Working with children is a key part of my work. Children are searching to find their own special place in a world that can be strange, challenging and frightening. I like to reassure them on that emotional journey. Show them beauty and wonders. Make them laugh! I love to listen when children tell me stories in return. Love to feel that warm connection. Stories are a precious gift to humanity, and gifts are always more wonderful when shared.
PERFORMING FOR CHILDREN
Festivals, theatres, tourist sites, community venues, schools… I have an ever-expanding repertoire of stories for children aged 3+ and will happily plan a programme to suit your needs. I have been the storyteller-in- residence at many sites, including Eastnor Castle, Cadburyworld, Afan Forest Park (I specialise in woodland walks) and Margam Park.
This Hallowe’en I will again be in residence at Blenheim Palace for nine days of spooky fun!
SCHOOLS
Education is a BIG part of my work! I enjoy it enormously and find it hugely rewarding. For some children, meeting an author can be a life-changing experience. Suddenly the world becomes a place of possibilities. I talk about being a child, growing up in the back streets of Liverpool, reading books in my bedroom and dreaming of adventure. Of how I loved stories and, through hard work, stories became my career – my Golden Ticket that carries me all around the world. It’s heady stuff!
I work NATIONALLY and INTERNATIONALLY in schools.
I work with Nursery – Year 9, and can offer a host of age-appropriate workshops and performances. I can come as a storyteller or an author, or as a combination of the two. I am very flexible!
A full school day usually consists of 3 or 4 x 50/60 minute story sessions or workshops. It is possible to mix and match sessions eg a KS1 performance + a KS2 performance + two writing workshops.
Performances can accommodate up to 250 children. Workshops are maximum 35.
CAT SCHOOL SESSIONS 2022 – 23
Early Years/Key Stage 1
Cat mostly works as a specialist storyteller with this age group, offering highly interactive story sessions full of action rhymes, song, music, props etc. She tells traditional World Tales and original magical tales. Meet the Author elements are included, using her picture books Breathe and By Lantern Light.
Specialist sessions include:
The Story Mountain A story-making workshop for Years 1 & 2 that looks at the shape of stories and teaches that something must happen for it to be a story. 60 mins (Years 1 and 2)
Wonder & Magic: Creativity and literacy workshops for infants. These are on the theme of light, take place in a darkened space and have the specific aim of firing up imaginations and boosting creativity. Cat uses a multi-sensory approach, including iPad-generated sounds and wondrous light-up things she has collected from around the world. (Reception – Year 3) ‘The most AMAZING workshop we have ever had! Our heads are exploding with ideas on how we can use things with children to fire them up’ KS1 teachers, Aylburton C of E School (UK only – full day)
Key Stage 2
Cat can come into school as a Storyteller, an Author or a combination of both, depending on your focus.
Workshops:
Story Detectives: A collaborative story-making session in which the children become Story Detectives to uncover the patterns in traditional tales using a folk tale from India. The children learn about the storyteller’s ‘Magic 3’ and the importance and uses of suspense. Years 3 – 4. Classes can be doubled up for this workshop (60 mins)
Superhero Breakthrough: Using references from Greek myths, fairy tales and Hollywood movies, Cat explores the need for rules, limitation and vulnerability when writing about superheroes and super powers. The children produce a newspaper article. Years 5 & 6 (60-70 mins)
Three Black Tee Shirts: How To Work With Better Ideas: Dedicated workshop for Years 5 & 6 that specifically looks at ideas and how to raise your game. Yields results in just one hour with some kids making a massive leap forward in confidence. (60 mins)
Abstract Writing: Working with the theme of Friendship, Cat teaches how to think in a completely new way. The children then produce fantastically good metaphors, with ease. For some students, it is revolutionary. Year 6 (60-70 mins)
Imagined Worlds (How to spin a story from a setting) As a fantasy author, Cat loves creating imaginary worlds. In this workshop she looks at one specific location – an underwater palace – and explores the questioning process that leads to story ideas. A great workshop that shows how an author’s brain works and teaches a process of creativity. Years 4 – 6. (60 mins)
Something Wonderful: An ideas workshop on the theme of the knightly Quest. The workshop is a lesson in clear reasoning, debating, collaboration and the acceptance of others’ ideas as several creative options are (unexpectedly!) reduced down to one. Lively and great fun. The boardroom meets the classroom! Years 5 – 6. Less able students will need TA support – it is swift-moving. (70 mins)
Speed Storytelling: Have the whole class storytelling in just one hour. Years 4 – 6 (50 – 60 mins)
Book Design: A fascinating D&T/business studies tie-in workshop that looks at the evolution of the Barkbelly book cover, with behind the scenes insights about publishing and marketing. Years 5 – 6 (60 mins)
Key Stage 3
Cat’s books are only suitable up to year 7/8, so large group sessions above that age tend to be story-based. This is actually far more popular than it might sound! Her stories are entirely age appropriate and deal with subjects like peer pressure and envy.
