Refuglee! Everyone Sing Out Loud!

It's nearly the end of the academic year. My students sit their exams next week. All we've worked for is nearly at fruition. But this has been a year like no other in my teaching career. This year I have tried and achieved some different things and I am proud.

The thing I am most proud of is Refuglee club. Every Wednesday, in our lunch breaks, a few teachers and a bunch of loyal students gather in a classroom and sing. That's it. And we love it!

It all began at Christmas - it has become something of a tradition for me to take my students to the theatre for the Christmas show, which is usually based on a famous novel and therefore introduces them to a novel and the magic of theatre all in one go. Students who have never been near a theatre in their lives are astonished by the tricks of a clever set and tend to be blown away by the experience. But this year one student in particular bounced joyfully all the way through at the songs in the show. I asked him later if he'd enjoyed himself and he replied, "I want to be there", gazing at the stage.

This led to a (wine-fuelled) conversation about the possibility of running a music group for our ESOL students, especially those who have serious PTSD or other mental problems. We thought it would be a release whilst at the same time being a great way to learn lexical chunks without noticing!

I didn't think it would last all the way through to the end of term. I certainly didn't think we would be putting on a show of our songs at the end of this week. We've attracted a loyal core of singers who come every week to try everything from Beyonce's Halo, through the Beatles' Hey Jude, to Iko Iko. However, our performance will be of a two-part Stand By Me, with the boys being the double bass! Yeah, we're ragged round the edges. Yeah, half of them can't hold a note. But that's not the point and never has been. One of my quietest students turned out to be a piano teacher and has accompanied us beautifully throughout the process (in spite of my appalling conducting) and she has really come out of herself, and her confidence has shone through in her huge improvement in her English.

And that's why we do it. And it's why I keep doing my job even when it's getting hard. Music is hugely important to people and having the opportunity to express yourself freely and without judgement is rare. But that's the first rule of Refuglee club: Everyone Sing Out Loud!