You will have to excuse my somewhat indulgent blog this week, but I do have genuine cause to celebrate and I want to share it.
It always amazes me how quickly time flies when we are having fun. According to my trusty smartphone calendar, it is 2 years nearly to the day since I first opened the doors to the Kip McGrath Holdfast Bay Education Centre. So many wonderful things have happened since then that it seems like yesterday!
In that brief time I have had the absolute pleasure of working with nearly 200 children, their parents, teachers, my tutors and supportive husband Mark. What started out as a new venture driven by my passion for helping kids, has become an all-consuming way of life that makes me smile each and every day. Let me share why.
Quite simply, we make a difference. We have had children arrive years behind in their reading who bring tears to their mum’s eyes when they voluntarily open books for the first time to read for pleasure, a senior maths student struggling to keep up who is now an ‘A’ student planning a teaching career in maths and sciences, a primary student missing basic sounds who is now happily working through our reading program, a student absent from school for long periods who is outpacing her peers in maths due to the Kip system. There are many, many more stories, each as heart-warming as the next.
It is the small things that make me smile the most. When children are assessed there are often tears, and this can still be the case when they arrive for their first lesson. But they soon realise that they are part of a place where everyone works at their own pace, where no one is judged, and actually, it is fun. The tears are soon forgotten and without realising it they re-engage with the learning process. Parents often say that whilst their kids may not be having a great time at school, they can’t wait to get to Kip. Even our nieces are part of the mix, and what a wonderful thing it is to help them on their way through their education.
Along the way we have become part of the fabric of our community, sponsoring local events and sports teams, and attending school fetes. We have appeared in the Glenelg Christmas pageant twice now, on each occasion with an army of Kip kids following behind the Kip car, challenging the crowds with times tables! We have also worked with a local not for profit to provide tutoring for young carers, including offering scholarships so that this important work can continue when funding has run out.
When the Advertiser ran their annual business awards last year, we were proud to be runner-up to a large national real estate group, a measure of the connection we have made with our kids and parents. We have also been lucky enough to appear in the press a few times, and the kids have become used to photographers dropping by for a quick ‘photo shoot’.
Every week brings new ‘lightbulb’ moments, when kids suddenly ‘get it’, and the smiles are worth all the effort. I am immensely proud of the fact that many of our ‘graduates’ have dropped by simply to say hi and share with us their achievements since leaving Kip. This is an extremely personal and emotional business, and it is not surprising that we sit right alongside their parents, enjoying every little success along the way.
Since Mark joined me in the business last year, so inspired by what we do that he gave up his well-paid corporate career to ‘make a difference’, we have grown significantly (which he of course attributes to his influence!). Nevertheless, we are committed to the small group approach, and have simply increased the number of sessions each week to enable us to help more kids achieve their goals. We have also recruited in some excellent tutors, including Noelia and Laura, who apart from being qualified teachers, are just as passionate as we are about helping kids.
At times it is exhausting, particularly emotionally, and like all small businesses the hours go way beyond any reasonable forecast, but it is so, so worth it, and I have absolutely no regrets. There simply is no better feeling than helping a child to achieve their absolute best. Thank you for allowing me this indulgence, time for a bottle with bubbles to celebrate!