Children at a school in Beeston marked World Storytelling Day on Wednesday, March 20 by taking part in an interactive storytelling session, courtesy of Platform Home Ownership.
Platform, which has Shared Ownership homes for sale at a nearby development named The Maltings, arranged for a professional storyteller to visit 142 children aged between four and seven at Trent Vale Infant School, underlining its commitment to giving back to the communities it provides homes for.
World Storytelling Day celebrates the art of oral storytelling and is also a day for people around the globe to listen and tell stories in as many languages as possible.
According to the National Literacy Trust, fewer than 3 in 10 (28.0%) children and young people aged said that they read daily in 2023.
Professional storyteller Mark Fraser conducted the sessions, with pupils engaged throughout and given the confidence to share their own stories, with a Q&A session to help them further understand the importance of doing so, and Platform also donating a number of books for the children to enjoy.
The donation and storytelling session is the third example of Platform providing for schools in Beeston in recent months, with a buddy bench and physical Christmas baubles from children’s designs gifted to Trent Vale’s sister school at the end of 2023.
Sabina Cox, Marketing Manager at Platform said, “To be able to provide this engaging storytelling session for so many pupils is incredibly rewarding.
“We hope that the children classes enjoyed their storytelling sessions and that it helped to inspire them into a love for telling and listening to stories.
“Providing Trent Vale with this session to introduce important topics in such an interactive and engaging way is extremely important to us, and we hope to organise more community-enhancing initiatives for Beeston in the near future.”
Janine Barratt, headteacher at Trent Vale Infant School, said: “It was super to see just how engrossed the children were by these fascinating stories – with the session helping to put smiles on their faces.
“The storytelling was educational and informative for the children, helping to inspire a love of sharing stories and therefore reading.
“We’d like to thank Platform for generously arranging for Mark to visit our school, and providing a great morning for all involved.”
For more information about the school, please visit: https://www.trentrylandsfederation.com
For further details on The Maltings, please visit https://www.platformhomeownership.com/the-maltings-beeston/
Photo: Professional storyteller Mark Fraser with pupils from Trent Vale Infant School