Telling stories is the highlight of my working life, something I wish I’d started doing many years ago.It’s sad to have to wait until 60 before finding what you want to do, but then there are many who never have the joy of waking in the morning thrilled with the prospect of the day ahead.Until they retire, that is.I can’t imagine ever retiring, unless I become too infirm to get around, or suffer some malady which affects my voice.
I met Kate in 1990, since when life has been good, and has included frequent visits to the Far Eastand other places where I tell stories to children, teenagers, young adults, old adults, in fact everyone.Currently my range is age 3 to 97, but I’m hoping to extend this.Being honest though, with the very old it’s more a matter of listening than telling, as their stories are always more interesting than mine.
Primary Schools
Most of my work is, however, in primary schools.For a long time I’ve been telling people that involvement in storytelling will accelerate a child’s literacy, creativity, initiative and much else.I’ve hoped that schools will take up the challenge and introduce storytelling as a daily activity in all subjects, and see accelerated improvements.Sadly, I go back to schools two or three years later and find the same old literacy hour activities, and the same slow progress. One teacher even excluded her kids from my storytelling session as she was behind with the Literacy Hour and had to catch up!
The Value of Storytelling
In their book “Storytelling in Education” (1992)Cooper and Collins state that “Storytelling enhances imagination and visualisation; teaches an appreciation of the beauty and rhythm of language, increases vocabulary; allows children to interact with adults on a personallevel; develops speaking and listening skills; enhances writing and reading skills, and critical- and creative-thinking skills; helps children to realise the importance of literature as a mirror of human experience; nourishes the child’sintuitive side; and helps children understand their cultural heritage and that of others.”
The above is just one of the very many endorsements of storytelling as teaching tool and it is little short of tragic that only a few enterprising teachers have recognised its enormous benefits.
Wicksteed Park Audience
In a recent interview Zenna Atkins, Chair of Ofsted, had a few things to say about storytelling.
“I was lucky to have a very inventive and thoughtful form teacher when I was seven.All the other children were advancing quickly in their reading and writing skills but she saw me stumbling over my work and suspected that I might have dyslexia.The teacher noticed that I had a vivid imagination and liked making up stories but she worried that I was not writing down my tales when asked to.
One day when the teacher asked the class to make up a story and write it down, she produced a tape recorder and asked me to sit in the quiet of the stationary cupboard, and relate my story onto tape.I loved it and chatted away in the cupboard.She then transcribed the tape so that I had a story just like the other children.So I learned to tell stories and feel confident that I could do well”
Zenna rates storytelling as extremely valuable for young people and adults alike.
“Storytelling has a huge part to play in helping young people to find their own voice and in believing that they have something of worth to say”.
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“I didn’t do well at school but my greatest achievement came as a teenager when the school held a storytelling competition.I knew I could win, wanted to win it, and did.”
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“Those early experiences have helped me enormously with my public speaking and presentation skills.Unscripted telling also permits the narrator to mould the story to different audiences and create different messages.Nowadays I speak at lots of functions and my speeches are always unscripted and full of stories to maintain interest and colour a point.”
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“I make up bedtime stories for my children.We can use storytelling to convey messages and personalise them for our young”
Repertoire
I offer a variety of programmes, but most people opt for a general introduction to Folk Tales of the World.I like where possible to link my work to what is being done in the classroom (A Village in India, the Rain Forest etc), but am happy to devise any sort of programme, given some notice. See below for details.
Organisation of a Day’s Visit
I’m often asked “What do you actually do?”Most sessions begin with a bit of chat to break the ice and give the children the chance to get used to my voice.I then say what I’d like to do with the time, e.g. tell them some stories, and get them to do some activities, stories being an over-rich diet if there is no variety.Usually a school will ask for an emphasis on writing, or on speaking and listening, and my efforts are slanted in the chosen direction.With very young children (nursery and infants) the stories involve plenty of movement, call and response and similar activities.
Tackling the Genius Test
Terms and Fees
I charge £1 per head of the children on the school roll, with a minimum of £125.This low minimum means that small schools, whose children often miss out on the goodies, can have a storyteller for about the cost of a supply teacher.
