Learning can be
adventurous.
It can be mythical
and magical and explorative. It can take you to lost islands, across forbidden
borders and down deep to sunken treasures on the ocean’s sea floor.
In the traditional
sense of the word, pirates have a reputation for robbery and piracy, acting
outside of the jurisdiction of nations and governments. The Hackney Pirates in East London may not
be law-breakers, but they are rebels.
They have instigated an ambush to inspire young people's imaginations (and grown-ups' for that matter!) in the name of creative learning.
With an initial funding pool of just £500, Catriona Maclay, former secondary high school teacher, along with a team of other teachers and locals in the area, decided to run with an idea that had long occupied their thoughts.
"Like many teachers, I saw that some pupils needed more support than we were able to offer them during the school day. This is where we saw an opportunity to have a big impact using time and resources outside of the classroom," she explained.
“Some students,
particularly during the transition years of 5,6 and 7, were under achieving and
needed extra one-to-one attention, but with more than 500 students in my classes a
week, resources and time were restricted.”
In 2010, Catriona
left teaching and joined Ashoka, a
global network of social entrepreneurs. While she aided men and women to birth
projects, which challenged structures and systems by creatively offering
another way, Catriona’s vision grew.
She researched and
developed her idea. A project which helps students to learn and apply
themselves with confidence outside of the classroom environment as young
creative professionals, or as Catriona says, Young Pirates, with real world
assignments.
These ‘Real world’
assignments include short plays published on t-shorts, a radio show about the
day aliens came to town, a guide to Hackney uncovering the borough’s finest
secrets, and a recipe book of the tasty treats in Dalston, to name but a few.
All imaginative
endeavors, which un-tap local resources in fun and exciting ways.
Catriona remained
connected to the young people she taught and listened to their needs. “ I knew
the students needed consistent support and that Hackney had the potential
wealth to back such a project.”
