Storytelling In Your Area - London: 2012

In 2012 we organised the following multi-sensory storytelling sessions:

Hillingdon Manor School, Hayes. 29/11/12

Our Storyteller ran two multi-sensory storytelling sessions with a total of 12 children. We received a combined feedback from the teachers. They judged that all the children had benefitted from the storytelling and rated the experience as 5/5 “Very Good”. They added, "Storyteller did superbly well as our pupils can be very challenging."

Marion Richardson School, Tower Hamlets. 19/11/12

Our Storyteller ran two multi-sensory storytelling sessions with a total of 14 children. We received a combined feedback from the teachers. They judged that all the children had benefitted from the storytelling and rated the experience as 5/5 “Very Good”. They added, "Excellent. Great to see such a good resource for improving these students' literacy skills."

Castlebar School, Ealing. 11/10/12

Our Storyteller ran six multi-sensory storytelling sessions with a total of 46 participating children. We received a combined feedback from the teachers. They judged that all the children had benefitted from the storytelling and rated the experience as 5/5 “Very Good”. They added, “I am delighted to tell you that [the Storyteller’s] visit was a resounding success. Apart from one prop that got a bit battered, everything went very well and everyone was delighted with the storytelling sessions. The pupils and staff were really motivated by her and they were all reaching for the Bag Books today and talking about using them more effectively. Thank you so much for providing this wonderful event, and please pass on our thanks and best wishes to [the Storyteller] as unfortunately I was unable to see her at the end of the day.”

Stephen Hawking School, Tower Hamlets. 03/10/12

Our Storyteller ran seven multi-sensory storytelling sessions with a total of 40 children. We received a combined feedback from the teachers. They judged that all the children had benefitted from the storytelling and rated the experience as 5/5 “Very Good”. They added, "Great experience for all of our pupils. Multi-sensory approach enables them to fully engage in stories."

The Village School, Brent. 01/10/12

Our Storyteller ran eight multi-sensory storytelling sessions with a total of 46 participating children. We received a combined feedback from the teachers. They judged that all the children had benefitted from the storytelling and rated the experience as 5/5 “Very Good”.

North Beckton Primary School, Newham. 27/09/12

Our Storyteller ran three multi-sensory storytelling sessions with a total of 20 children. We received a combined feedback from the teachers. They judged that all the children had benefitted from the storytelling and rated the experience as 5/5 “Very Good”. They added, "What a fantastic day! Pupils at every level were fully engaged."

London Transport Museum, Westminster. 15/09/12

Our Storyteller ran four multi-sensory storytelling sessions with a total of 16 children. No feedback was received.

Strathleven Road, Lambeth. 15/05/12, 29/05/12, 02/09/12

A total of 17 adult participants across the three sessions. There were two trainees and they both rated the overall training/mentoring as "5/5 - Very Good". One added, "This was really great. It was something that I could use at work and with my family."

Michael Tippett School, Lambeth. 20/07/12

Our Storyteller ran three multi-sensory storytelling sessions with a total of 17 children. No feedback was received.

Daylight Centre, Islington. 27/06/12, 11/07/12, 18/07/12

A total of 18 adult participants across the three sessions. There were four trainees. Feedback was received from three of them and they all rated the overall training/mentoring as "5/5 - Very Good". One added, "Enjoyable, relaxed, enthusiastic and helpful trainer - thank you!" Another commented, "It was nice and many of the clients loved it and it gave them total/absolute participation in the session especially for clients who mobilize with wheelchair and are non-verbal."

Mayford Day Centre, Camden. 27/06/12, 11/07/12, 18/07/12

A total of 17 adult participants across the three sessions. There were three trainees and they all rated the overall training/mentoring as "5/5 - Very Good". One added, "I enjoyed it." Another commented, "New stories - very interesting, multi-sensory essential."

St Giles' School, South Croydon. 09/07/12

Our Storyteller ran multi-sensory storytelling sessions with a total of 36 children. We received a combined feedback from the teachers. They judged that all the children had benefitted from the storytelling and rated the experience as 5/5 “Very Good”. They added, "This was a really fantastic day. The pupils got a lot out of it."

Priory School, Croydon. 05/07/12

Our Storyteller ran multi-sensory storytelling sessions with a total of 32 children. We received a combined feedback from the teachers. They judged that all the children had benefitted from the storytelling and rated the experience as 5/5 “Very Good”. They added, "[The Storyteller] was fantastic!"

Mapledown School, Barnet. 28/06/12

Our Storyteller ran multi-sensory storytelling sessions with a total of 39 children. We received a combined feedback from the teachers. They judged that all the children had benefitted from the storytelling and rated the experience as 5/5 “Very Good”. They added, "Thank you for a lovely day of storytelling."

