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STORY TELLER AT FLEMING
Long before TV, IPods and X-boxes, we entertained
family and friends with stories. Every culture has a
tradition of story-telling and last week students
had the opportunity to meet a British story-teller,
Xanthe Graham.
Xanthe was on a 12 week tour of South America with a
British company called Dream On. Using just an
accordion and a few wigs and pieces of materials she
made her stories come alive, with the help of our
students.
Secondary students were treated to the folk tale
which inspired Shakespeare to write ‘The Merchant of
Venice.’ It was a tale of two very different
brothers, of love at first sight and of thinking
outside the box. As Xanthe told the story, our
students got involved, acting out key scenes or
contributing with sound effects from the audience.
It was all great fun, and once again our students
showed the positive way they respond to new
experiences. They were enthusiastic, energetic and
imaginative, although perhaps Sergio was a little
too enthusiastic cutting off the heads of his fellow
students!
In the afternoon it was the turn of primary. Xanthe
told them different traditional stories from
different parts of the world and once again Fleming
students joined in with great energy and a sense of
fun. It was wonderful to see some of our youngest
students following an exciting story, entirely in
English, and offering their own ideas about what
might happen next.
Xanthe was a wonderful story-teller and our students
enjoyed her visit immensely. Who would have thought
a simple story, told by one person with no special
effects or Hollywood actors, would keep the whole
school enthralled for so long? We look forward to
the next visit of Dream On…. |
