CHILDREN’S WORKSHOPS

Whingy faces and illustration

Whingy faces and illustration

 
 

children’s workshops for schools, libraries and festivals

Jane visits schools, libraries and festivals to run Gringer-based workshops for children from 3-10 years old. Sheena joins us when she can. While COVID-19 restrictions apply, Jane runs the workshops via Zoom, dropping off materials to the school in advance. The workshops available are listed below.

“THE STORY OF GRINGER” - illustration and storytelling

This workshop features:

  • The story of how the idea for the book came about

  • Illustration practice

  • Sheena’s original artwork

  • The process for turning the idea into a book

  • Reading the story from the finished book

  • And of course, a bout of whinging ….

The events are tailored according to the age group and each one lasts about 50 minutes. The aims are to support literacy and foster the talents of aspiring young writers and illustrators. Here is a review from Ailbhe Ryan, Scoil Mhuire, Lucan:

The children absolutely loved it!! The other class teacher was raving about your rapport with the kids and she was amazed by the whole set up and organisation. They really enjoyed how active it was and some even mentioned how their dream of becoming an author was a lot more realistic than they thought. The girl who won the prize was especially delighted and is adamant on buying the book to read to her younger brother. Thanks again, it was a huge success,

“What gringer does next” - CREATIVE THINKING

This workshop was requested by Skerries Educate Together NS in January 2019. It follows on from the first workshop and features:

  • Recap on previous event

  • Idea generation for a new book about Gringer

  • Story development

  • Story production

  • Feedback and conclusion

It was piloted for two classes of senior infants as part of Creativity Week and during Power Hour. The latter is an allocated hour whereby extra teachers join the class, to provide a 1:5 teacher:pupil ratio, four times a week for ten weeks to work on literacy. Vice Principal Jean Timmons gives her review:

What wonderful workshops we had in our school during Literacy Week. We invited Jane Landy back for the second year in a row after a very successful visit last year. Jane worked with both Junior and Senior Infants this year.

The children she worked with last year (now in Senior Infants) were very excited when they heard the news of Jane’s arrival and Gringer the Whinger was read for the umpteenth time again in preparation for her workshop – What Gringer did Next. The focus this year was on Creative Writing and Jane brought out the most imaginative ideas from our young authors. Many children used pictures to tell their stories, some with speech bubbles and some simply with sounds to express the mood of their very creative story. We had fairy doors on volcanoes, dinosaurs roaming jungles, vegetable fish and parrots flying wild on desert islands. Gringer even fell in love and had a family of baby Gringers!

Jane engaged so naturally with the children. After whole class discussion she set them working in groups initially choosing a setting for their story. Every child had space and enough time to imagine. Jane has an innate talent to keep things simple yet effective, she presents expectations appropriately and in a fun way and as a result brings out the creative critical thinking that comes so naturally to children. Using mind maps and drawing pictures every child had an input and Jane found time to engage with and encourage every child. The children were very proud of their finished products and reminded us adults once again how much can be achieved by children when encouraged to explore, experiment and imagine. Jane’s workshops really proved to us that imagination is the door to possibilities. It is indeed where creativity, ingenuity, and thinking outside the box begin for child development. Thank you Jane for helping our children strive to reach their intellectual, social and emotional potential.

Ceardlainne DÁtheangach - bilingual wokrshops

Is maith le Jane bheith ag labhairt as Gaeilge anois is arís nuair a bhíonn an seisiún ar siúl agus bíonn ceardlainne dátheangach le fáil freisin. Review anseo:

Jane spent time in both Junior Infant classes to conduct workshops and also dropped into Rang 2.

The classes had an amazing time and Jane explained where the ideas in the book came from and engaged in a book writing session with the pupils. The pupils had an amazing time learning all about Gringer.

The book was brought to life in a most magical way by Jane!

D’úsáid Jane a lán gaeilge leis na páistí agus múinteoirí inniu. Maith thú Jane agus go raibh maith agat! Scoil Réalt na Mara, Na Sceirí.

virtual visit from sheena dempsey

As Sheena lives in Folkestone, we rarely get to do school visits together. Last October a group of third class students from St Molaga’s NS in Balbriggan, came up with a list of 20 questions for her. During Book Week in March, Sheena paid the school a “virtual visit” to answer their questions via a little video. They were delighted. This video is a useful resource for teachers by way of follow up after a workshop.

to book

For more information or to book, contact jane@goldenkey.ie or phone 00 353 1 849 0598.