Jack Tizard School, Hammersmith & Fulham. 27/06/12

Our Storyteller ran eight multi-sensory storytelling sessions with a total of 55 participating children. We received a combined feedback from the teachers. They judged that all the children had benefitted from the storytelling and rated the experience as 5/5 “Very Good”. They added, “Everybody really enjoyed the storytelling. Glad we finally managed to find a date!”

Tuke School, Southwark. 26/06/12

A Build-A-Book day with seven children. A teacher commented,“The session was pitched and paced very well. The project challenged the students in many ways – physically in relation to the handling of materials and using tools. It also required them to focus and tested their ability to manage a change to their schedule/routine. [The Bag Books' staff] were very friendly and worked well with the students and staff. They worked hard to encourage students and encouraged them to participate and do more where they could.”

Phoenix School, Tower Hamlets. 21/06/12

Our Storyteller ran four multi-sensory storytelling sessions with a total of 28 participating children. We received feedback from three teachers who judged that all the children had benefitted from the storytelling. Two rated the experience as "5/5- Very Good” and one as "4/5 - Good". Comments were:

• "Session felt very quick. Children were very engaged and so would have benefitted from more time, either by extending story, interaction or an additional story."
• "Good use of props but maybe give children more opportunity to explore/play with props independently."
• "It will be nice for the children to be able to engage during the story instead of just listening (like the use of PECS etc.)"

Mapledown School, Barnet. 21/06/12

Our Storyteller ran five multi-sensory storytelling sessions with a total of 31 participating children. We received a combined feedback from the teachers. They judged that all the children had benefitted from the storytelling and rated the experience as 5/5 “Very Good”. They added, “Thank you for a lovely day of storytelling.”

Greenmead Primary School, Wandsworth. 19/06/12

Our Storyteller ran three multi-sensory storytelling sessions with a total of 20 children. We received feedback from two teachers. They judged that all the children had benefitted from the storytelling and both rated the experience as 5/5 “Very Good”. One added, “All the children really enjoyed it and was appropriate for all the children." Another commented, "Fantastic!!"

Pield Heath House School, Uxbridge. 18/06/12

Our Storyteller ran multi-sensory storytelling sessions with a total of 25 children. We received a combined feedback from the teachers. They judged that all the children had benefitted from the storytelling and rated the experience as 5/5 “Very Good”. They added, “Everybody that attended thought the sessions were really worthwhile for our pupils."

Horizon School, Hackney. 14/06/12

Our Storyteller ran five multi-sensory storytelling sessions with a total of 31 children. We received a combined feedback from the teachers. They judged that all the children had benefitted from the storytelling and rated the experience as 5/5 “Very Good”. They added, “Really beneficial for our pupils. Staff especially keen for us to buy the story about Eid."

John Harvard Library, Southwark. 13/06/12

We trained 17 people in multi-sensory storytelling. We received feedback from all 17 trainees. 13 rated the quality of the training as "5/5 - Very Good" and four as "4/5 - Good." Comments were:

• "Very interesting."
• "Excellent training."
• "Very informative."
• "Absolutely loved it as it was great."
• "Very enjoyable course."

Ambleside Lodge, Lambeth. 15/05/12, 29/05/12, 12/06/12

A total of 17 adult participants across the three sessions. There were three trainees. Two rated the overall training/mentoring as "5/5 - Very Good" and one as "4/5 - Good". One added, "Some service users really came alive in these sessions!"

Mandeville School, Greenford. 22/05/12

Our Storyteller ran five multi-sensory storytelling sessions with a total of 33 participating children. We received a combined feedback from the teachers. They judged that all the children had benefitted from the storytelling and rated the experience as 5/5 “Very Good”. They added, “Everybody that attended the sessions enjoyed them. Hope you can come back again!”

St. Giles School, Croydon. 22/05/12

Our Storyteller ran a multi-sensory storytelling sessions with a total of seven children. No feedback was received.

William Morris School, Waltham Forest. 21/05/12

Our Storyteller ran multi-sensory storytelling sessions with a total of 42 children. We received a combined feedback from the teachers. They judged that all the children had benefitted from the storytelling and rated the experience as 5/5 “Very Good”. They added, “Excellent. Hope [the Storyteller] can come back soon.”

Colegrave Primary School, Newham. 09/05/12

Our Storyteller ran multi-sensory storytelling sessions with a total of 23 children. We received a combined feedback from the teachers. They judged that all the children had benefitted from the storytelling and rated the experience as 5/5 “Very Good”.

