The writing is on the wall for, L-R, Elsie Smith, 10, Remy Ghose, five, Effie Watkins-Pitt, five, and Reuben Simpson, 11.
BUDDING wordsmiths are being encouraged to write in the quiet of a purpose-built shed just like the one used by How to Train Your Dragon author Cressida Cowell.
Barnard Castle Preparatory School pupils can now opt to spend playtime in the writing or the reading sheds to concentrate on their prose.
A heavy emphasis is placed on reading and writing, as part of their learning and for pleasure, at the school, which saw one of its pupils attend Windsor Castle for the national finals of the BBC Radio2 500 Words competition from 40,000 entries.
In a BBC interview Cressida Cowell recently said: “I have a writing shed and I leave my phone outside. I find that handwriting is the way to the heart and I even have a bed in the shed because I used to lie on one when I was young. It makes it really joyful.
“Children’s attention span can be really short nowadays. Phones are really addictive. They feed you stuff they know you like and even eavesdrop. This is a really good message for adults too. Put your phone down and go back to books. There is so much joy in books, they feed your soul and by doing so they are being models for children.”
Deputy head teacher of Barnard Castle Preparatory School Sarah Leonard added: “I wanted to see playtime as another way to connect with learning. A lot of children want to write at playtime and we wanted to give them an opportunity to produce their own stories.
“They also get the chance to write collaboratively. Writing is something they feel passionate about, something to explore. They just need a pen and some paper and providing them with a writing shed seemed the natural thing to do. It is a reaction to the digital world and an opportunity to show them that the written word is a good thing.”
Categories: Barnard Castle School
