Talented young authors get writing

The work of talented young writers from five Swindon schools has been celebrated in printed form.

As part of a collaborative writing project, children from Oliver Tomkins, Brook Field, Haydonleigh, Red Oaks and St Francis schools were challenged to write a version of the Little Red Riding Hood story.

More than 60 primary age children, from Key Stages 1 and 2, took it in turns to write parts of the story before passing on their work to the next school until their story was complete.

Oliver Tomkins deputy head teacher Julie Warburton explained: “This was a great opportunity for the children to work collaboratively whilst also developing the skill of building cohesion in their writing.”

Speaking about the printed collection of work she said: “This is an end product that the children should be rightly proud of, as it reflects the imagination and commitment that the children have demonstrated throughout the challenge.”

She explained that the scheme was funded by the Swindon Teaching Schools organisation to push the boundaries of the more able pupils.

Rachel Taylor, deputy head of Brook Field Primary School said: “The children were really engaged with this. Some of our year 6 children took their work home with them and then brought what they had written. They then had to work together to produce one piece. The children were given the choice of writing in any genre they wanted, so we had poems, playscripts and newspaper reports. It was quite a challenge for our more able writers to have to collaborate in this way. They are very excited to see the results printed like this.”

Year 6 Oliver Tomkins pupil, Faizan Haider said: “It’s great to see your work in print. I’m a keen writer, we were chosen for our literacy skills, so I really enjoyed taking part.”