Manor Special School, Brent. 04/05/12

Our Storyteller ran eight multi-sensory storytelling sessions with a total of 62 participating children. We received feedback from one teacher. They judged that all the children in their class had benefitted from the storytelling and rated the experience as 5/5 “Very Good”. They added, “This was an excellent session. Simple stories with props (multi-sensory) and really engaged the children. Thanks!”

Regents Park Children's Centre, Camden. 27/04/12

Our Storyteller ran four multi-sensory storytelling sessions with a total of 27 participating children. We received feedback from all four teachers. They judged that all the children had benefitted from the storytelling and all rated the experience as 5/5 “Very Good”. Comments were:

• “The children really enjoyed the storytelling and exploring the different props and were engaged in the activity.”
• “The whole group engaged and enjoyed using the props.”
• “All of [the children] enjoyed the session very much and were engaged throughout the session.”
• “The storyteller was very good and used his voice in various tones to support the stories. He also talked at the children's level which facilitated interaction. The stories were short and the use of props was very relevant. All the children enjoyed the experience and were very involved during the session. I think it was very beneficial for these children and would recommend this type of session on a regular basis.”

Queen Elizabeth II Junior School, Westminster. 26/04/12

A Build-A-Book day with five children. A teacher commented, “A mixture of SLD and PMLD students took part and were encouraged to work at their individual levels of ability. We enjoyed the Build-a-Book day and feel that the students really benefited from it. We have been using the book we made on a weekly basis.”

Royal London Hospital PRU , Tower Hamlets. 26/04/12

Our Storyteller involved seven children in total. The children responded very positively to the stories and the staff were also very enthusiastic.A member of staff said, “The children you worked with really did appreciate and have a great time listening and joining in with the stories. I also learnt a lot and now feel more confident myself in delivering such a session.”

Durants School, Enfield. 19/04/12

Our Storyteller ran multi-sensory storytelling sessions with a total of 34 participating children. We received combined feedback on behalf of all the teachers. They judged that all the children in their class had benefitted from the storytelling and rated the experience as 5/5 “Very Good”. They added, “Thank you for sending [the Storyteller] to our school. Everybody found the stories fun and inspiring.”

Cherry Garden School, Southwark & Michael Tippett School, Lambeth. 28/03/12

Our Storyteller ran sessions on the London Eye for a total of 12 children.

Chelsea Community Hospital School, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. 26/03/12

Our Storyteller involved four children in total. The staff in the school were very enthusiastic and impressed with the children’s responses to the sessions and asked if our storyteller could stay for the week!

Royal Free Hospital Children's School, Camden. 22/03/12

Our Storyteller involved two children in total. Both really enjoyed the stories and remained engaged throughout. Staff were delighted with the response and the welcome distraction from the normal routine.

Children's Hospital School at Great Ormond Street, Camden. 21/03/12

Our Storyteller involved six children in total. One nurse commented "I have never seen her so engaged and smiling. The chemo is taking its toll but that was so much fun for her. Thank you.”

Tuke School, Southwark. 19/03/12

Our Storyteller involved 28 children in total. We received a combined feedback on behalf of all the teachers. They judged that all of the children had benefitted from the storytelling rated the experience as 5/5 “Very Good”. They added, "What a wonderful day! Thank you."

Riverside School, Haringey. 15/03/12

Our Storyteller involved 42 children in total. We received a combined feedback on behalf of all the teachers. They judged that all the children had benefitted from the storytelling but no rating was given.

Evelina Children's Hospital, Lambeth. 12/03/12

Our Storyteller involved eight children in total. The feedback from the teachers and nursing staff was very positive despite concerns that some of the children would be too unwell to participate. This is where it became apparent that our storyteller would have to be adaptable for this project and visit the wards and specialist units as well as the schools. One parent particularly welcomed the session saying it was the longest she had seen her child engage in something during his hospital stay, giving her a much needed break.

Swiss Cottage School , Camden. 07/03/12

Our Storyteller ran five multi-sensory storytelling sessions with a total of 24 participating children. We received feedback from two teachers. They judged that all the children in their class had benefitted from the storytelling and both rated the experience as 5/5 “Very Good”. One added, “All children benefitted from sensory/kinaesthetic storytelling/repetition of lines etc. Met all children's SEN needs, engaged them all and huge fun - great motivator for teaching. Class very eager to use resources.” The other added, “Very patient with the children. The stories were the right level. The story about London was great, we did it as a topic last term, so relevant.”

Kingsley High School, Harrow. 05/03/12

Our Storyteller ran six multi-sensory storytelling sessions with a total of 39 participating children. We received a combined feedback from the teachers. They judged that all the children had benefitted from the storytelling and rated the experience as 5/5 “Very Good”. They added, “All really enjoyed the day. [The storyteller] was great!”