B)SOME SCHOOLS VISITED RECENTLY
any of which can be contacted for a reference
ApplecroftPrimary SchoolWelwynGarden City
Brent LibrariesWembley
CharlesworthPrimary SchoolDerbyshire
ChristchurchPrimary SchoolWare
CoatesWayPrimary SchoolWatford
Colombo Bible HouseSri Lanka
Coulsdon CE Primary School Coulsdon
CranfordPrimary SchoolNorthants
Economic DevelopmentZoneSchoolGuangzhou
EctonPrimary SchoolNorthants
FenDraytonPrimary SchoolCambridgeshire
Foreign Language and ArtsSchool (teachers only)Guangzhou
GermanSwissInternationalSchoolHong Kong
GrangePrimary SchoolWickford
GreatAbingtonPrimary SchoolCambridgeshire
GreatGaddesdenSchoolHemel Hempstead
HarveyRoadPrimary SchoolRickmansworth
HillcrestSchoolDownham Market
Hitchin GirlsSchoolHitchin
Hong KongUniversityGraduatesCollege (trainee teachers)Hong Kong
RepublicanInternationalSchool, Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka
SpaldwickSchoolSpaldwick
SpinneySchoolCherry Hinton
St Albert the GreatSchoolHemel Hempstead
St.Augustine's CatholicSchoolPeterborough
St.Catherine's Preparatory SchoolCambridge
St Joseph's CatholicSchoolLuton
St.Julian's School,Lisbon, Portugal
St Mary's CatholicSchoolRoyston
St Mary's JuniorSchoolWare
St.Patricks RC SchoolWalthamstowe
St.NeotsSchoolHampshire
St.Thomas a' Becket RC School Abbey Wood
StaffordInternationalSchoolColombo
StavertonPrimary SchoolNorthants
StevenageMuseumStevenage
TenomSecondary SchoolTenom, Malaysia
The CollettSchoolHemel Hempstead
Tourism and CommerceSchool (trainee teachers)Guangzhou
TownleyPrimary SchoolCambridgeshire
WatchlytesPrimary SchoolWelwynGarden City
WauludSchoolLuton
WellandPrimary SchoolPeterborough
WicksteadParkKettering
WinkfieldSt.MarySchoolBracknell
YuanshanSchoolGuangzhou
ZhongyuaMiddle SchoolPanyu, China
C) ENDORSEMENTS AND COMMENTS
(originals available)
“I can only say how much I admire what you do, notably in schools.I wish you well and hope more and more pupils will enjoy and benefit from your story telling”.
Sir Mike Tomlinson CBE, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Schools
“My students are more interested in English study because you have laid an unforgettable impression and aroused their interest.Since you visit their fingers are itchy to write something”.
Director of English Studies, No.12 Middle School, Nanjing, China - “Do you think you will have time to come to our school again, telling stories to other classes?Your British way of teaching is so much more effective than using books as we do.The students become excited and interested in learning.”
Head of English, Cheung Sha Wan CatholicSecondary School, Hong Kong -
“Please use us as a reference – your visit was an enormous success”
Director of English, JohnF.KennedyJunior High School, Salt Lake City, USA -
“This session was very successful, since many Form 1 students enjoyed it very much and they showed their zeal by laughing, applauding giving responses.I hope this kind of session can be promoted to students in other forms.It is a more interesting and creative way to learn English than with a textbook”.
SingaporeSecondary School Head Boy -
“I liked the work you did on story writing. The planning process presents most problems at any age, and this is especially hard in the time restriction of exams, so your straight-forward structure of character, scene, ambition or wish, problem and resolution gets a story really moving”.
Head of English, WellingboroughSchool
“You help great with our English.It is very good.We hope you come to us again on future day”.
Secondary School Teacher, Kyoto, Japan
“When you’re next in Hong Kong, you MUST come here again!”
Head of English, PeakInternationalSchool, Hong Kong
“It’s wonderful!My students are using words they certainly wouldn’t have used before, and they are taking risks and trying new ideas.They are working together and sharing ideas.It’s a treat to see them actually wanting to write!”
CardiffSecondary School Deputy Head Teacher - “I’m very sorry to complain, but please can you tell me how to make Michael do his homework.Ever since you had that man in school all he wants to do is write”.
Parent to Head of a SouthLondonPrimary School -
“Sorry to be too late to get you for this year’s book week.The children (and teachers!) talk about you a lot and we’ll all miss you – Literacy Hour has never been the same since your visit!Please put us down for next year”.
Head Teacher of EssexIndependentSchool
“The children thoroughly enjoyed your visit and have been working incredibly hard since then, you inspired them no end.”
