Written World workshops with Abriachan Forest Trust
2013 Written World workshops for P4, P5, P6, P7 classes
Each May, Moniack Mhor partners with the Abriachan Forest Trust for just over two weeks of one-day workshops. They will run on May 13-17, 20-24, and 25 this year.
Groups of up to twenty primary pupils – 200 in total – explore the nearby forest with outdoor education leaders from the Trust and an experienced writing tutor in the morning, then return to the Centre for an afternoon of nature-inspired writing with the tutor. Tutors for 2013 are Gerry Cambridge (poet) and Linda Cracknell (prizewinning short story writer and nature writer).
In the forest, participants:
- Learn about bird calling
- Read animal tracks
- Try pond dipping.
- Discover the ecology of the forest using a hands-on approach.
In the afternoon, the group returns to Moniack Mhor for lunch and a creative writing workshop utilising stimuli from the morning. Exercises evoke ideas for poems, short stories, group stories, and riddles. Pupils are often keen to illustrate their work and share it with the group. The day finishes with a short wrap-up session.
These workshops provide schools opportunity to improve their pupils’ creative writing skills in an engaging way that also aligns with Curriculum for Excellence. Pupils’ work is collected on the day or afterwards and collated in an anthology; every school involved receives at least one copy.
