Success Stories
When our partners send us their annual reports, we need to have accurate statistics on school, teacher and children numbers. But the bit we enjoy reading most are the stories which tell us, more than numbers, what Zippy and Apple can do for children. Here are a few of the most recent success stories from around the world.
From Russia
A teacher reported: “During the 3rd year we have been working on the Zippy’s Friends programme. There are no fights, insults are extremely rare, the children have a positive attitude. We got a new boy who came from another city. At first, he behaved defiantly, calling the other children names and provoking them. But our children did not react as he expected – instead, they said, ‘I would like you to play, not fight.’ The boy gradually calmed down and his anger melted away.”
From Jordan
A girl in grade 2 ate things (literally): she ate pencils, erasers, paper, and her classmates’ sandwiches – even though she had her own sandwich in her lunch box. One day she tried to eat her friend’s hair “because it's beautiful”. She had problems with her school work, and the school had tried (since she was in grade 1) to help her and modify her behaviour, but they hadn't succeeded. The parents were stuck!
In the Zippy session about jealousy, she expressed strongly that she felt jealous of her little brother and sister, and of her friends and classmates. (The teacher described her facial expression as very strong!) The teacher and parents put a plan in place, and within two months there was a 180 degree change! Her bad behaviours stopped, and her school work improved.
From Slovakia
A teacher in her 60s, who had lost her son several years previously, was very worried about teaching Module 5 on Change and Loss. During training, Nad’a agreed that she could get in touch closer to the time, and they could support her to deliver the sessions if necessary. However, she didn’t contact them, and when they met up again, the teacher explained she had had a wonderful experience teaching the module. It had allowed her to deal with what had happened better, and she found it very useful to open up and share her experiences with the children. Nad’a also commented that the teacher’s whole appearance and demeanour had changed – she looked ten years younger!