My School reaches out to unlock kids’ creativity

MALAPPURAM: As

lockdown restrictions

kept

people indoors

, the

doors of creativity

,

research

and

engagement

were thrown open for a group of kids, when ‘

My School

’ in

Tirur

launched an

online reach-out programme

for their students.

The programme titled ‘Reach-Out’ was crafted to bring the students together onto a common online platform where they can share their ideas and creativity.

WhatsApp became the virtual platform, and age-wise groups were formed with teachers as mentors, coaching over 150 students from ages 3 to 13. Each group, ranging from 15 to 20 students, are given tasks like creating comic-strips, videos, posters and booklets on Covid-19 outbreak. Every week the assignment varies, from preparing a timeline on the spread of the disease, fact sheet on the preventive measures, clay models et al. On Fridays, they present their creative work to the WhatsApp group as video clips.

Sherrin Mathew, director of My School, said the programme has been a huge success as almost every student actively participates with a variety of contents. “We launched the programme on March 10, immediately after the government announced the closure of schools. Within one month, students had produced more than 50 video stories and more than 250 posters on Covid-19. The students have already prepared more than 30 booklets on the pandemic. A Class 1 student even performed a dance on the theme,” she said, adding that the school is planning to publish the videos and booklets through a YouTube channel.

There are also curated programmes like ‘a walk through my garden’, ‘my art gallery’ and ‘cook with us’, where students share their garden activities, artworks and their cuisines and recipes.

The programme was also widely accepted by parents, and students feel that it should be continued throughout the summer vacation. “The programme has made children active and collaborative during the lockdown period,” said Dr Imran Siddiqui, a parent. Shreya Ajith, a Class 1 student of the school, said the activities have helped students to develop their research skills.