Context

The idea for Little Green Pig was originally inspired by from reading about the Valencia 826 after school writing project that Dave Eggers set up in San Francisco and which has now spread throughout America. Ella originally trained as a primary school teacher and Lucy is an A-level English teacher; both were concerned that the fun and creative element of writing was being squeezed out of school time due to curriculum pressures. They wanted to set up a project that gave children and young people the time and space to explore writing creatively, without the pressure of meeting specific learning objectives. 

"I have really loved LGP because there is no pressure to write 300 page novels, instead we write short bits and if we want we take it further and do it at home. It’s not just giving us a pen and paper and expecting us to write." - Dillan (12)

Having previously worked for a literature organisation that sent writers into schools, Ella could see how beneficial this could be, but wanted to set up an ongoing project rather than a one-off where both could have regular contact and build relationships with young writers. Whilst working for THE SOUTH, Ella had several enquiries about creative writing clubs and opportunities for children and young people, especially from parents of talented writers who needed more stimulus and stretching than they were receiving at school.

The project was set up in June 2007 and began weekly workshops at Brighton Youth Centre in January 2008.

Aims & principles

1. To encourage and inspire children and young people in Brighton & Hove to write creatively, through a weekly after-school club and workshops in schools and other settings.
2. To use creative writing as a means of self-expression and to build self-confidence, social and communication skills in children and young people.

3. To improve literacy and reading skills through creative writing.

4. To provide writers and volunteers training and experience in working with children and young people.

5. To celebrate children and young people’s writing in the community through live literature events and published work.

Summary

The sessions are split into two groups; Piglets (7 - 11s) and Saddlebacks (12 to 14). Each week there is a different workshop looking at a new topic, but occasionally this leads over into the next week. Groups cover mainly poetry and stories but have also looked at dramatic writing and hope to extend the topics further when they have guest workshop leaders in the future (to cover journalism, performance poetry etc).  Each session is started with some creative games and activities and then a stimulus that leads into quiet writing time (usually 15 - 20 mins) and then time for feedback and sharing time at the end, which the children love. The participants are also asked if there are any particular topics or areas they would like to cover and use this in our planning. There is an active blog (http://www.littlegreenpig.wordpress.com) where each week Lucy and Ella post one or more child’s writing for comment from the other members of the group.
During the sessions the pressure is taken off following a strict set of guidelines and children are encouraged to have fun and experiment with words and storytelling. There is also not a strong emphasis on spelling and grammar. Children are encouraged to go off in whatever direction they choose - there’s no ’right’ or ’wrong’ and there is a wide mix of abilities so activities are chosen that can work on different levels. The result of this is some really great and imaginative writing. The members of the older group often take work home to work on and then bring back for the rest of the group to read. 

In Practice

"I would just like to say how much my daughter, Lily, enjoys the Little Green Pig workshops.  She loves to write and is benefiting so much from the skills. This is also having a really positive effect on her schoolwork and she was praised in a recent parent/teacher evening for the progress she has shown in the preparation and composition of her story writing. So, thank you Little Green Pig for helping Lily to build on her writing ability and also giving her the confidence to push the boundaries of her imagination." - Parent

The project is currently run on a voluntary basis and has received a small amount of funding to create an anthology of the students’ work .

Outcomes

The outcomes of the sessions are a real passion and enthusiasm for writing and creating, and increased literacy skills in all areas - from vocabulary building, to getting a sense of voice, to editing work, and much more. The children have really learnt to listen to each other’s work and comment on what they think works well and why, so they are also learning great critical and editing skills. All participants are given the chance to share their work to the group, and all children tend to gain the confidence to do this, even if they were too shy to in the beginning. 

The facilitators find something positive in everyone’s writing so everyone is empowered to feel that they are a writer, regardless of whether their handwriting/ spelling is good or not. Barriers and blocks to writing that some children have through lack of confidence, or difficulty with literacy, are broken down, and the sessions are more about being creative and imaginative using words. The children and young people also learn social, communication and empathetic skills in the sessions.

"Frankie is really enjoying the sessions: she sometimes struggles with literacy at school so I am delighted that she wants to go to a weekly workshop that encourages her to develop her creative writing skills in such a fun way.  She often talks about what she has done when she gets home and definitely thinks about it between sessions. She’s also loved going onto the LGP blog!" - Parent

Resources

The resources used are quite basic - a piece of music, often extracts from stories or poems, visual stimuli such as pictures or photos, or objects or pieces of clothing. Sessions are currently run in the Brighton Youth Centre, but have also been in the Phoenix Gallery - http://www.phoenixarts.org, in a local park, at Brighton Jubilee Library and some workshops will be run at Fabrica Art Gallery in summer 2008 - http://www.fabrica.org.uk. 

The project blog where children’s work is published regularly can be seen at http://www.littlegreenpig.wordpress.com.

Download Little Green Pig ideas for writing activities document (Word .doc, 29k)

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