Woodlands School, Edgware. 02/03/12

Our Storyteller ran five multi-sensory storytelling sessions with a total of 36 participating children. We received feedback from nine teachers. They judged that 34 of the 36 children had benefitted from the storytelling and six rated the experience as 5/5 “Very Good” with three rating it as 4/5 “Good”.

Manor Special School, Brent. 01/03/12

Our Storyteller ran six multi-sensory storytelling sessions with a total of 42 participating children. We received feedback from one teacher. They judged that all the children in their class had benefitted from the storytelling and rated the experience as 5/5 “Very Good”. They added, “Very sensory orientated and very simple language so that children could understand and take part. An excellent session.”

Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee School , Westminster . 29/02/12

Our Storyteller ran six multi-sensory storytelling sessions with a total of 23 participating children. We received a combined feedback from the teachers. They judged that all the children had benefitted from the storytelling and rated the experience as 5/5 “Very Good”. They added, “[The storyteller] helped to bring "World Book Day" alive for our children and young people. Imran (our post-16 "helper") is still talking about it! It was a really good model for staff to use Bag Books in literacy.”

Jack Taylor School, Camden . 28/02/12

Our Storyteller ran six multi-sensory storytelling sessions with a total of 30 participating children. We received a combined feedback from the teachers. They judged that all the children had benefitted from the storytelling and rated the experience as 5/5 “Very Good”. They added, “Thank you for a fantastic day of storytelling. The students and staff all got a lot out of the day, and [the storyteller] has inspired us to do more multi-sensory storytelling ourselves!”

Oakleigh School, Barnet. 27/02/12

Our Storyteller ran six multi-sensory storytelling sessions with a total of 47 participating children. We received feedback from one teacher. They judged that all the children in their class had benefitted from the storytelling and rated the experience as 5/5 “Very Good”. They added, “I am writing to thank you and [the storyteller] so much for the wonderful day of stories we had on 28th [sic] February, and for the fabulous three Bag Books you left for us. Our staff have said that they thought the stories were great. Sensory props well thought out and appropriate and [the storyteller] kept the pace going really well. It was totally multi-sensory and the verbal language and body language used was very engaging and appropriate for our pupils. Once again, thank you so much on behalf of all the children who took part.”

Sybil Elgar School, Southall. 23/02/12

Our Storyteller ran four multi-sensory storytelling sessions with a total of 23 participating children. We received a combined feedback from the teachers. They judged that all the children had benefitted from the storytelling and rated the experience as 5/5 “Very Good”. They added, “Thank you very much for the opportunity you gave us to have [the storyteller] in our school. [The storyteller] is extremely good in involving every pupil in the sessions, which were carefully planned. Our pupils love your stories.”

The Village School, Brent. 20/02/12

Our Storyteller ran six multi-sensory storytelling sessions with a total of 32 participating children. We received feedback from three teachers. They judged that all the children had benefitted from the storytelling and all rated the experience as 5/5 “Very Good”.

Jack Tizard School, Hammersmith & Fulham. 31/01/12

A Build-A-Book day with seven children. A teacher commented, “The children were very engaged in creative activities that they would not normally have experienced within the daily routine. The activities were suitable for all of the children’s abilities and allowed them to develop and experience vocational related skills. Staff were able to assess the children using skills not previously experienced and relate these to people who use them in the community e.g. a carpenter uses a saw.”

Castlebar School, Ealing. 30/01/12

Our Storyteller ran six multi-sensory storytelling sessions with a total of 41 participating children. We received feedback from six teachers. They judged that all the children had benefitted from the storytelling and all rated the experience as "5/5- Very Good”.

We subsequently received a nice letter of thanks:

"I would like to thank you for the free Bag Book stories that were delivered to the school this week. The staff members were delighted by the new titles and were inspired by the recent visit in January by [your Storyteller]. They have lots of ideas on how to use them and are all eager to use them with their pupils.

"The children will enjoy experiencing these new stories on World Book Day amd for a long time after. Many thanks to the charity, and well done for all the excellent work you do. We all really appreciate it."

Michael Tippett School, Lambeth. 13/01/12

Our Storyteller ran two multi-sensory storytelling sessions with a total of 10 children. No feedback was received.

Perseid School, Merton. 11/01/12

A Build-A-Book day with seven children. A teacher commented, “Our PMLD students are truly captivated by the various Bag Books stories and this was a unique opportunity to assist in the making of a new story and have it read to them at the end of the workshop session. We had the added bonus of keeping the book which we have been enjoying in our literacy lessons.”

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