Jaki Moody
A teacher who made a difference
The teacher who made a difference to me was Mr James, who taught me when I was in Year 5 and 6 at the village primary school in the late 1960s. Having the same teacher for two consecutive years could have been a disaster for some children, but not if that teacher was Mr. James.
I had always had books to read at home, and belonged to the local library as well as an additional library in the nearest town, but my choices were not challenged either by what I was introduced to at school, or by what had been read to me at home. All that changed in Year 5 and 6!
We listened to a poetry programme on the radio each week, sometimes following the written texts and always talking about what we had heard and learning poetry to recite. I can still recite poetry learned then, so in many ways those poems and their writers have been my friends for almost as long as I can remember. We read playscripts, taking on a role and sometimes performing to each other within our own class.
Every day I looked forward to the next episode in the class novel Mr. James was reading to us. Sometimes we read round the class, but I preferred it when his voice took me to a different place and sometimes a different time, as when he read us Ian Serraillier’s Silver Sword. I can still feel the frisson, a mixture of excitement and terror, that each event in the story evoked. I think I modelled the way I read to children in classes I have taught, and to my own sons, on the way he read to us, stopping at a cliff-hanger so we were desperate for story time the next day to arrive.
One year Mr James wrote on my report, ‘Jacqueline spends much of her time with her head inside her desk, where she usually has a book secreted’.
Mmm, now I wonder who we could blame for that then?!
In my primary school it was Mr Davies who told us the story of Prince Llewellyn and Gelert (and I cried a lot which he didn't like! - but it's a very sad story) and read 'The Wind in the Willows' to us - what a wonderful chapter 'The Piper at the Gates of Dawn' is... and in secondary school the wonderful Miss Flint who suggested we read 'Lord of the Rings'. I've now read it several times - and saw the wonderful films... but also it was the poetry.
What do I remember about teachers influencing my reading? Well when I started primary school reading was a brand new experience for me as my mother was German and had not been able to prepare me for school. I could not understand how children knew their alphabet! I learnt to read using the 'Janet and John' reading scheme and sadly enjoyed it. School was the only place that reading took place so was very important to me.
I particularly remember when I was in Class 5 (now year 3) our Teacher, Mr Farrant, would read to us everyday. I loved the story which I know was by Enid Blyton. It might have been the 'Faraway Tree' but it started my passion for reading books that allowed you to escape into a new magical reality. All through school I looked forward to hearing the class book.
In secondary school my love of reading was developed by Miss Tranter - a fantastic English teacher. Although we did not read children's books, as not many existed for teenagers at that time, it was through her that I discovered the beauty of Shakespeare and the excitement of John Wyndham. Without teachers reading to me at school the whole exciting world of literature would have by passed me. Thank you Mr Farrant and Miss Tranter. I hope wherever you are you are still reading books.
Sadly, I don't recall any of my Primary school teachers reading to me - shock horror! However, I was lucky enough to have a really dynamic head teacher in my first teaching post. Mrs Harrison could enthrall any audience with her passion for reading books to children (and teachers who sat mesmerised at the side of the assembly hall!) The school community would giggle and guffaw at the expression and actions she used to deliver the stories, and equally we would leave in tears as we all became immersed in emotion for characters' situations and dilemmas. She would converse confidently about authors and books to all age ranges injecting her zest for reading. One story that really stands out in my mind is, 'Stand Back Said The Elephant I'm Going To Sneeze!' which I still read to my class today! So a huge thank you to Mrs Sue Harrison who made books alive for me and hundreds of children x
Birdsong by Ellie Sandall
Author/illustrator Ellie Sandall was our 2011 UKLA Children’s Book award winner with her first picture book ‘Birdsong’. Ellie was a key speaker this week at the launch meeting for the 2012 Book Award, and spoke movingly about ways in which teachers influenced her journey as a young reader/writer/illustrator.
"The first teacher who particularly influenced me was my year two teacher, who used to make up stories about a character called 'the little green man'. The one detail that sticks in my mind is that he used a smarties tube lid as a dish for his meals! She used to tell us stories about him at the end of the day, all from memory, and I remember being impressed that she wasn't reading from a book.
The second teacher was the headteacher, who would do something similar whenever he covered our class- he would ask us to come up with a title, and then would ad-lib a story. I remember we once suggested the title 'The Sneezy Witch', and he proceeded to tell us all about a witch who needed to sneeze but couldn't. She tried all sorts of remedies, from sniffing pepper to rubbing a guinea-pig under her nose!
The third was my year four teacher. She encouraged me greatly in my art and, when we came to leave the school, wrote 'When you're a famous artist, please send me just a little picture' in my leaving book. She was the first teacher to make me think that I could be a real artist one day. I kept the note, and when Birdsong was published I sent her a signed copy, with the note tucked inside. She was actually extremely ill at the time, and died about a week later. I am very grateful that Birdsong made it to her, and that through that I was able to thank her for being such a great influence on me".
