ALL SAINTS PRIMARY SCHOOL AND ST. MARY AND
ST. JOHN’S PRIMARY SCHOOL

APRIL - DECEMBER 2002

Report
Story One: All Saints School—The Wizards Book
Story Two: St. Marys and Johns—The Scorpion Scientist

Report:

AIMS

To promote storytelling in Wolverhampton

To promote confidence in the use of story with children up to the age of 12

To introduce the children in both residency schools to the excitement of listening to storytelling

To encourage children to explore other sources of stories, in particular through reading and using library services

To examine basic structure of story and use simple rules discovered in story creation

To develop oral discussion skills

To develop personal confidence and oral presentation skills

To provide a positive female role model

The residency began with a staff training day for librarians, "Cool Ghouls". While most children’s librarians are completely comfortable storytelling with under 7’s, some are more dubious about telling to older children. This workshop was designed to look at methods of engaging 7 to 11 year olds. Topics covered were: creating an atmosphere; involving children and giving them ownership of their library; basic storytelling skills; choosing appropriate stories and providing references and copies of suitable stories.

This residency was an exciting opportunity for me to work with two groups of children for an extended period of time, a time to build up trust, experiment and experience the joy of telling, listening to and discovering stories.

The first day in each school consisted of storytelling performances throughout the school. I wanted each child in each school to experience what storytelling can be. These sessions acted as an introduction to storytelling, began a sense of anticipation to see what the workshop groups would produce and were timed just before half term to promote half term storytelling events in Central Children’s library.

After half term I began work with class-sized groups in each school to work towards a class storytelling performance.

St. Mary and St. John’s School involved a class of approximately 30 year 4 and 5 students.

All Saints School was a selection of approximately 20 students drawn from years 4, 5 and 6.

The sessions consisted of 2 half day workshops each week for 3 weeks, cumulating in performances by both groups in St. Mary and St. John’s School to the rest of the school.

In each half day session the children would hear at least one story from me, there would be group discussion time with reporting back and whole class discussion.

The children were led through aspects of story and performance using workshop games and exercises and incorporating knowledge and skills gained though these into the group story.

The 6 sessions began by looking at story structure, those heard from me, childhood tales (e.g. red riding hood), myths and legends studied in school and familiar books such as Harry Potter. We identified common archetypes: hero, villain, wise helper, fool etc.

Most stories can be looked at as a journey. The story begins with the hero at the beginning of a journey, they experience something that is not part of their usual life - often a challenge and they emerge at the other side. Sometimes this is a physical journey, sometimes it is a mental journey, sometimes both. We decided to use some of these archetypes, have a hero on a journey with a goal and create challenges the hero has to overcome before they can attain that goal.

After this basic structure all ideas came from the children, my role being a facilitator to help vocalise and order ideas and to ensure enough scope within the story that each child would have their chance to tell/perform part of the story.

Over the three weeks, the children became less reliant on note taking and increased their capability of working from memory. They grew more used (though practice is still needed!) at working in groups - for some, having the courage to ensure their point of view is heard, for others, learning to listen to their classmates. The two schools are located in a culturally diverse area of Wolverhampton and several children are recent immigrants with limited English skills. The simple structure, use of repetition and lack of reliance on the written word helped these children to be involved. In the story developed at St. Mary and St. Johns, we decided that the hero would travel to different countries and link challenges with what we knew about those places. In the smaller groups this gave children a chance to talk about where they came from, about different countries and atmospheres. A group of second generation children told stories that their parents had told them about Jamaica, while other children told about a recent visit to family in the Punjab. Though not all these stories ended up in the final version - the residency taking place during the World Cup, football countries took precedence - it was a magical discussion time.

All Saints School was in a process of upheaval during the residency. The school was due to close at the end of the term and was also in the process of producing the school play. The children involved in the storytelling project were those not selected for the school play. Most children had been given a choice whether or not to be in the school play and for many who declined it was due to a lack of confidence. This choice did not necessarily help the feeling of being left out, having to do ordinary school work while the others went to rehearse. The storytelling residency provided a more intimate and less intimidating opportunity to work creatively towards a lower key presentation (though still frightening for some). The fact that some of those in the play wanted to be part of the storytelling as well and couldn’t helped to further boost the self-worth and confidence of those involved. All children involved in the storytelling project had a speaking part in the story, even (and especially) those who were still struggling with English.

Many of years 4 and 5 from All Saints school relocated to St. Mary and St. John’s school in September and I hope that the experience of visiting and performing at the school, having met some of their new classmates and having a similar experience to talk about will have eased their move.