Milton Keynes Primary School Language Co-ordinator
“He was great, the kids loved him.Loads of ideas for teaching, too…… Fantastic use of puppets; they really came alive for the children …..Kept Years 3 and 4 in their seats and occupied for one-and-a-half hours – AMAZING!…....He is a fab storyteller.When is he coming back?”
Teachers in a HackneyPrimary school
“This is wonderful.You must come here again and we will pay for your travel and accommodation”
Head of Economic DevelopmentZoneSchool, Guangzhou -
“The children will remember this day for the rest of their lives”
St.AlbansSchool Head Teacher –
D) REPERTOIRE
STORYTELLING PROGRAMMES AVAILABLE
1Folktales of the World
A taste of the World’s myths, legends, fables and folktales, which could include tales from Africa, Australia,
Britain, China, France, Germany, Greece, India, Japan, Malaysia, Russia and elsewhere, for example Sally's Picture of Her Mum
Alternatively, you could choose from the following:-
2Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree
British tales of Arthur, Gawain and Merlin, Finn Mac Cumhaill and Cuchulainn, Robin, Jack, Beowulf, Conan and Olwen, with local legends of Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.
Stories Told Could Include...The Boggart, The Buried Moon, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Beowulf and Grendel, Fearless Mary, Henry Trigg's Coffin, A Suffolk Miracle, The Man Who had to Mind the House, A Pottle of Brains, Baby Fin and the Giant Cuchulainn
3Whispers on the Chinese Wall
Myths and legends from ancient China, told along the Silk Road to Samarkand, on the Great Wall, in the taverns of Shanghai and the tents of Kublai Khan.
Stories Told Could Include...The Great Bell of Peking, Aina-Kizz, The Clever Judge, The Greatest Archer, Mr and Mrs Hak Tak,The Heavenly Flower Man, Ma Liang and His Magic Brush, The Magic Brocade, A Name for the Emperor's Cat, Little Jewel.
4Crossing the Crocodile River
Tales from East Africa’s Rift Valley, Olduvai Gorge, Serengeti and Lake Victoria. Hyenas and hunters, spirits and ghosts, riddles and trickery.
Stories Told Could Include... Shamshuni, River Turtle is Not Singing, Younde Goes to Town, Kanu Above and Kanu Below, Abiyoyo, Nyangara the Python, The Mirror, The Hat Maker and the Thieving Monkeys, Bat and His Mother
5The Oracle at Delphi
The myths and legends of ancient Greece – the gods on MountOlympus, exploits of the heroes, and other sagas.
Stories Told Could Include... The Goose with the Golden Eggs, Eros and Psyche, Artemis, Orion and the Seven Sisters, Pandora's Box, The Mares of Diomedes, Orpheus in the Underworld, Theseus and the Minotaur, Pygmalion, Odysseus and Polyphemus, Achilles and the Death of Hector.
6In the Shadow of the Himalayas
Beggars and beasts, jesters and magicians, wise counsellors and foolish kings, stories of Northern India, from Punjab through Uttar Pradesh to Bangladesh.
Stories Told Could Include... The Brahmin's Dream, Fair Shares, The King with Dirty Feet, The Lion Makers, Monkey and the Crocodile, The Raja's Secret, The Golden Gazelle, Sanykisar the Crow Girl, Akanandun the Only Son,The Tale of Bibgaraz Maj.
7Discovering the Spice Islands
Stories from Indonesia, Malaysia, Borneo and the Philippines, tales of fishermen and seafarers, magic and mystery, clever mouse deer and foolish tigers.
Stories Told Could Include... Mouse Deer's New Home, Mouse Deer eats the Tiger, Why there are no Tigers in Borneo, The Swordfish Attack on Singapore, Raja Bongsu, The Intended Attack on China, King Bato and Asin, Raja Soliman's Daughter, The Messenger from Gunung Agung, Badang the Mighty War Chief.
8Told in a Tepee
Legends of the Plains Indians, Sioux, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Arapaho: stories of sun, stars and moon, buffalo hunts, ghosts and spirits, and of heroic deeds.
Stories Told Could Include... Life and Death of Sweet Medicine, Quillwork Girl and Her Seven Star Brothers, Lifting The Sky, Why Coyote Howls at the Sky, The Man Who Met the Sun, Manabozho and His Toe, The Indian Cinderella, How Beaver Stole Fire from the Pines, The Siege of Courthouse Rock, Chief Roman Nose Loses His Medicine.
Wicksteed Park Audience
