By Claire Hines, Year 11
This article is a sequel to my first, in which I interviewed the E.S.P. staff. This time with the help of the assistants, I was able to interview some of the students. I interviewed two of them myself whilst they interviewed others for me.
Thank you to all these amazing students for participating, I am so proud to be able to dedicate this article to you. And thank you once again to the E.S.P. team for making this possible.
Due to a request to remain anonymous, their names are not mentioned in this article. Instead, I replaced each of their names with a respective number placed in front of the contribution of each student to make it easier for the reader to follow. Some of the answers are in French, which I have translated for your benefit.
What is your favourite activity that you do here at the E.S.P.? / Quelle est ton activité préférée à L’E.S.P.?
1/ I mainly enjoy going on outings. So, going into town or going further and maybe going to do accrobranche or something. I love that. I really like doing stuff like that.
2/ I like going to town, I like going to Bubble Tea. It’s a real treat, it’s not an everyday thing but it’s very fun when it does happen, it’s chill.
3/ My favourite activity is when we go for outings.
4/ Faire vos puzzles. (Doing your puzzles.)
5/ A.S.D.A.N., on discute sur nos projets et ce qu’on va faire comme sortie. (A.S.D.A.N., we talk about our projects and what outing we will go on.)
What is the best outing that you have done so far? / Quelle est la meilleure sortie que vous avez fait avec l’ E.S.P?
2/ Bubble Tea for sure! And accrobranche. Accrobranche was really fun the year before last. It was a very nice trip, it was sunny, we were all together, and yeah it was cool.
1/ I love accrobranche too, I’d say that’s my favourite.
3/ Bowling. I was able to try so much for the first time first of all, and also, I was able to see how good people are at bowling in the E.S.P.
4/ DRAM scape. C’était un truc de réalité virtuelle. (DRAM scape. It was a virtual reality thing.)
5/ Moi ça va venir, mais c’est l’escape room ! (Mine ‘s coming up, but it’s the escape room!)
How do you feel inside the E.S.P. ? / Comment vous sentez-vous au sein de l’E.S.P.?
1/ Well compared to the rest of the school, I feel like I’m in a safe place. I feel like I’m really safe and comfortable here compared to outside.
2/ I definitely feel the vibes in the E.S.P. rooms. It’s definitely safe, it’s definitely comforting. There’s lots of places to sit and it’s just nice to sit in here. It feels calming as if you are in a safe place.
3/ I feel that the staff protect me and that they help me quite a lot.
4 & 5/ Sécurisée, et à l’aise. On est tranquille. (Secure, and at ease. We are at peace)
How do the E.S.P. staff help you ? / Comment est-ce que les assistants et les enseignants de l’E.S.P vous aident?
1/ Sometimes when I’m lost, they help me regulate my mindset, so they help me focus on things which I need to work on or in general. Also, if I have something that I find tough, they could probably help me with that as well. So, they help me to stay concentrated and when there are questions that I’m stuck on, they kind of guide me to the right direction.
2/ There is definitely a very big educational purpose to E.S.P., like they help to keep me focused. They sometimes help by scribing essays and stuff for me. But I think there is also quite a big emotional aspect to E.S.P. like anxiety help. I feel like I can talk about my anxiety to every assistant here and they can give me methods to use in my classroom. So, I’d say it’s both educational and mental help.
3/ They help me understand how to write essays for example and how to manage my stress levels and things like this.
4/ Ils nous aident à faire des progrès et à se contrôler. Et à faire des maths. (They help us to make progress and to control ourselves. And to do Maths.)
5/ Moi, ils m’aident dans mon travail. (They help me in my work.)
What’s the most important thing you have learnt here at the E.S.P? / Quel est la chose la plus importante que vous aviez apprise à l’E.S.P. ?
1/ I feel like the E.S.P. has really helped me with many social skills. When talking to friends, when talking to people in say stores or restaurants… Also, setting boundaries. Say my friends want to get me involved in some kind of activity or something, because for me it’s difficult to say no since it’s always good to be with my friends, they help me set boundaries like I want to help but only to a certain extent and things like that.
So, mainly socially, but also mentally. Also learning all sorts of breathing activities which also makes me feel relaxed and regulated when I’m stressed. I don’t have anything else to add other than that the E.S.P. is great!
2/ Maths? Yeah, Maths class, that’s where my happiness lies…in nice things like Maths exams. I guess it’s more with the mental stuff as well, I just feel like it’s important just to be here and to focus on what helps me and break a bit out of my social shell. I can talk about things to all these different people, and it’s nice. I think that’s important.
3/ Trying to work more in experimental work in chemistry for example. Or trying to stay more focused and being able to regulate myself, knowing when you need to go for a break and when you need to do something else to be able to focus better. I was able to communicate better with the people around me.
4/ Les maths. Ça m’aide d’être avec les assistants et ça m’aide bien à faire des progrès en maths. (Maths. It helps me to be with the assistants, they help me to make progress in Maths.)
5/ C’est le travail en équipe, je pense. (It’s team work I think.)
