Nell Phoenix, a London-based professional storyteller with a global reputation for telling tales that excite and arouse the imagination, recently led four workshops in Malta for teachers, children and parents as part of the project The Power of Storytelling. The project is aimed at raising awareness of the potential of storytelling in formal and non-formal education.

The first workshop, held at Maria Regina College’s Secondary School, Żokrija Mosta, was aimed at all teachers involved in literacy teams. The participants were made aware of the ways in which storytelling stimulates children’s imagination and helps them to verbally express themselves confidently in public, and to learn how to listen to respectfully to people speaking to them.

The second workshop, held at the central public library, was attended by Year 5 pupils from Qormi San Ġorġ, Ħamrun, Ġżira, Żejtun B, and Victoria primary schools that are taking part in the pilot project ‘Għidli Storja/Tell Me a Story’. A subsequent workshop was held at the National Curriculum Centre, Ħamrun, for reading animators of the programmes ‘Aqra Miegħi/Read with Me’ and ‘Seħer l-Istejjer/The Magic of Stories’.

The final workshop, also held at the central public library, consisted of a feast of stories narrated to children aged between seven and 11 from Malta and Gozo, and their parents.

The workshops were organised by the National Literacy Agency in collaboration with the Federation for European Storytelling (Fest).