Schools

“His excited intonation and excellent timing held the children’s attention for the whole half hour … We can recommend his skills and enthusiasm for story telling sessions.” – Teaching Asst, Hertford Infant School, Brighton 
Storytelling is a valuable addition to the classroom. It’s attention-grabbing, interesting and can inspire children to look further into literature, history and performance.

It also has a lot to offer many aspects of the curriculum at all Key Stages. For English teaching it assists:

Spoken English – developing confidence and audience-awareness, and giving children the opportunity to both rehearse and improvise in performance

Language – developing vocabulary, figurative language and an awareness of dramatic and literary techniques

Literature – adding to children’s awareness of stories and cultures the world over

Yet it can also be brought to bear on History, Religious Education, even Citizenship, Geography and more: it is a means to explore events past and present, different cultural beliefs, the nature of human action and society, environmental impact… the list can go on.

Workshops and performances

I offer school sessions for all year groups, involving telling stories myself, interactive workshops (where the KIDS get to tell!), or a mixture of the two. I can tailor each visit to meet your immediate needs: picking my repertoire and/or adapting workshop structures, for example, to focus on particular topics or curricular aims.

A typical visit might include:

  • 30mins performance (KS1)
  • 45 mins performance (KS2 and up)
  • plus one or more workshops (an hour each)

… but I’m completely happy to work with you to come up with something specific and unique!

If you’d like me to give a session at your school, or would like to discuss what I can do, please do get in touch:

jonmase [at] gmail.com