Both schools found this an ambitious project. All the children were stretched and found aspects of the residency demanding. However, their enthusiasm and willingness to try produced two wonderful stories and performances. Each class was delighted by the response from their audience at St. Mary’s and St. Johns and the two schools mingled together to talk about their stories and to celebrate with choc-ices and "Celebrations" chocolates. All the children were deservedly proud of what they had achieved.

I was a guest storyteller at the regular Saturday storytelling club at Central Children’s Library for the two weeks after finishing in the schools and led a storytelling club through the summer holidays. Some of the children from the two schools who would not normally have come attended some of the sessions.

All the storytelling events at Central Library were well attended by a variety of children from 6 to 12, some from the residency schools and some from elsewhere.

The storytelling club was themed each week - I chose the first theme, but the children chose themes for the following weeks. Each club began with stories from me, leading to a story based activity, ending with a presentation to each other and parents - either a joint story, or short descriptive piece from each child. Numbers were too high for each child to be able to tell a whole story each time, but I believe this format kept the club entertaining and fun while developing team work, creative thinking and oral presentation.

The club also built on Central Children’s Library’s foundation of being a fun, friendly and welcoming place to be.

It is hoped that the storytelling club will continue as a once a month afterschool reading and storytelling club run by library staff.

The last events in the project were once a month seasonal events in Central Library to continue to keep the profile of storytelling high.

The Hallowe’en storytelling evening, an experiment for the library as it extended out of usual opening hours was an amazing success with a much higher attendance than expected at 250. Tickets were limited for the St. Andrew’s and Christmas events, but still attracted high numbers, the Christmas event reaching its limit of 130 tickets.

TOP
 

THE WIZARD’S BOOK

All Saints School

There was once a boy called Tom. His days were grey. He had no friends at school or at home. The only time that the other kids took any notice of him was to make fun of him and to bully him. One day the boy went into the library, looking and feeling miserable. As he sat hunched up, he felt a tap on his shoulder. The librarian handed him a book.

"You should read this. I think you’ll enjoy it"

Tom went home, sat down and started to read.

"Far away, in a cave hidden in the mountains is a wizard. The wizard has lived for hundreds of years and he knows all the spells there are to know. If you are brave enough to make the journey, clever and lucky enough to find him he will grant you a wish."

Tom closed the book and wished that there were still wizards in the real world. He wished that he could be strong enough to stand up to the bullies at school.

Tom opened the book again. The pages rustled, louder and louder like leaves in the wind, there was the sound of rain and thunder. A great wind picked him up and then he was thrown to the ground.

Before him lay a forest, a path leading beneath the branches. A milestone stood beside it and written on it was

"The path to the wizard is long and hard

You must always be on your guard"

Tom took a deep breath and stepped onto the path and beneath the green branches. As he walked he could hear the sounds of the forest surround him.

He could hear his footsteps on the path.

Leaves rustling.

The wind in the branches.

Branches creaking.

Birds singing.

The roar of a lion.

Tom turned and looked over his shoulder. There was a lion bounding towards him. Tom started to run, but the lion was running faster and so he climbed a tree, climbing as high as he could, on to branches too small for the lion. The lion lay down at the trunk of the tree and waited. Tom thought and thought and then he had an idea. He started to tell the lion a story.

"Once upon a time there was a cobblestone maker. Every day he hammered away at the mountain to get cobbles for the road. One day he stopped and he thought,

"Everyone is more important than me. No one ever notices me. I wish I was more important. I wish I was the most important man in the land. I wish I was the King!" There was a flash of light and to his amazement, the cobblestone maker found that he WAS the king. Every one bowed and curtsied to him. Now I am the most important man in the world thought the cobblestone maker. But one day he was riding in his carriage and the sun came out from behind a cloud. Everybody looked up and smiled. And they forgot about the king!

"The sun is more important than the King" thought the cobblestone maker, "I wish I was the sun." There was a flash of light and the cobblestone maker found that he WAS the sun, high up in the sky, smiling down at the people below.

"Now I am the most important thing in the world" thought the cobblestone maker! But a few moments later, a cloud sailed in front of the sun and blocked its light.

"That cloud is more important than the sun" thought the cobblestone maker. "I wish I was a cloud." There was a flash of light and the cobblestone maker found that he WAS a cloud, thick and dark and heavy with rain. He smiled and watched as the people down below put on their coats and run home as he let his first drops of rain fall down. He poured water down on the earth, but after a while all of his water was gone, while below a river, flooded with his water, raced through the land and knocked over trees and houses that got in its way.

"That river is more important than the cloud" thought the cobblestone maker. "I wish I was that river." There was a flash of light and suddenly he WAS the river, racing across the land, picking up anything that got in his way and carrying it or smashing it. After a while he came to a mountain. He did not go through the mountain, but had to split in two and go around it.

