Book Week at Staines Prep

07 Nov 2014

Staines Prep enjoyed celebrating its annual Book Week last week, which featured a whole host of imaginative characters from the world of literature – from the friendly and popular heroes to the colourful ‘baddies’ all children love to hate.  The inspiring week ended with a special guest appearance from the award-winning poet James Carter.

James delighted his young audiences with a series of lively and engaging poetry performances during assemblies and classroom workshops.  Accompanied by his guitar called Keith, his sessions focused on ‘using words’.  He said: “I want children to feel excited and confident about using language and to get them writing expressively and to the best of their abilities.”

James was the major contributor of poetry material to the BBC CBeebies series, Poetry Pie and Magic Fingers.  His most recent book for teachers Let’s Do Poetry in Primary Schools was given the Primary Teacher Update Silver Award and his many collections of children’s poems including Journey to the Centre of My Brain, How to Turn Your Teacher Purple and Orange Silver Sausage have all received great reviews.  His collections for younger readers include Hey Little Bug! (Junior Magazine’s Book of the Month) and I’m a Little Alien! (Books for Keeps Magazine’s Book of the Week).

Deputy head, Malcolm Amiss said: “James’s love for the written word is inspiring.  Pupils and teachers alike have all benefited greatly from his ability to get us to think outside the box.  Getting the children to tap into their creative imagination will not only help develop future writing skills, but I think will also enhance their abilities across a range of other areas within the School’s varied curriculum.”

 

Photo: Poet James Carter with his guitar ‘Keith’ holding a poetry workshop at Staines Prep