Students from North Huddersfield Trust School have been spellbound by a recent visitor.
Professional story-teller Giles Abbot dropped in to the Fartown school as part of its drive to encourage and improve literacy skills.
The visit was funded jointly by the school and Kirklees Council.
Giles spoke to over fifty students ranging from Years 7 to 10.
Most of them took part because they are student librarians, members of the school’s two book clubs, or are part of the ‘Reading Friends’ programme for early readers.
The rest of the audience was chosen by English teachers as a reward for good work. David Blakeborough, a retired solicitor who is one of the adult Reading Friends’ volunteers at the school said: “Giles was brilliant. I could easily have listened to him for another hour!”
Most of Giles’ stories are very traditional, passed down from generation to generation; many of them have a stirring mixture of humour, magic and horror, which make them very appealing to audiences of all ages. The school was so impressed by Giles’ ability to inspire and entertain that it is now planning further visits by this very special story-teller.
Giles lectures at Birkbeck College, London and his poetry has been published in two volumes.