"That mountain is more important than the river" thought the cobblestone maker. "I wish I was that mountain." There was a flash of light and suddenly he WAS the mountain. He stood tall and high, watching the river flow around him. He stood against the wind, the rain and the storms. Finally, he thought, he had become the most powerful thing in the world. But one day he felt an itch in his side. He looked down and he saw that there was a man scratching his side, pulling him apart piece by piece and he realised that eventually the man would destroy him and that the man was more powerful than the mountain.

"I wish I was that man" thought the cobblestone maker. There was a flash of light and suddenly he was his old self - a cobblestone maker.

But still he wasn’t happy and the next time he saw the King he started wishing again…

The story went on and on. Cobblestone maker, King, sun, cloud, river, mountain, cobblestone maker, King, sun, cloud, river, mountain, cobblestone maker…"

At last the lion’s eyes started to close and soon the lion was snoring loudly.

Tom crept down the tree, past the sleeping lion and back to the path and out of the forest.

There was a sound like pages turning, leaves rustling, rain, thunder. A great wind picked him up and then he was thrown to the ground.

When Tom stood up he found himself before a high wall with one doorway. By the doorway he read,

"You can see it at night

It’s very bright"

Tom took a deep breath and stepped through the door.

He found himself in a maze. Soon he had no idea where he was. He could see shadows flickering here and there, but as soon as he looked at them they were gone. Then he heard voices

"This way"

"No, this way"

"Over here"

"You’re going the wrong way"

Tom followed the voices, but just got more and more lost.

At last just as he was about to give up he realised that every time the path forked there was a marking on the wall, white and gleaming. He remembered the riddle. They were moons! Tom realised that the right way was marked. All he had to do was follow the markings from a crescent moon to a full moon. He blocked his ears to the voices and the moons led him to the centre of the maze. The path opened out into a square and in the centre was a sculpture of the full moon, the real moon’s silvery light falling upon it and making it shine.

There was a sound like pages turning, leaves rustling, rain, thunder…A great wind picked him up and then he was thrown to the ground.

Tom opened his eyes to find himself lying down in a small dark place. Written above him in glowing letters was:

"Five men in the same place, at the same time all dressed the same. It starts to rain and one of them doesn’t get wet. Why?"

Tom thought and thought until at last he worked it out.

"It’s a funeral!" he said out loud. "And the one in the coffin doesn’t get wet!"

The writing changed.

"You are the one that doesn’t get wet"

Tom realised that he was in a coffin. He started to panic. He could hear voices all around him, voices from school, from the boys that bullied him.

"You’ll never get out"

"We know you can’t do it"

"You’ll lie here and die"

"And no one will know"

Tom felt fear taking over, but he took a deep breath. He refused to listen to the voices. He thought and thought. All the clues so far had been riddles. Maybe he should use a riddle to get out!

Tom scratched his fingertips against the lid of the coffin until they were sore. He took that saw and sawed the coffin in half. Two halves make a whole and Tom climbed out of that hole to freedom.

He stood outside in the cool air, free. There was a sound like pages turning, leaves rustling, rain, thunder…A great wind picked him up and then he was thrown to the ground.

He found himself at the bottom of a mountain and Tom recognised it. It was where the wizard lived! He started scrambling up the hill until at last he stood outside the cave.

There were two guards outside the door.

"I did it, I made it to the cave! Let me in, I’ve come to see the wizard" said Tom.

"You don’t need to see the wizard" said the guards.

"But I got past the lion to get to the wizard!" said Tom.

"You must be very brave to have got past the lion, you don’t need to see the wizard" said the first guard.

"But I found my way through the maze to get to the wizard!" said Tom.

"You must be very clever to have got through the maze, you don’t need to see the wizard" said the second guard.

"But I escaped from the coffin to get to the wizard!" said Tom.

You must have a lot of courage to have made it out of the coffin, you don’t need to see the wizard" said both guards together.

Tom gave a great shout of rage and pushed past the two guards into the cave. He found that the cave was empty apart from mirrors which lined all of the walls. Everywhere he turned his own face looked back at him.

The guards bowed to Tom.

"You are the wizard. Grant your own wish"

There was a sound like pages turning, leaves rustling, rain, thunder…A great wind picked him up and then he was thrown to the ground.

Tom found himself back in his own house with the book on the floor in front of him. He picked up the book and carried it back to the library. From that day on, Tom had a different look in his eyes. He walked with his head held high and would look anybody in the eye. He stood up to the bullies and found to his amazement that THEY ran away from HIM.

The librarian smiled, dusted the cover of the book and put it back in its place.

 TOP

THE SCORPION SCIENTIST

St Mary and St. John’s

There was once a boy called Jamie. He hated school. Every day was miserable. He didn’t have any friends at school, but he had lots of enemies. All the boys used to bully him before school, lunchtime and after school.