Also very popular is her ‘What I am reading now’ presentation, which enables her to talk about her travelling, how to build a life, making a living as an artist, ‘making’ luck, and personal development. Cat says her greatest moment doing this presentation was when a Year 9 boy raised his hand in front of 200 peers, asked where he could buy a copy of Dale Carnegie’s How To Win Friends and no one laughed.
Workshops (max 30 students per workshop)
An Introduction to Autobiographical Storytelling / True-life Six-Word Stories
If we listen to the stories we tell about ourselves, then it makes good sense to tell stories that celebrate who we are. In this oral workshop, the students share light-hearted stories about themselves, explore the human qualities they admire in others and discover they possess those qualities themselves. An introduction to the self-reflective process that underpins autobiographical/personal storytelling. Years 7 – 9
Superhero Breakthrough: Using references from Greek myths, fairy tales and Hollywood movies, Cat explores the need for rules, limitation and vulnerability when writing about superheroes and super powers. The children produce a newspaper article. Year 7 (60-70 mins)
Abstract Writing: Working with the theme of Friendship, Cat teaches how to think in a completely new way. The children then produce fantastically good metaphors, with ease. For some students, it is revolutionary. Year 6 (60-70 mins)
Cinematic Writing
Cat considers the art of visualisation and her cinematic approach to writing. Students explore a method that can produces pin-sharp, multi-sensory, evocative images. Years 7 – 10 (60 – 70 mins)
Book Design KS3 version
See above. Years 7 – 8. (60 mins)
Jump Right In
Cat discusses imagination and explains how she thinks cinematically to write the opening paragraph of her books. The students work with slides of imagined worlds to create their own story beginnings, using a simple method.
Stars poetry workshop
Uses visualisation techniques to create more emotional poetry. Theme: stars (which can also include Shakespeare & cosmic imagery) Years 7 – 9. (90 minutes)
STAFF SESSIONS
I offer two after-school sessions, lasting 60 – 70 mins.
Speed Storytelling + Q&A
Essentially the same session I offer to juniors, so teachers can learn the technique then re-do the workshop with their classes. Good to see story mapping in action and also to learn how to strip down a tale to the basics and rebuild it as your own. This is an essential part of learning how to ‘tell’ a story rather than read it from a book.
What Storytelling has Taught Me
A very popular session because it is NOT interactive! At the end of a long day, sometimes staff are happy to listen but are (understandably) less keen to join in. This session is an enjoyable mix of a teen/adult story plus the life lessons I have learned from being a storyteller, as they relate to the classroom. It also includes some rhymes for younger children, lots of ‘tricks of the trade’ and gentle Q&A.
One teacher once told me she loved the session because she was not asked to apply it to her work practice there and then. Instead she was able to sit back and enjoy the stories without feeling pressured, and take the advice away with her 🙂