Punchdrunk's A Small Tale: A Teacher Led Adventure is a literacy project for primary schools, which aims to inspire and develop imaginative teaching practices for literacy, whilst place the teacher at the centre of the creativity. A Small Tale aims to engage pupils with books and stories, inspire a love of writing and raise standards in reading, speaking and literacy. This project is designed for pupils in P2-P4 and up to two classes per school will participate. Teachers receive online training in advance of the project.
Trapped inside the pages of a dusty old book, two tiny people are itching for adventure. If you find a book mysteriously moved or fallen from the shelves of your local library, you might wonder if they are near…
The teacher and their class read a mysterious old picture book about two mischievous and messy tiny people with a love of stories. But when they return to the book the following day the pages are all blank, except for two sets of tiny footprints… they discover that the tiny characters have escaped. Will the pupils be able to get them back to safety, before it’s too late?
We know that this project makes a lasting difference to children’s literacy. Imaginate delivered a pilot of A Small Tale, as a project open to any school, in early 2019. Over 80% of teachers surveyed felt that pupils’ motivation for writing improved as a result and that improvements had continued beyond the project. A majority of teachers felt that A Small Tale had particular benefits for pupils with low attainment, and 90% said it had inspired them to be more creative in their teaching.