortable in this area. Perhaps it is unfair and unrealistic to expect to suddenly become an expert at dealing with children. If it was something I was planning to ever use in a future profession, perhaps this could have been the start on the road to becoming more confident and proficient in dealing with children. As it stands, I am unlikely to need such a skill in my line of work. All things considered however, I think that I left on the second day more experienced than I started the first day, and thus I can consider my objective achieved.

My next objective was to work alongside Amy, supporting her in her role as the workshop leader. This was no easy task, but I always made sure not to undermine her authority or contradict her in her explanations. I was always ready to fulfil any tasks that she gave me, such as looking after a group of children during an activity or exercise. I feel that my experiences from our Community workshops earlier in the year helped me to understand the importance of explaining games clearly as well as maintaining some assemblance of control!

The final objective came into question after the first day. I had to really rally myself to go back the next day. Looking back, I feel that it would have been very unlikely for me not to have gone back, but at the time I felt very stressed and worn out by the energetic and (at times) wayward children. Despite this, I pulled through and turned up bright and early to support Amy once again in her efforts to control the children. Therefore, I fulfilled my final objective!

So did I feel I gained anything from the experience?

Yes. If nothing else, I am happy that I stuck it out, even if it wouldn't be something I would normally choose to do again. I also feel more solid in my desire to teach, but to teach older children. I never was all too good with little children, and I can safely say I still am not...


A link to the website detailing our workshops

http://www.sharphamfamilycamp.co.uk/activities.htm#712