Date : April 23, 2023
Start a Writing Club at Your Child’s Primary School
Do you have a primary school aged child who loves writing? Encourage them to delve into creative writing by setting up a writing club at your child’s school! While it might seem like a difficult project to take on, there are so many resources available and knowledgeable people in your school and the wider community that can help. Here are a few ideas to get you started!
How do I start a primary school writing club?
- 1. Find a willing teacher, librarian, or teacher librarian, to get on board with your idea.
- 2. Get your blue card so you’re approved to work with children.
- 3. Find an appropriate venue. This could be at school, or in your local library, or any other appropriate meeting place where children can meet safely and have fun!
- 4. Talk to your local library, your state library, the Centre of Children’s Literature, or any other organisation that may be able to help you with designing and planning your sessions. Local libraries often have writing workshops on offer for children during school holidays – Brisbane Libraries have had previous workshops hosted by authors like Andy Griffiths. These would be fantastic resources to help you figure out how to best present the writing club.
- 5. Talk to the teacher/librarian about promotion and how to inform kids of where and when your sessions will be held.
- 6. Be available to answer any questions, provide any feedback on stories if requested, and be receptive to any ideas from kids, parents, and teachers on what to include in the sessions.
- 7. Keep in mind that these sessions are supposed to be fun!
Where can I go for inspiration?
State libraries such as the State Libraries of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria all have loads of resources available to help you start your primary school’s book club. You can customise your sessions based on the needs of the students who have expressed an interest in joining the club. There are also several fantastic young writers organisations and groups across the country that could provide inspiration or insight into creating an effective writing group.
Photo by Kirill Ozerov at Pexels
How should I plan it? What should each session look like?
Start small and work your way up to more complex ideas. Try to incorporate things like:
Writing prompts
These can be question cards to get the ball rolling and the creative juices flowing. It gives the kids somewhere to start.
Story chains
This is a collaborative type of storytelling where a story is passed around in a circle, and the students each add on their own sentence. The first time you do this, you could write the beginning sentence.
Inspiration packs
These include photos or illustrations that will kickstart kids’ imaginations. An image can be used as the basis for a story idea that kids can build on.
Descriptive writing activities
This is a more complex writing activity where the kids write about a place, person, or thing in a way that creates a picture in the reader’s mind. Writers often use this technique to bring a scene to life, and it’s a valuable skill for your kids to learn to help make their writing more compelling.
For more ideas, check out this great article on how to inspire kids to write!
Librarian Bec
Right now, Librarian Bec’s hard at work at your local library, sharing a passion for reading with little people and big. Bec writes about inspiring little readers and embracing lovely literature.
