Following on from the poems written and recited at the visit to the African Worlds exhibition at the Horniman Museum, Sola asked the pupils to find proverbs from their own cultures.

"What do your parents believe in?", she asked. They were to go home and ask their parents. "Whose parents believe you shouldn't go on the computer every night? Whose parents believe you should go to bed at 8pm?" They then did some poetry together - "Poetry can be fun!".

Sola then recited a poem (above) she had made up based around "Your mother says no" and the class joined in, later writing their own and taking turns to read them out (YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO HEAR SOME OF THE WORK ON THIS WEBPAGE).

The next session started with a round of introductions incorporating something personal that the pupils enjoyed.. "My name's Rebecca and I like listening to music"... "My name's David and I like going on the internet". Pupils also read out what their parents believed in:

"My mum believes in the family, the self, and that she can do anything she wants to do"
"My parents believe that the world is round", "My mum believes in truth, forgiveness and love".

Sola then wrote some Haiku poems up on the whiteboard and talked about them.

"What is a Haiku?"

It originated in Japan and is based around an image sometimes using 7,5,7 syllables. Take a look at the word imagination and break it down - it means image in nation and so using your imagination means creating images in the world.

The class then talked about senses - what images and senses did the Haiku's on the board evoke? The pupils then started writing their own Haiku's around beliefs and finished these after lunch in the hall.

They were then read out and the class had to try and guess what the meaning/belief was.

During the project most pupils had also written poems about their mummified objects and some of these were also recited to the class. Click here to read two of the poems.

The session ended with everyone in a circle doing Sola's "Do like I do" rhythm and movement game.

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