Newtonmore Gaelic Unit
In September of 2013 I was invited by Dr Joyce Gilbert, Education Officer for the Royal Geographical Society of Scotland, to take part in an innovative project which encouraged school pupils to connect to the land through the art of traditional story-telling.
The pupils had already enjoyed visits from professional story tellers, including someone of the travelling tradition, and had heard stories from the past related to their own culture and place. They had then gone on to develop their own stories using all the essential ingredients - details of the landscape, mysterious characters and magic!
I visited Newtonmore Primary School Gaelic Unit to help add a new dimension to these newly acquired story-telling skills. Whilst the main focus of the project was to encourage the art of oral story-telling, my job was to help the children present their stories in an intriguing visual form.
So we made "Story Boxes" from shoe boxes, and devised a variety of ways in which the boxes could open, reveal, tell (in both English and Gaelic) and illustrate the story in a way that would delight the eye. The ideas were endless. It is hoped that these Story Boxes will act as treasured memory boxes for the children and prompt them to re-tell their stories in years to come. The boxes will also be appreciated by the visitors to the Scottish Storytelling Centre, which hosts the International Storytelling Festival, since they will be on display there starting 19th October 2013
Please click to see full images..
