Dare to read

Now for my next book - a primary student selects her favourite.

Inspiring reading and writing is what Bangkok Patana’s annual Book Week is all about and it is now in its fourth successful year. The brains behind the scheme are Claire Bridgman, Head of the Secondary English Faculty and Jon McNaught, Coordinator of Primary Literacy.

“We wanted to take some of the ideas we used from National Book Week and National Poetry Day back in the UK and incorporate them into the Patana calendar,” says Bridgman. “The whole point of this initiative is to celebrate the importance of books as well as raise the profile of reading. It’s a lot of fun but I think it also plays a central role in the academic progress of the students.”

McNaught emphasises the cross-campus element. “It also helps us to work together as a community. By getting older kids to work with younger ones, they are reminded of the educational process they went through and can see how far they have come, whilst the younger students see that you can still have fun with reading when you get older.”

During the week, students take part in a whole range of activities designed to develop reading and literacy skills across the age range from four to 16. Activities such as Buddy Reading, where Year 9 pupils, age around 14, read a story to an enthralled group of six-year-olds is one of the highlights. “It is a delight to watch,” says organiser Di McErlean. In return, the smaller ones read to the taller ones and there is a real sense of parity despite the age gap. Importantly, both groups are engaged in reading and take great pleasure in it. Fourteen-year-old Oliver admits to enjoying the book he is reading to little Julia, even though he’s used to more complex literature these days. “It’s very comforting,” he says, adding, “I still enjoy these stories.”

Traditionally, a visiting author works closely with students. This year, it is the turn of British writer and actor Michael Cronin who hopes to stimulate a desire for reading in the pupils. “It’s so vital that kids read today,” he says. “It’s more important now than ever because the world is such a complicated place to be in. One of the great things about reading is that its purpose is to slow down the world and make it that little bit more comprehensible.” His enthusiasm for storytelling is catching. “Every child, no matter how sociable, feels lonely at some time or other. In a good story, there’s always that great sense of recognition. Children can read a story and say ‘yes, that’s happening to me too, I’m not the only one’ which makes the world seem a safer place to be.”

The recent Harry Potter phenomenon and mania over the new novel The Order of the Phoenix is a great boost for the promotion of reading but Michael believes that students, and adults for that matter, should not be too limited by fantasy. “Relating the truth is the essence of storytelling,” he says. “It’s the ordinary things that fascinate me. Two of my books, Against The Day and Into The Night, are set in World War Two and both were influenced by the stories my parents and relatives used to tell me about how they survived the horrendous conditions of war. In some ways, those are just as interesting as the many tales of heroism from that period.”

"Thou festering guttersnipe!" Year 7's insult each other the Shakespearean way.

As an accomplished Shakespearean actor, Michael’s passion for the bard was put to good use. One activity had year 6 and 7 pupils, aged between 10 and 12, shouting Shakespearean insults at each other, giving them the opportunity to let off steam without the threat of suspension! Young Chris clearly took great delight in accusing his friend Alex of being an “infectious fool-born foot licker” whilst Alex gave as good as he got with the retort “thou puking milk-livered maggot pie!” The activity was all about developing a love of language and it worked. “I like Shakespeare,” says Mink, a year 6 girl, “because he tells funny and exciting stories and uses weird and interesting words.” Her friend, Selin, agrees. “He’s a romantic, freaky, scary guy and I like that,” she beams.

The visiting author is now an integral part of Book Week and is the fuel in the engine that drives the activities. Bridgman explains that Michael Cronin has brought the pages of Shakespeare alive in a way that teachers often find difficult. “He adds three dimensions to the flat pages of Shakespeare,” she says. “He brings an extra energy and an infectious enthusiasm, adding weight to what we as English teachers say everyday in the classroom. Sometimes we are constrained by curriculum and criteria, whereas he is free to just show his love of literature without having to mention how it will improve grammar and vocabulary.”

The students respond well to Cronin’s reading of Shakespeare and many get a chance to impress an audience themselves. Ten-year-old Sarah Cole memorised Juliet’s balcony speech from Romeo and Juliet, without any prompting from teachers, and performed it magnificently in front of her peers.

“The younger kids are easier to excite and enthuse,” notes Jon McNaught. “The activities are challenging for them since the pupils are used to very structured lessons. Because they are encouraged to work more independently and in a very grown up way, they love it.”

