“The teacher gets to experience the mystery and innocence of magic, through the children’s eyes. They are like little detectives. They will impress you. They are immersed in the project and their imaginations are fantastic.”
Baboró has partnered with Punchdrunk Enrichment to bring a creative, fun and wholly original literacy project called A Small Tale: A Teacher Led Adventure to primary schools in Galway.
A Small Tale is an innovative in-class storytelling experience for Senior Infants - 3rd class children which aims to ignite and inspire a passion for writing whilst raising standards in reading, speaking and listening.
The partnership launched in 2021 when Baboró and Punchdrunk Enrichment delivered A Small Tale to primary schools across Ireland. A second cohort of Irish primary school teachers was trained in October 2022, and a third training will take place in February 2023.
Email outreach@baboro.ie to find out more about bringing this storybook adventure to life in your classroom!
How A Small Tale is Delivered
A Small Tale takes students on an adventure as the teacher and their class begin reading a mysterious old picture book about two tiny, messy and mischievous characters who share a love of stories. When the students return to the book the next day, the pages are all blank except for two sets of tiny footprints… the characters escaped! The only way to return them to the safety of the book’s pages is to write them a fresh story and quickly, before they get into too much trouble in the dangerous world of the big people
The project takes place across seven days and can be delivered multiple times with the same set of assets and resources. Teachers are provided with with training, resource packs, and a toolkit of handmade props and materials to use in guiding their students through the experience.
A Small Tale aims to:
- Inspire and develop imaginative teaching practices for literacy, placing the teacher at the centre of the creativity.
- Engage pupils with books and stories.
- Inspire a love of writing.
- Raise standards in reading, speaking and listening.
Punchdrunk Enrichment is a charity that creates transformational theatre for education, community and family audiences. Their work makes a powerful impact and takes you on an unforgettable journey. Originally founded in 2000 by Felix Barrett, Punchdrunk are celebrated as pioneers of a new form of theatre in which roaming audiences experience epic storytelling inside sensory theatrical worlds.
The company created award-winning shows including Sleep No More, Masque of the Red Death and Faust. In 2008 a founding company member, Peter Higgin established Punchdrunk Enrichment to take the company’s innovative practice into communities and schools, creating performances and workshops with and for children, young people, families and communities. Today Punchdrunk Enrichment is an independent charity dedicated to creating experiences for as wide an audience as possible.
Learn more about Punchdrunk Enrichment here.
