My holiday programme finished at the end of my second week, so my third week was focussed on preparing the school for the new term whilst the teachers finished up on their training. The school then opened on my fourth week, which was a drastic change of pace which I adjusted to happily.

During my first two weeks, I think I adapted quite quickly to the way the school runs, and I understood how I can make the most of my time at the school, despite it being closed. One thing I love about FISA, is that as long as you have an idea and the necessary skills to follow it through to completion, the school will support whatever vision you have. I therefore felt inspired to keep myself as busy as I can, and so I came up with a few ideas.

My first idea was to decorate the laboratory at the school. One of my main goals when I arrived at the school was to help the students at the school enjoy science. And whether it was through my lessons or simply as acting as representation and an example of a female Muslim scientist, it didn’t really matter to me. But one thing that I thought would really help, is for the lab to be decorated, and be a source of inspiration for the students. The lab is the only place in the school that is solely used for science, and when I arrived it was a completely blank canvas which offered the perfect opportunity to inspire the students through artwork. So, during my third week I was busy gathering supplies and creating artwork for the lab. This was a very slow process, especially as I’m not an artist and I was just trying my best. I also wanted to display artwork from the students at the school, because I knew that would help them feel more connected to the space. I thought ahead about this, and during the last session of my holiday programme during week two, I had a couple of the students complete some artwork that I displayed on one of the boards. The lab ended up being a project that I was continually adding to throughout my placement, and even now that my placement is over, I still have ideas for the lab that never made it to fruition. I wanted to redesign the lab rules and print them out for the walls, and I also wanted to display African scientists around the lab, to aid their knowledge of the brilliant scientists that belong to their continent. I’m going to still try to finish these designs and send them to the science teachers to print out and put up if they have time.

My second idea was to make scrunchies from kitenge as gifts for some of the girls at the school using the leftover fabric from my sewing session in week one. I would have been able to make 50, however I was only able to finish 3 before the machine broke. Unfortunately, the school experienced a power cut and a large voltage surge in the moments prior, which fried the circuit board of the sewing machine that I was using, as it was left plugged into the wall socket. Although this could have been avoided if I didn’t leave the machine plugged in, it’s also very normal to experience difficulties when finishing a project. I decided to bring the 50 unfinished scrunchies back to the UK with me, that I’ll complete using my machine at home, and post back to Kenya.

Once school started, the flurry of joyful chaos that arrived along with the students effectively swept me off my feet, and my fourth week was over sooner than it started. As I write this in retrospect, words can’t describe how wonderful it was to meet all the students for the first time. The school welcomed the learners for the new year with style; they dressed in their best clothes, danced, and greeted the students with hugs and bags of popcorn. The whole school was buzzing, and I felt so grateful that I was able to be part of such a warm welcome for the students.

I wasn’t given a schedule for my first week, which although left me feeling unmoored at times, I decided to take initiative and make the most out of each day. I rotated through the school and visited each class, starting from the youngest and working my way up. One intention for doing this was to spend time with the learners and introduce myself, but another intention was just to experience as much of each child as I could, in essentially their new home. I loved watching the students talk about their holidays, and I learnt quickly from both the teachers and the students. I observed how loving the teachers are for the primary year groups, and how they deeply care for the students which is how they lead their teaching. I learnt that the older students are extremely committed and dedicated to their studies, and although they speak with the eloquence of a graduate, they’re still teenagers and need consistent joy and safety to thrive. I only realised upon leaving how my presence, smiles and hugs were appreciated by the older students, and I wish I could go back just to wish them luck and tell them I’m proud of them one last time. And then there were the middle year students, maybe the equivalent of years 7-9 in the UK. From the very first day I was completely enamoured by their energy and their affection towards me. At this age, they’re all beginning to really form their identity, and find which subjects, sports and hobbies they love. So, being a science teacher for this age group was a dream, and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment that I was teaching them.

Since the school year had just begun, I was given the task of introducing science as a topic to the MYP1 class and introducing the topic of waves to the MYP2 class. Teaching both classes was wonderful, I learnt so much everyday and I was so happy with how my lessons were being received. My approach with MYP1 was to teach them about the obvious such as the scientific method and safety in the lab, but also to cultivate an early curiosity for science that could always pull them back into the heart of the subject if it ever felt like it was too abstract to them. With MPY2 I tried to keep the lessons as engaging as I could, which was a challenge given the limited equipment at the school. Instead, I went for demonstrations using the students as particles and their arms as bonds, or I used pieces of string or got them to label diagrams on the board. These activities also reaffirmed to me that the students were enjoying my classes and felt as though they were learning.

Here are some of my favourite pictures from my fourth week: