VIEW FROM THE CLASSROOMIV EWFROMTHE CLA SSROOM


Viewiew


fromthe c lassroom


A


s thousands of schools across the country enjoyed the celebrations for


Roald Dahl 100, t he centenary of the famou s author’s birthday, sharewith us thei splendiferous Roa


ld Dahl Day at their school r experience of holding a we asked one school to


andwhat value it delivered for everyone involved. Katie Lowe, Deputy Head Teacher at Green Gates Primary School,was on hand to explain .


Tel Tell us about your school?l us about your school?


Green Gates Primary School is a small primary school situated in the coastal town of Redcar in North Yorkshire. The school is located in an area of high deprivation and there is a high percentage of children with special educational needs. For example, 76%of our children are pupil premium.


How did you hear about Roald Dahl Day? We were first alerted to the day through Twitter. We source our educational supplies and resource material from YPO and this year they became an official partner of Roald Dahl 100, so because of this connection we became aware of the worldwide celebrations to mark the birth of the storyteller.We also follow YPO on twitter and find their posts helpful for ideas and class activities. Particularly around Roald Dahl Day, YPO’s twitter @YPOinfo gave us lots of inspiration for themed activities.


Howdid you hear about Roald Dahl Day? What d d your Roald Dahl Day look like?


What did your Roald Dahl Day look like?i Because we are in quite a deprived area, we didn’t think we would get very many children dressing up and we weren’t sure what the level of uptake would be We were sensitive to asking parents to be involved and dressing up for the


. Roald Dahl’s stories and characters always offer


opportunity to engage children in


"Roald Dahl’s stories and characters always offer a tremendous opportunity to engage children in


"Roald Dahl’s’s stories and characters always offer a tremendous


creative learning" creative learning"


children was voluntary.We were prepared for a low take-up. However, we were surprised and shocked at the enthusiasm for the day. There were so many wonderful and creative outfits


20 www.education-toda y.co.uk.co.uk www November 2016 2016


from the classroom


a tremendous opportunity to engage children in creative learning, and whether it’s tales from The Twits, the BGF or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, there are lots of ways to use them as springboards for lessons.We were therefore inspired to stage our own Roald Dahl Day involving the whole school from nursery to year six.


and the children went to town on dressing up as their favourite character for our Dahlicious Dress Up Day.


We were plunged into the world of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,Matilda, The BFG, and The Witches.We even had one pupil dressed as a blueberry. Lots of blue face paint and pillows front and back. So simple, not at all expensive to put together, but very effective.We were over- run with Oompa Loompas, Big Friendly Giants andWillyWonka’s as well as many other of Roald Dahl’s wonderful characters. Teachers also got into the spirit of the day and transformed themselves into their favourite characters, much to the children’s delight. They greeted their pupils when they arrived at school that day which wen t down a treat.


We had a very impressive Grand HighWitch as well as a FantasticMr Fox. Pupils absolutely loved it.We wanted to make sure that everyone had a great day so we worked hard to ensure all staff and parents were on board.We promoted the day as much as possible and encouraged everyone to create a costume if they could and come dressed up.We helped with costumes where needed to make sure no one was left out .


What act vities took place?


“Never do anything We took inspiration


Go the whole hog.” What activities took place?i


The children read Roald Dahl by halves…be outrageous. from Roald Dahl himself.


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