Creating sackfuls of stories

Parents in St. John’s Junior School on Michael Street have spent the last eight weeks working with Word Aid Kilkenny and the Home School Community Liaison Coordinator to create two story sacks.

A story sack is a bag or box containing a favourite children’s book with supporting materials to stimulate language activities and help to make reading a memorable and enjoyable experience.

The parents met in the school every Friday morning and busied themselves painting, sewing, crocheting, knitting and crafting characters, backdrops and furniture for the stories ‘We are Kind and Helpful’ by Donna Luck and ‘Can’t You Sleep Little Bear?’ by Martin Waddell.

Many cups of tea and chats were had along the way too and the end results were superb. Both story sacks had been on display in the windows of Khan’s Bookshop and Stonehouse Books for the past week.

The course culminated in a ‘Storytime’ session with Ms. Doyle’s senior infant class which the children thoroughly enjoyed. All the parents were presented with certificates on completion of this course.

Organiser Muireann Rochford thanked all the parents involved for committing their time and energy to this project and added that the children in the school will get many years of pleasure from these wonderful resources.