To St. James CofE School with Shamshad Khan for the first session with a class of the older children. I collected Shamshad from Bury; drove to Haslingden and introduced her to Linda Roberts, the Headteacher. I then left Shamshad so she could prepare the room in advance of the class arriving.
I came back to the school at 2pm, and by then Shamshad was close to the end of her second session of the day, each of which was with a group of 14 children.
Here (in the photo above), some of that group welcome me. Most have matchboxes balanced on their heads. The matchboxes hold a tiny note, and next week when they return it should also hold some special pieces of information – the meaning of their name; the first word they spoke; and a lullaby that was sung to them in their crib or bed. In doing this we hope we will begin to introduce the older members of the family to the project, and for the different generations in the household to share precious memories.
The next thing I noticed was an old parchment-like book, singed at the edges, and dried roses spread out on the floor in front of the children, and I found Shamshad using these to prompt the shy ones in the group to talk and describe what was in front of them.
A good day, and a good start to Different Moons.
An email from the school – "'The best poet in the world' was one child's description!!"