22nd July 2017
Storytelling in Schools
“If I were a Freeman I would be a chocolate seller because people like chocolate and I would get lots of money”. A child in Ms Dodson’s class at Cringleford Primary School reflects on the visit by three Freemen to her class in early July. ‘Storytelling in Schools’ is a pilot project of the Freemen700 programme and its enormous success makes a strong case for it to become a regular activity to cement the Freemen’s relationship with Norwich primary schools.
The three Freemen who visited Cringleford Primary might be disappointed that the children did not want to run a photographic business like Jenny Plunkett, or be a tree surgeon like Charlie Clarke, or even a motorcycle dealer like Paul Clarke, but the children were completely absorbed by the story of Jenny’s business, run with partner Andrew Coe (Barrett & Coe) and demonstrations of old cameras and how to take a better picture; they loved Charlie’s descriptions of his work and identifying different types of tree; and they were delighted when Ms Dodson sat astride one of the Moonraker motorcycles that Paul brought to the school.
“It was a wonderful morning for the children, so come back soon” said Ms Dodson. Phillippa Holdsworth, a teacher at another school visited by the Freemen storytellers, St Augustines Primary in Costessey, simply asked: “When are you coming back?” And Michael Quinton, who demonstrated sausage-making, comments: “It was great fun to do these visits”.