The war has made its own adjustments to the educational process. Many children were forced to move to new schools for safety reasons. And the learning process is accompanied by air raids, power outages and shelling almost every day. Under such stressful conditions, teachers are inventing new methods to make it easier for children to get an education.
At the end of December 2023, a child-friendly space was opened in Kazankiv Gymnasium №1 in Mykolaiv Oblast as part of the project "Preparing Schools for Social Cohesion." And despite the fact that it is now winter vacation, children continue to come to the space.
"Thanks to your project, we were able to set up many different locations in the school. Children come for additional consultations with teachers. Some play in the gym, others in the playroom. We made a school cinema and converted the storage room for this purpose. Children come with pleasure. I can't say that they come in large numbers, but every day both children and teachers come. This is a comfort for them and a help for working parents," said Inna Onyshchenko, the headmistress of the gymnasium.
The Kazankiv gymnasium is one of 33 educational institutions participating in the project, which created a place in schools where children feel safe and have the opportunity to receive psychosocial support. These rooms were equipped with everything necessary: IT equipment, furniture, stationery, sports equipment, and games. All this is necessary for conducting psychosocial sessions based on the Movement, Games, Sports and Creativity (MGSC) methodology.
"To say that all this has a positive impact on children is an understatement. We create an educational environment that will be harmonious for the child. And we would not have done it without you," says the director. "All these games help children form a well-rounded personality. There are no good and bad children. They all have peculiarities. And the teacher's task is to notice and guide them."
The Tdh methodology of working with children is aimed at different age groups. Last fall, our experienced trainers taught teachers how to work with it. And they, in turn, are now passing on this knowledge to their coworkers.
"Teachers and I are now going to board game trainings to be able to play with children during air raids. Recently, we played the Cash Flow game. This is almost a complete replacement for a course on financial literacy! There is no such course in the school curriculum, but these are extremely important skills that are indispensable in the modern world," continues Inna Onyshchenko, the headmistress of the gymnasium.
Together today, educators are proving that school is not just a space for lessons. It is also a place where you can relax, do your favorite things, play games, and chat with friends. And most importantly, it is a place where every child feels safe.
The project "Preparing Schools for Social Cohesion" is implemented by Terre des Hommes in Ukraine with the support of the EU4ResilientRegions - Special Assistance to Ukraine project, implemented by the German Federal Company Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Government.
