Reflecting on my time at 'Freedom International Schools - Africa'

My LIA was amazing. I learnt so much and did so much. I was endlessly busy and I loved it. I have continued working for FISA since leaving Kenya and I am now applying for a Primary PGCE as I have learnt how much I love teaching and working with schools. My reflection is mainly told via (many) photos.

I am a little late to my reflection but I have now done a fair amount of reflecting. My time in Kenya was so much more than I could have hoped for. I worked extremely hard, offering as much support as possible. I also took on new challenges I previously would have shied away from, and made really good friends. 

For work, I was given a variety of roles. I taught art and photography, worked on signage and advertising on social media, and did a lot of photography for the school.

Teaching

During my stay, I taught art and photography to different age groups. Before leaving the UK, I set up a GoFundMe (https://gofund.me/fc0286b9) to raise money for purchasing DSLR cameras and equipment, which I planned to donate to the school. It worked out so well. As a child, I would have been excited to use ‘proper cameras’, and since I have some experience with photography, it felt like the perfect opportunity. The students really loved it.

I wrote about the first few photography lessons in my previous post, so I won’t go into detail, but I was thrown in at the deep end upon arrival and taught 8–9 classes on my first day. After that, I worked with the students intermittently. Unfortunately, the plan had been to teach many art and photography classes in my fifth and sixth weeks after exams, but due to serious protests occurring in Kenya during my stay, the school was shut immediately after exams. This was a little disheartening, as I had prepared lots of lessons and knew the students were disappointed too.

Thankfully, many of the students had already developed the basic skills they needed to use the cameras, so they’ve been able to continue using them. Children as young as four got their hands on Nikon D50s and D70s, which was lots of fun. They took wonderful photos and were an absolute joy to teach and be around.

On the final day, I set up a studio with Kitenge fabric. I bought some dashike (a style of Kitenge) since the children wear this on Fridays. The photos were inspired by a Kenyan photographer, Thandiwe Muriu.

A few of the photos (some by students, some by me):

Towards the end of my time there, we had plenty of fabric left over and thought it would be a great idea to decorate the classrooms with something like the bunting shown below. I found a sewing machine and managed to make several strings of bunting. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time to finish the project before I left. However, all the fabric was left behind, so hopefully someone else had the chance to complete it.

We also did some art/craft classes too.

Advertising and social media:

During my time there, Children In Freedom School (CIFS) was undergoing a process of rebranding to become Freedom International Schools - Africa (FISA), taking on the International Baccalaureate Curriculum (IB). It was a really busy period, with many changes that were new to staff, parents, and students. There were concerns about how many children would return once the changes were implemented, as the IB programme was unfamiliar to many parents and, therefore, met with some apprehension. The directors, Utheri and Oku Kanayo, chose the IB curriculum because it closely aligned with the school’s ethos.

This transitional period provided me with plenty of opportunities to contribute, as there was a significant amount of work to be done in preparation for the upcoming term. I was given the task of designing billboards, which I happily accepted, assuming they would be relatively small road signs. I quickly learnt that the billboards were massive–12 by 10 metres– and would be placed in various prominent locations in Kenya, including three in the capital, Nairobi.

There were a few challenges here:

• Time limitations: I was told the designs were needed "yesterday". I only had short amount of time to complete these. I did my best to complete the work within the short timeframe available.
• Pressure and responsibility: These billboards were a big investment for the school so this felt like a big responsibility. 
• Technical problems: My laptop struggled to handle the large document sizes, resulting in excessively long loading times and frequent crashes.
• New software: While I am fairly comfortable using Photoshop and Procreate, these tools were unsuitable for such large-scale designs. I had to learn Adobe Illustrator from scratch to complete the task.
• Meeting the school's requirements: One of the more complex challenges was aligning my designs with the school's ideology and the director's specific needs. Initially, I wasn't given detailed specifications. After presenting a few concepts to the school's leadership team, I received feedback and learned the scale and necessary inclusions for the final designs. We worked from my initial ideas, implementing the requested changes.

This experience taught me lessons in balancing my ideas with client requirements, handling constructive feedback, and navigating new tools under pressure. 

After completing these in the 2nd week, I was asked to work on similar tasks. 

I redesigned the school gate, road signs, and school buses.

As I became really comfortable at the school, I felt able to offer my input. I suggested that the gate should be painted dark green (above). 

Buses before:

The directors wanted the buses to be simpler.

I enjoyed being entrusted with so much freedom and responsibility. I knew that everything I was doing was genuinely contributing to the school, and I’ve never felt more appreciated. The trust I was given greatly boosted my confidence.

In addition to the billboards, I also redesigned the handbooks that were distributed to all the students. I created flyers for event promotions and was even asked to design a car sticker for advertising purposes. Now, all the parents have these stickers on their cars.

I helped to manage FISA's social media channels during my 4th-6th weeks. Here are some adverts:

I have experience in photography and have photographed a few events in the past. At the school, I readily applied this skill, especially as the website and social media platforms were in need of updating. For example, I took the photos used in the adverts above.

I photographed a variety of school activities, including the facilities, such as the swimming pool and swimming classes, in-class teaching, the new uniforms, school assemblies, children wearing dashiki, debates, and sports day events.

Though I am now reflecting on my time at FISA, it is not work that is behind me. I have continued to work remotely for the school.

For example, here are some adverts:

While working in Kenya, I came to realise that certain traits I often criticise in myself—such as difficulty focusing for long periods, impulsiveness, and a tendency to get easily distracted—can actually be strengths in the right environment. Though these often make academia challenging, in settings where creativity, flexibility, and adaptability are valued, they can be extremely useful. 

Following my LIA, I came to realise how much I love teaching; I am now applying for a PGCE! I know that I definitely want to work with children and schools in the future. It has been so motivating to come away from this period having gained so much direction, and self-confidence.