Set the school buzzing about story, oracy & English with a Storyraid!
High-impact surprise storytelling with a lasting legacy
What is a storyraid?
Storyraids are a wonderfully engaging Swedish concept. Several storytellers arrive at school: staff know what’s going to happen, but pupils have no idea. Each storyteller knocks on a classroom door and walks in: “Sorry to disturb you but I’m looking for people to tell a quick story to. Can I tell one to you?” A 10-minute story follows, before the teller leaves as suddenly as they came. This is happening all over the school. A ‘storyraid’ is in progress!
The Power of Surprise Storytelling
The element of surprise creates the excitement that something out-of-the-ordinary is happening and turbo-charges its impact on children’s enthusiasm for story, oracy, language & communication. Each class receives three visits from different storytellers. By break time the school is buzzing in a way that can’t be replicated by a ‘normal’ storytelling visit, with the children all telling each other the stories they’ve been told out-of-the-blue in class.
Storytelling That Lasts
We leave 3 different stories in each classroom - a treasure trove of tales that can be told from class to class and become a rich resource for the curriculum. A training session gives teachers new ways to harness the enthusiasm for storytelling the storyraid has created, and increase pupils’ confidence and skills. The children can even go on to mount their own storyraids!
Each of our classes experienced storyraids today with exciting tales told by performance storytellers that suddenly burst into each classroom. The children were astonished by these seemingly unexpected visitors and totally absorbed by the event. What a day to remember… a truly wonderful experience!
Paul Osborne, Headteacher, Revoe Academy
