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Monday Jul 09, 2007

Alas no more drama club :(

Hey people,

Just thought I would post my last blog (at least for now) on the Drama  club yes thats right people no more drama club.  I did think it would be over next week but as majority of the group didn't turn up this week and those that did....3 out of 7 of them are away next week so... (We usually have about 20 kids altogether) ....due to this factor drama club is finishing a week early.

Ah the fun we've had.....Refer to past blogs on the drama group :P

This week has to be one of the best weeks though (only 1 of the best hehe) even though there was a poor turn out. we, well I wouldn't call it dressing up...More just wearing hats.  So after I signed in those who did turn up we had  to act out how you think a person would if they wore a particular hat..So it was teaching our small group of 7  how to change in to character in fun way. 

Basically we partnered up with whoever wore a similar hat which was great fun! And we were at opposite ends of the room and you had to walk (in character remember!) and meet in the middle of the room and do a small scene together depending on your character, which again depended on what hat you wore.  So I was in a pistols at dawn scene (cowboy hat) and was a part of a posh duo (in a smart posh style hat) and we acted out reading the paper.  Which they learnt to do in the warm up when we did ...what shall we call it... follow the leader... You had to act out being a person doing little things and then everyone had to copy you.  So guess it was follow the leader a bit.

I also ran the tuckshop and well lets just say there was no queuing, and yes those lollipops again came to everyones attention unable to be opened lol

I have to say though volunteering with the drama group has been great fun and you never know might do it again

Posted by Moira ( 11:30 PM )
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Friday Jul 06, 2007

YAA Training

Hi

Yesterday was a long day.... I went on a bit more training for the Youth Achievement Award (YAA).  This time though it was to learn about being a moderator for the awards. 

This was the first part to the training and there is a couple more parts to it.  It was rather useful in some ways..Well you got see what other young people had done to gain there awards and talk to those running the award about how they doing it.  So you get ideas for challenges for young people to do which really can be anything!

Gave a better idea of what young people need to be able to show and information thats needed to be able to gain the award at certian levels.  Think it also showed how much work is involved in and how much commitment is needed for the whole YAA, from all involved, from the young person, to the group leader and of course the moderator. 

So all in all it was a good day and may things a bit clearer. 

Posted by Moira ( 1:29 PM )
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Tuesday Jul 03, 2007

Volunteer management

Hey people yes another entry  well I have been busy....

Right well volunteer management over the last couple of weeks I have recruited a young volunteer which wasn't as straight forward as I thought it would be but we got there in the end.    They wanted to become a volunteer but were also looking for a student placement which was the confusing part as I had never dealt with student placements before.  So I learnt something new. 

More new info I learnt through doing my LANTRA course I have been looking at the background to Barnardo's and how volunteering actually came about starting right back when Dr Barnardo's was alive and with young people who were part of Barnardo's and still wanted to have some part in this so he formed the ‘Young Helpers League’ with young people from around the world who either fundraised or were part of support groups including those who had been part of Barnardo’s and then turned 18 so they were too old to be part of Barnardo’s services as well as other adults who wanted to be part of Barnardo’s so he formed the Voluntary Association of Adult Helpers.  So young volunteers were even around when Barnardos first started all those years ago.

Last week I also started to work with one of the young volunteers who is assisting me in running the Youth Achievement Award.  Looking at where people were at and I explained some of the group already have a head start in completing there challenges.  We also looked at the Platinum together and looked at how it will work for us both to complete the award while undertaken this role and discussed training for the role. 

We then came up with some ideas that we know are coming up with the YPRAG and how they fit in with challenges to come.  

Posted by Moira ( 1:56 PM )
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Drama club

Hey people long time no blog I know.  Well it is for me Sorry I've had connection problems but, I'm back now and been very busy so...

Last week-Drama club as mentioned in my last blog I think...We went to the old church/theatre which was great fun, I don't know about the group enjoying it but I thought it was fab!

We watched a film made by the older group which was very funny.  Think it was hard for some of the kids to stay focused with the film though but, it got them to think more about what they could do for their own film which was good.

One of the men working in the theatre played a few musical tunes on the 'Wurlitzer electric piano which was great showing the group how it worked and explaining what all the keys and buttons were for.  One special exciting moment for the group was when he made a piano play without being near it while he was playing on the Wurlitzer.  They all wanted to touch the keys while it was playing which was a bit mayhem as you can guess.

In a seperate room the group then discussed what they thought of the theatre what they like etc and thought about what the film could entail.  Recurring theme was the ...yes you've guessed it....the Wurlitzer.  They then made cards and pictures for one of the boys in the group who was in hospital.  Some of the group finished early in doing this so I took them back into the theatre and they drew the Wurlitzer, very impressive pictures.

This week the group were joined by children who are currently in the middle of making there film about there local football team.The group assisted them by singing the song which was recorded and will be used for the music track to the film.  So it was all very musical. 

They then had to act different walks which consisted in walking with two left, as a soldier, an old man/woman who was in the army but now isn't, and  a longjumper sportsman. 

I have a question.... Why are lollipops so difficult to open? For the last two weeks all I've been asked after tuckshop is to open lollipop wrappers.  Think I met my match this week and one lollipop just didn't get opened ah well least he had something to take home.

Posted by Moira ( 1:20 PM )
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