Claire Hogan, Curriculum Leader for Family
Learning at the Wirral Lifelong and Family Learning Service,
explains how a familiar bedtime routine was turned into
a school reading event for young children and their families.
As part of the Family Reading Club that was set up in one
of the primary schools in our area, we organised a storytelling
session for the children and their families to attend. The
visiting storyteller, Sally Tonge, told a mixture of traditional
and lesser-known stories by candlelight and used music and
puppetry to enhance the tales. To build on the bedtime theme,
families came to the evening with their teddies dressed
in their pyjamas. They also enjoyed mugs of hot chocolate.
The event was deemed a great success, one pupil commented:
"All my mates want to come. They
think it sounds cool!"
The session was an event for all of the family, with younger
children observing how their older siblings were engaging
with the stories and following suit. To really involve the
parents and older children, they also had the opportunity
to play with the words and tell the stories themselves.
The bedtime story tales event was a really effective way
to encourage stories to be told at home. With some simple
framing from the development worker, Anne Marie Morrison,
it became an entirely fun and appropriate experience for
the families. By modelling good practice, it raised their
awareness of the importance of bedtime stories in a fun
and accessible way.
"I think it is a good idea.
It gives the children more confidence to read." (Parent)
The success of the session can be attributed to its format
but also to the commitment of the staff to work with the
families. Due to popular demand and as the dark evenings
start to draw in, there is another twilight session planned
for the near future.
80px.gif)
