PUPILS and teachers at a Derby school have come together to celebrate their love of storytelling.
To mark National Storytelling Week, staff at The Bemrose School have volunteered their time to read students their favourite stories during lunch time.
And from Harry Potter to Little Women, the variety of stories being shared has impressed school librarian Daryl Lowe.
Daryl said: “Pupils were invited to bring their lunch and to sit and listen to the teachers who were reading the stories.
“They asked questions, and it was good to see staff from different disciplines getting involved. It’s important that children can listen to stories and see that it’s not just the English staff that enjoy a good book.”
Careers lead Claire Amos and English teacher Haley Russell both read to students throughout the week. Mrs Russell read the short story ‘Mary Moon and the Stars’ by award-winning author Janice Galloway.
She said: “It’s so important that young people read a wide variety of text. I chose a book by Janice Galloway as she is from a small Scottish village, close to where I grew up.”
Eleven-year-old Dinodichi, who is currently reading the Alex Rider series of book written by Anthony Horowitz said: “I really enjoyed having a story read to me. I found it relaxing and interesting.”
National Storytelling Week is an initiative from the National Literacy Trust that aims to celebrate the power of sharing stories. Running from January 30-February 5, the charity created a programme of events and resources that teachers could share with pupils from Reception age right up to secondary school including a live storytelling session with author Wendy Shearer.
Statistics from the National Literacy Trust have revealed that nearly two in every five children and young people said that they enjoyed listening to audio very much or quite a lot.
The Bemrose School have a varied extra-curriculum programme when it comes to English and, last year, a group of Year 9 students visited the University of Cambridge to take part in the First Story Young Writers Programme.
They were joined, too, by former Bemrose pupil Nazh Chendi; a Syrian refugee who was part of TV programme ‘School Swap’. Now studying medicine at Cambridge, Nazh spoke to pupils about her journey so far.
For further information, email kerry@penguinpr.co.uk or contact 07734 723951
