ECA - Ukulele

The ukulele club in KS2 has been a wonderful opportunity for the BVIS children to try out a fun, new instrument. A ukulele is similar to a guitar, except it has just four strings on a short narrow neck making it very easy to play. This is especially useful for younger students with smaller fingers!

It originates from Hawaii and was designed by Portuguese workers there, and with its distinctly happy and fun sound comes with a long tradition.  Recently the ukulele has seen a surge in popularity and it has been adapted to accompany lots of modern music. In just a few sessions at the ECA, children are able to learn a song which they then perform in front of the school during assembly. This gives the children a great chance to build their confidence and impress their teachers and peers with their newly learnt skills. This term, we were lucky enough to have some extra help from Dieu Anh, a Year 10 student who has been a wonderful addition to our group. Her support perfectly illustrates some of our key values of nurture, care and respect. She commented that “I joined the ECA to work as a teacher’s assistant but I actually learned so much from the other students and teacher too. I learnt how to be resilient, positive, respectful, enthusiastic, dedicated and patient. It amazed me how the students really respected me because I, like them, am another student but it was so lovely that they respected me being there and helping them.”

Dieu Anh was also responded, saying:

What was it like working with the Primary students: Working with students has always been something I have enjoyed. I didn’t get bored working with them because they are bundles of joy. It amazed me how they work so hard for the song and their hard work for the performance was superb to see. It was nice to get away from the hectic life of GCSE work. I enjoyed seeing their positivity and laughter.

This demonstrates how mutual collaboration can help bring out the best in us, no matter how different we think we may be. This project will help to support the Primary children as they move to Secondary school because they know that they will have positive role models to look up to, and that there are other older students with similar interests to their own who they can connect with despite their age differences.

Mr. Barney