It's such a privilege and honour to present this podcast today with the Year 5 students, who are aged 10, and teachers at Ilfracombe's Church of England Junior School.
As a parent of 2 boys under the age of 10, I find the whole conversation about kids online to be incredibly negative and over sensationalised in the media. In an effort to have a more positive online discussion I approached my son's school and asked them could I do a podcast about the subject with the teachers and children in my son's year. I wanted to hear directly from them about their thoughts and ideas on the subject.
The school not only embraced the idea but added a whole layer of additional creativity and flair to the discussion that I would never have imagined, likened to "opening Pandora's Box" by Catherine Cox, the Head Teacher.
In this podcast you will hear from Maggie Foster, the Assistant Head Teacher and Head of Music at the school, who's passion and love of her subject is transforming the lives of the children in the school.
We hear from Maggie and the pupils about how the Church of England school values, of Wisdom, Hope, Community and Dignity are shaping the children's lives, both on and offline.
Even more so how music is at the heart of everything the school does, and how the Principles of Taiko drumming, which is a Japanese art of drumming, has recently been adopted by the school. The children share how these principles of can be extended out across all manner of experiences both on and offline. We also share fly-on-the-wall, discussions in the class rooms between the children and the teachers as they talk about podcasting, digital media, how to present themselves online and we also hear about the benefits of drumming and what it's like to experience a Taiko drumming session.
There is so much richness to this podcast and whilst I initially went into the school as a concerned worried parent, both Will and I left feeling humbled, uplifted and inspired by what we heard and experienced whilst being at the school.
I would like to extend a massive thank you to the Year 5 teachers who are; James Clatworthy, Kimberley Campbell, Lauren Caller, Phoebe Reed and Will Speed, and a heartfelt thank you to Maggie Foster and Catherine Cox who's total commitment to the subject and the discussion enabled this to happen.
To my Sound Engineer and Producer Will Flisk, who helped bring the podcast to life in the studio with me.
But most importantly I would like to say a huge thank you to the wonderful children in Year 5. You are so very special and you know so much, you guys are truly inspirational and I want to thank you for being so open and free with your conversation, knowledge and kindness. Together with your teachers, we have turned the conversation about kids online on it's head, and you will uplift so many people with your positive messages, insight and voices.
Thank you so very much.
Fiona
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