England

Two Storyline Topics in an Intergenerational Programme
Pip Tench and Ged Stanton have developed these two Topics for use in St Thomas More RC High School in the North Tyneside Council area. They are entitled 'The Town of the Future' and 'Trench Warfare'. As can be seen from the illustrations both stories provided opportunities for involving older people with secondary students in the classrooms. In September Pip and Ged are hoping to introduce a new topic study on 'Industrial Britain'.

Pip Tench is an occupational therapist working with elderly people in her area of North Tyneside. Over the last few years she has been involved in a European intergenerational project called 'Bridging the Gap' which attempts to combine old and young in joint ventures to their mutual advantage. At an early planning meeting Storyline was chosen as a model suggested by Ulla Holm from Denmark. The Danes then trained teachers from five countries. The national theme was decided by each country depending on local intergenerational issues. There have been four Storylines in the last three years. A transnational training event for teachers was held in May 1999 using the Storyline model. Their experience so far has been very rewarding and their work has been much appreciated by all involved.

A Storyline Trip to Oregon
Lorna Karetnyk
Four teachers, Lorna Karetnyk, Ian Taylor, Gareth Sleightholme and Simon Johnson from Kirkbymoorside School, North Yorkshire, left Manchester Airport on Saturday 22nd October 2005 to spend a week in Oregon observing and working with teachers delivering Storyline. Todd Stewart-Rinier was our tireless host who gave us a most educational and entertaining week in his school, Irvington Elementary, in Portland. During our visit we were able to observe Storyline work on New Neighbours, The Borrowers, The Farm and an historical topic based on Lewis and Clark. We were also fortunate enough to meet with Rebecca Plaskitt and Jeff Creswell of Storyline Design – quite an experience. It was a very enlightening visit that has increased our knowledge of Storyline and has inspired us to write our own Storyline around the setting up of a Victorian Museum. It also allowed us to immerse ourselves in the American culture. We intend to continue our links and hope to take a party of teachers to the next International Conference in Glasgow where we can meet up with old friends and make new acquaintances.

Our visit was arranged and funded through the Specialist Schools' Trust. We were able to set up the visit because the two schools have had links since our meeting with Todd at the last International Storyline Conference in Elsinore, Denmark, in 2003.

Capital Tours at Kirkbymoorside CP School
Lorna Karetnyk, Deputy Head
Having been out of school for a term doing an Acting Headship I felt that on my return to school after the summer break we needed to do something special at the beginning of term that would encourage team building. The children had been split into different classes and two members of the teaching team were new to the school. It seemed to me that Storyline was the ideal vehicle for doing this. We took the first week of the new term to work on it. The teachers from five classes with children aged from 7 to 11 selected the Capital Tours Storyline as we felt we could adapt it to suit the ages of the children. We planned the outline and introduced the Storyline to the children together. It proved to be a great start to the term as it gave the teachers a chance to get to know each other and the children time to gel as a class. It also served as a very useful baseline assessment of our children. We discovered that their knowledge of European countries and capitals was very limited at the start of the project.

Visit to Kirkbymoorside Primary School
Steve Bell
Since I was holidaying in North Yorkshire in early June I took the opportunity to visit this school to view the results of several Storylines which had been initiated there. I was greatly impressed by the high quality of the work on show and by the enthusiasm and imagination displayed by the pupils. It was obvious that both teachers and pupils were excited by the wide variety of activity and the depth of involvement. Storyline has been introduced to the school by two of the teachers Jill Wells and Lorna Karetnyk and their efforts have obviously been rewarded. I had a lovely day there. I have heard that, since my visit, the school advisor has expressed her interest in this approach and hopes to invite Jill & Lorna to give a presentation at a 'Themes for Schemes' course. I wish them and the school all the very best.

Norwegian Teachers visit American Community School, Cobham, England
On Wednesday, the 14th of April, 35 Norwegian educators from Askollen skole, Drammen, Norway visited the American Community School, Cobham, England. The purpose of their visit was to learn about effective teaching strategies including Storyline. Rebecca Plaskitt hosted their visit sharing about a current historical storyline, multiple uses of math manipulatives, and ideas for teaching reading and writing. The photos show the Norwegian teachers participating in these activities. In addition, the guests were introduced to our art program as well as our special needs and guidance program. The ACS presenters included Mrs. Pike, a 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Meadows, the art teacher and Mrs. Walker-Williams, the guidance counselor. Everyone enjoyed a beautiful spring day as they ate lunches, toured the school and took photos. Anne-Margrete Marthinsen, Head of Askollenskole, presented our school with several Norwegian children's books that will be added to the International languages section of our school library. This opportunity to exchange educational ideas was a benefit for all the teachers involved.

Storyline in Kirkbymoorside Primary School
The news of Storyline travelled via Norwegian friends to this primary school in the north of Yorkshire, England. Jill Wells and Lorna Karetnyk became curious enough about it to attend the International Storyline Conference 2 in Elsinore in November 2003. There, they attended workshops and lectures which persuaded them to implement their ideas on return to their school.

NOJO Award for Intergenerational Storyline Project
Pip Tench and Ged Stanton went down to London last week together with older volunteers and a group of pupils from St Thomas More RC School because they had been shortlisted for the NOJO (Not Older Just Old) Award. The British Charity "Help the Aged" run this competition every year. Pip and Ged were nominated for all their work since 1996 including four Storyline examples and they won the School Category. Congratulations!

Comenius Project
Kumi Tømmerbakke, a Primary 7 class teacher in Løkeberg school in Haslum, Norway, has recently reported a very interesting visit made to Gloucester Primary School in Peckham, London, as part of a Comenius project. A school in Italy, "A. Gandiglio" situated in Fano, completes the group of three schools connected to this project for a period of three years. The main thrust will be film-making and creating e-mail contact between pupils but teachers are also encouraged to visit each other's schools to get to know the staff involved and also each other's school systems. On this first visit the Norwegian teachers involved the English pupils in a Storyline about Trolls. The picture shows class 4D, taught by Mrs Diana Valcheva, and the children who participated.

American Connection
Rebecca Plaskitt is an American teacher now living in England and working in the American Community School in Cobham, Surrey. She attended courses in Portland, Oregon, organised by Storyline Design and, as a participant observer in Reykjavik, Iceland. She has been using Storyline very successfully since she started at the Community School and has designed a fascinating variety of new topics. Rebecca brought six colleagues to the International Storyline Conference in Aalborg and their enthusiasm has led to a two day course for 22 members of staff and another planned for November 2001.

Storyline in the American Community School
Cobham, Surrey, England.
Rebecca Plaskitt is an experienced Storyline teacher having first attended workshops ten years ago in Portland, Oregon. She has been successfully using this approach within her own classroom since joining the staff of the Lower School and in the process has influenced many of her colleagues. Her recent article explains how the work is progressing. Both Sallie Harkness and Steve Bell have been engaged as consultants and have visited twice this year at the invitation of Lacy Chapman, Lower School Principal.