Cecilia Knapp and Christina Lewis have produced a series of creative-writing resources for International Women’s Day that can be used in the classroom and beyond. Read their powerful forewords.
Six Word Story 2020 shortlist and winners announced
Our annual Six Word Story competition is open to all First Story participating schools. Entry closed in late December. From a shortlist of excellent stories, the editors at Penguin Random House picked this year’s winner.
Kate Clanchy supports our CPD provision for teachers
Earlier this month, First Story in the East Midlands trialled a new way of offering CPD to our teachers, with a free event held online on a Saturday, led by the celebrated teacher and writer, Kate Clanchy.
WATCH: Rathbones Folio Prize Mentorships 2019/20 Showcase
Watch exclusive clips from this summer’s virtual showcase event, which celebrated new writing by five First Story alumni, chosen to be Rathbones Folio Prize Mentees in 2019/20.
How we are navigating COVID-19 to keep supporting young people
First Story hasn’t stopped working through the pandemic. Adapted models of our Young Writers Programme are running during autumn term 2020/21 in partner schools across England.
FIVE tuition fee bursaries on offer from University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education
Five bursary places available to study for a University of Cambridge PGCert in Teaching Creative Writing at its Institute of Continuing Education
New First Story Young Ambassadors Programme
Our new Young Ambassadors Programme is an exciting supported volunteering opportunity for alumni keen to continue their engagement with creative writing. It puts young people at the heart of promoting creative writing within their schools and local communities.
Announcing: Rathbones Folio Prize Mentorships 2020/21
In its fourth year, the Rathbones Folio Prize Mentorships scheme pairs four talented First Story alumni with acclaimed writers from the Folio Academy, receiving a year of 1:1 mentoring support to further develop their writing craft.
Summer 2020 Virtual Residential
In light of the coronavirus pandemic, this summer, our annual residential programme took place virtually. With participants connecting entirely online, we managed to maintain almost all of the key elements that make this project so special and impactful.
Post-pandemic, how could literacy education change?
For a recent virtual roundtable, we asked three prominent figures in arts and education, Prof. Dame Alison Peacock, Kate Clanchy MBE, and the Young Vic’s Lorna McGinty: What needs to be in place for the schools sector to ensure high quality, holistic literacy provision which has long term impact on outcomes for all children?
First Story writers create new BHM resources
Three writers – Ashley Hickson-Lovence, Bridget Minamore, and Khadijah Ibrahiim – have produced a series of creative-writing resources for Black History Month that can be used in the classroom and beyond. Read their powerful forewords.
National Writing Day 2020 #247Challenge Highlights
National Writing Day 2020 was framed around a mass participation creative writing exercise, the #247Challenge. As a call to action, it proved to be incredibly popular, with thousands of stories and poems shared online. Here we have collated just a few of the incredible submissions we read.