WRITER Joseph Coelho had a blast reading out funny poetry to primary schoolchildren – and getting them to come up with their own rhymes and rhythm. “The Year 2s are entering the hall at Burley St Mathias primary school, on a sunny day in Leeds. I’m here with BookTrust as part of their Booktrust Represents project. I’m sharing poems from my poetry collection Werewolf
JACQUI Fox, Year 6 teacher and English Subject Leader at Shakespeare Primary School in Leeds, looks back on a visit from prize- winning author Onjali Q Rauf, who won the heart of every child in the classroom.
“The pupils in our school can empathise with a character like Ahmet from The Boy at the Back of the Class. We have refugee children at Shakespeare. We also have high numbers of N2E (new to English) children arriving in our school on a regular basis. Their families are economic migrants hoping for a better life in the UK. They can feel isolated and alone because of language barriers.
“Shakespeare Primary is full of book worms, but there are also many reluctant readers in the year group and many children who would not be able to access the story due to a limited understanding of English. “We read each chapter together, some children translated for others. We discussed the plot, drew ‘fortune lines’ of the main characters and used role play to ensure that most children got the gist of the story. “Year 6 are not always receptive learners at this time of year; this was different, though. They knew children like Ahmet, some had experienced Ahmet’s isolation and loneliness first-hand. “We loved the fact that we didn’t know if the main character was a boy or girl until almost the end. We loved the fact that he or she (no spoilers) had experienced loss too. We loved the four friends and their wacky plan to reunite Ahmet with his parents. The story is funny and sad, thought-provoking and genuinely moving.”
‘I’ve never felt like this about a book before’ “Friday morning dawned. Registration. “‘Is she here yet?’ One very quiet member of my class walked towards me and handed me a picture she had drawn for Onjali. It was a perfectly sketched pomegranate (readers of the book will understand). We put it on the table where the author would sit; Onjali was delighted. “It was a magical day: something special,
Spring-Summer 2020
Club Rules, which means starting with a poem to get all the Year 2s joining in, a poem about something that unites us all... Food! “I get them to come up with some disgusting food poems (inspired by my school dinners). The Year 2s do not disappoint, joining in and saying ‘Errrrrrr’ in all the right places. One of the great things about the BookTrust Represents project is that all the students get a copy of the visiting
writers’ books and it was lovely to see the Year 2 students diving straight into their copies. The poems they came up with were so inspiring. “For the second day, I was at Greenmount Primary but this time with Year 5 students, providing me the opportunity to share some of the older poems from the collection, such as Miss Flotsam: a poem about all the wonderful things teachers do that are not part of the job description, such as helping families through difficult times. “At the end of the session, students had time to ask questions and they did not disappoint as they asked not only about the intricacies of making books but also the particulars of plagiarism! “I was honoured to have poet Ruth Awolola shadowing me (another great aspect of the BookTrust Represents project). Shadowing is so important for artists working in schools as it is a particular skill which can’t easily be taught or ever really described, seeing as it is linked so much to the individual’s work and “voice”. Shadowing enables new writers/illustrators to get a chance to think about their own education practice through observing that of others. I certainly learned in this way by shadowing and observing fabulous poets like Aoife Mannix and Jacob Sam La Rose.
“My two days with the schools were brilliant and BookTrust Represents is such a super project.”
something different. The children felt a connection with Onjali immediately. They shared a common language. They felt that they already knew her.
“Onjali was everything we thought she would
be. Warm, funny, clever, smiley, engaging, natural. She spoke about herself, her writing and her work with refugees. The room was silent when she told us of the death of Alan Kurdi. Eyes lit up when she talked about the great things that refugees have brought to this country. “Waiting in line for a book to be signed, a Year 6 girl said to me: ‘I’ve never felt like this about a book before.’
“The quiet artist was given a special Snowy
and Tintin badge. They discussed whether a gift of a lemon sherbet (integral to the plot) was Halal. The joy on this child’s face knowing that she and Onjali were both Muslims is hard to describe. Onjali inspired the Muslim girls,
but she also inspired the rest of the girls and the teachers too. We wanted to become better people, better human beings because of her.”
Key that unlocks a child’s passion “The visit affected the pupils in a way that just reading the book never could. The thank you letters are testament to this. Lots of children stated they want to help refugees too; one boy wrote that he would treasure his signed copy of the book forever. Another said he understood how Ahmet felt. “Books affect us, but a real person can
affect us deeply. I will never forget the profound effect Onjali had on us all that day. “So, parents, carers, teachers – arrange that author visit, attend a book signing, support author events at your local library. It may be the key that unlocks a child’s lifelong passion for reading. It may be all they need
to fall in love with books.” PEN&INC
PEN&INC. 25
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