PRIMARY schools within the Burnt Mill Co-operative Academy Trust (BMAT) are spending the coming year working with Discover Children’s Story Centre, in Stratford.

Discover is a hands-on creative literacy centre providing arts activities, learning opportunities and creative events with a focus on stories.

The schools – Freshwaters, Roydon, Little Parndon and Cooks Spinney – will each have visits from poets, storytellers and writers from the centre to inspire Year 2 children to have an interest in writing.

Their work will culminate in pupils’ writing being published in a book.
They will also take a trip to Discover to take part in a story trail where they will have the opportunity to build a story to help with their writing.

Paul Jackson, BMAT executive headteacher, said: “We want to develop children’s writing skills and to excite and engage them. We want them to see learning is fun and for our families to see places like London – with lots of fantastic opportunities – are not a million miles away from Harlow. It’s all about broadening horizons.”

The year-long project, called Catching Words, will involve whole-school assemblies and workshops.