Getting the older kids enthused is a little harder. In today’s media age, young people are bombarded with images from movies to advertising and, for many, the written word has lost its ‘cool’. The slogan of Book Week “Dare to Read”, a play on the slogan for the No Fear brand of clothing, steals back some of that credibility and gives the initiative a more contemporary feel. In the past, students were warned that the “Books are Out There!” — clearly a reference to the popular X Files science fiction series. Using advertising strategies employed by big corporate companies, Book Week organisers splash enticing posters around the school before it all starts, to create a sense of anticipation, and teachers wear specially designed t-shirts to give a sense of uniformity and purpose to the week.

To reflect their age and attitude towards the subject, the activity designed for Year 10 students, aged around 15, was more sophisticated than those aimed at younger pupils. They spent a morning looking at a dramatic scene from Shakespeare’s King Lear and, through performance, were encouraged to think about the purpose of language as well as the creation of characters.

The focus of Book Week is not simply on novels and plays but also on poetry. Year 8 students, for example, spent an afternoon with Year 3’s, helping them to write a poem of their own. The results were impressive as primary teacher Stephen Murgatroyd observed. “There is a lot of co-operation and collaboration between the kids,” he observes. “I’ve seen one student who is usually quite unmotivated working so well. It’s amazing just to watch them get on with it.”

All week, pupils have had to be mindful of the Poetry Police — cruel men and women in uniform (teachers in reality) stalking the corridors and arresting people on the spot who aren’t carrying a poem on their person. Those who produce evidence of their favourite verse find themselves swiftly rewarded with a lollipop. It’s all harmless fun but the sentiment behind it is still a productive one.

The inspiration provided by Benjamin Zephaniah still lingers in the minds of many. “Writers bring with them such an exciting life experience and an attitude to the world which is inspirational to the kids,” says Bridgman. “Benjamin Zephaniah was dyslexic when he was young and became a disaffected teenager. It’s fantastic for the kids, particularly those who find writing and reading hard, to meet someone who once struggled with writing and is now a successful poet and celebrity.” So memorable was Zephaniah’s influence that the Poetry Police found many students with his poetry in their pocket.

Alongside the main activities on offer, students can get involved in a range of quirky competitions, Internet games and quizzes. For instance, they can write a review of the new Harry Potter novel and have their comments published online. They can win book tokens in a book quiz and guess which member of staff is hiding behind their favourite book on the “Whose Behind the Book?” board.

Reading across the age gap.

The week culminates in the release of two magazines containing both creative writing and artwork produced entirely by students. Secondary school magazine, The Core is, like Book Week, now a Patana institution and this year sees the very first edition of crEate, a publication produced by elementary school students. It is a fitting end to a week packed with creativity, learning and, above all, an appreciation of the written word.

Being an International School means having certain privileges — the ability to afford good resources and writers-in-residence for one. But many of the ideas used in the initiative can be employed anywhere, regardless of wealth or location. For example, Thai schools are now looking at moving away from rote learning and it is clear that something like Book Week can translate into enlivening the reading experience for everyone.

There is no doubt that Book Week 2003 was a hugely successful one. The buzz around the whole campus was vibrant and few seemed bored or uninterested. And it’s not just reading and writing the kids have enjoyed but also the opportunity to communicate, to be teachers as well as learners and to co-operate with others from a whole sphere of experience. Book Week fulfils a pastoral role as well as an academic one and it seemed that many of the pupils, at some point, discovered something new about themselves or their knowledge of language.

The teachers also gained from the experience. Whilst it has been an exhausting few days, all feel it has been worthwhile. “The kids have got so much out of it,” says English teacher Simon Lawrence. “Watching the students having fun with language makes all the hard work worth it.”

Michael Cronin enjoyed his week as well. “I can honestly say that imagination is alive and well in Patana School which makes it a good place to be. I do hope the students take that out with them into the wider world and make that a better place to be too.”

Next year, the activities will be fresh and different. “It’s important that we have change,” says Bridgman, “because it adds spice to the event, rather than it being the same year on year.” And respected authors from all corners of the globe are queuing up to come to Thailand for future Book Week events. Anne Fine, Paul Jennings and other top children’s writers have already showen an interest, which demonstrates the respect authors have for this kind of initiative. And, as one student was heard to comment, “it’s great when you can be serious and have fun at the same time.”

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Last modified: July 11, 2003