It’s been a huge support and honour to be able to write my art mystery novel in Great Yarmouth thanks to Arts Council England.
As part of the project, ‘Yarmouth Mysteries’, I’ve been helping Year 6 and Year 3 children at St George’s Primary School, helping them create their own mystery stories. We visited Time and Tide Museum’s Circus exhibition, creating detectives inspired by the circus, plus the Tolhouse Museum, which is one of the oldest disused prisons in the UK – spooky!
Each mystery story features ‘treasures’ passed onto the children by older residents in Great Yarmouth, which were their idea of what ‘Yarmouth Treasure’ meant to them – from ‘community spirit’, to ‘flint and stone walls’ to ‘sunrise on the beach’. The detectives are as colourful and creative as they are talented! When asked what their own treasures in Great Yarmouth were – some of the children told us ‘this school’. George’s Primary School is a fantastic school in the heart of Great Yarmouth itself, minutes from the Hippodrome.
These intergenerational mystery stories are a way to help test new ways of using creative writing to increase literacy in schools and the community. We’ll be creating a podcast, ideas and resources for other educators on ways to use creative writing with the https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/ .
What Participating Children Are Saying About Writing
I like writing stories because you can take time on it and it’s very enjoyable, you can just express yourself in the piece of writing. It makes you think harder. Mary, Year 6.
I like writing stories because when I’m mad or sad sometimes I write a story and I like to write because it helps me. Carlene, Year 6
I like writing stories because I have so many ideas to put into it and it turns out amazingly! Mason, Year 6
I like writing stories because it helps me to become more clever and more creative. Mariana, Year 6
I like writing stories because I love solving mysteries. Felicity, Year 6
You can visit an exhibition of the children’s writing throughout Yarmouth Mysteries, at Great Yarmouth Borough Library June 13th – 17th.