Michelle Burke is a First Story Lead Teacher at Haringey Learning Partnership: Commerce House, an alternative provision school and service in Wood Green, London offering specialised teaching and …
Opinion
‘First Story is a project of hope’
Award-winning novelist and long-serving First Story Writer-in-Residence, Anthony Cartwright reflects on what he's learned as a writer and practitioner after eight years of delivering our programme …
Post-pandemic, how could literacy education change?
First Story recently teamed up with the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE), Drivers Youth Trust (DYT), and the Fair Education Alliance (FEA), to organise a virtual roundtable discussion …
Creative Writing and Social and Emotional Learning
After reading the National Literacy Trust's tenth annual literacy survey, published earlier this month, First Story's programme manager for the East Midlands, Jess Tickell, reflects on the …
School closures have highlighted the gulfs in inequality between young people
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted, more than ever, that there are fundamental problems with the parity of access to education in the UK. Our CEO, Antonia Byatt, writes about how the gap has become …
A good education for all: First Story and the Ofsted inspection framework
Last month, Ofsted published its Annual Report for 2018/19, the year it introduced its new education inspection framework and sparked fresh debate about what works best to tackle disadvantage. Is a …
On being a Writer-in-Residence
This is the transcript of a speech given by Rachel Seiffert during an event for First Story supporters at Hachette UK on 19 November 2019. …
Durham Commission report: a catalyst for change?
The Durham Commission on Creativity and Education report, a collaborative research project between Durham University and Arts Council England, is a 96 page deep dive into why and how creativity should …
Six days in Lviv ‘where every third person is a poet’
I’ve recently returned from six days in Lviv, Ukraine’s cultural capital and one of Nottingham’s sister UNESCO Cities of Literature. Like Nottingham, Lviv is a young UNESCO City of Literature, rich in …
Reflecting on my first summer with First Story
Fittingly, my first day as First Story's new Chief Executive was also National Writing Day. And what an inspiring day it was. My first stop on 26th June was to the Museum of Migration in Lambeth, …
Why learning to use your voice is powerful
It is a quite a coincidence that National Writing Day is my first day in the job as CEO of First Story, the lead organisation behind the campaign. When I tell people I will be working in an …
First Story in the RSL Review
In the spring edition of the RSL Review, our Interim Executive Director, Emily Webb, talked about our enriching partnership with the Royal Society of Literature, and explains why First …
‘Writing can be a source not just of pleasure but of power’
The following article originally appeared on The Sunday Times online.The biscuit girl’s tale makes us all crumbleA charity is using writing classes to help children find their voice, says the author …
Malorie Blackman on the importance of reading
In July, as part of the Royal Society of Literature Outreach Programme, Children’s Laureate Malorie Blackman paid a visit to First Story school, Skinners’ Academy. Listen here to an …
