National Storytelling Week

Resource type: Event

Price band: £

Key stage: KS1, KS2, KS3

Region(s): All of UK

National Storytelling Week was set up to celebrate the practice and value of oral storytelling. National Storytelling Week 2024 runs from 27th January to 4th February 2024.

National Storytelling Week is run by the Society for Storytelling, who provide a number of supporting resources. These include:

A National Storytelling Week resource pack for primary schools that includes story games, advice from established storytellers on how to develop and tell a story, links to audio tracks and videos.
A directory of storytellers for in-school events.

Cost: Free. Charges for in-school visits from storytellers will vary.

About the Society for Storytelling: The Society for Storytelling is a charity that exists to support and promote oral storytelling in the UK.

Further resources:

The National Literacy Trust has a range of online events and resources for all ages to celebrate National Storytelling Week. Younger pupils (aged 5-7) can enjoy a free online storytelling event with award-winning author Swapna Haddow on Thursday 1st February. Older primary pupils (aged 7-11) can learn all about world building with author and poet Steven Camden in an online event on Thursday 1st February to kick off their own storytelling project. Secondary pupils (aged 11-14) can find out more about storytelling and world creation in the gaming industry from industry experts in an online panel discussion on Monday 29th January before creating their own gaming world and putting together their own gaming pitch.
Learn how to create a character and build a comic strip story with graphic novel artist Sheena Dempsey as she introduces her new Pablo and Splash series of graphic novels in a free Readinzone Live event for pupils aged 7-9 on Friday 2nd February.
Sign up for the Story Seekers, a free, fully resourced creative literacy project that invites primary aged children to seek out stories from around the world to retell and perform.
Find suggested activities to help pupils of all ages improve their storytelling skills from Scottish Book Trust here.
Explore the Kamishibai Storytelling resources from Mantra Lingua to encourage pupils to retell popular stories in their own words.
Find stories and poems from around the Commonwealth in the four River of Stories anthologies. These fully illustrated, themed anthologies were created by the Commonwealth Education Trust and are now free to download from the National Literacy Trust website.
Explore Books for Topics’ recommended Story Time booklists for primary-aged children to find your next great class read aloud
For schools interested in hosting a storyteller, Authors Aloud and Authors Abroad can help schools find a storyteller to match their needs.