Teacher uses hip-hop to help pupils with grief

A teacher from Nuneaton is using hip-hop and street art to help pupils learn how to cope with grief and anxiety.

James Bennett works at Holy Trinity Catholic School in Small Heath, Birmingham, and set up a lunchtime club called Hip-Hop Healing, where students record raps and design graffiti art.

Mr Bennett, who has been teaching for 20 years, said after two decades of experience, the elements of hip-hop had been "the thing that got through to the kids the most".

Sam, 14, regularly attends the club and said it had really helped him cope with the loss of his mum who had recently died after a stroke.

"It was good, because not many people have lost their mum that I know of, but I have a passion for music and so does sir [Mr Bennett]," Sam said.

Mr Bennett's mother had also died in the last few years and the pair worked together on a rap.

"He helped me get through the thing with my mum," the 14-year-old said.

He added that Mr Bennett had supported him to "turn his hurt into something he enjoyed" and the club had helped him to "put his mind to it".

Another student, Rosanna, said Hip-Hop Healing had helped her "develop as a person" and "grow".

"It's helped me look at life in a different perspective, it's really made me think and wonder how I can change the way I perceive things," she said.

The Birmingham teacher previously called for elements of hip-hop to be added to the national curriculum.

"The programme is about healing, writing it, getting it out and doing it to music.

"It's teaching kids different methods," Mr Bennett said.

He added that the aim of the club was to use hip-hop as a "starting point", however students were also offered the chance to learn about mindfulness and meditation.

He said that the lunchtime programme offered a "safe space" where the students could "shift their mindset from negative to positive".

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