We are a group of teachers, writers and creative artists. Our mission is to encourage the adoption of the Storytelling Schools method. We believe it is a wonderful and much-needed way to make schools more engaging and effective, especially in areas of social deprivation. Our expert trainers provide training, planning support and mentoring to schools wishing to adopt the method.
Here's what we believe:
We believe that, for children to best fulfil their potential as citizens we need effective, all round education which builds skills in fluent, confident communication, listening, empathy, appreciation, empowerment, satisfaction, enjoyment, motivation, problem solving, thinking, innovation, invention, imagination, inspiration, poetry, singing, music, physical movement, dance, creative writing, as well as learning all about the world through subjects like science, history, geography, philosophy and maths.
In this way children can gain the skills they will need for their future education, employment and life in the wider world.
Meet the team
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Chris Smith PhDDirector and Co-founder
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Adam GuillainTrainer and Co-founder
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Kate BarronSenior Trainer
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Jules PottleTrainer and Science Specialist
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Nanette NoonanTrainer and Mentor
Chris Smith PhD
Chris Smith PhD is Director and Co-founder of Storytelling Schools Ltd. Chris has been developing and refining the Storytelling Schools methodology for the last 15 years across the UK and beyond. He loves making education playful, creative and enjoyable while passing on the skills needed to meet the challenges the 21st Century. Chris is co-author of The Storytelling Schools Teachers Handbook, Science through Stories, History through Stories and 147 Storytelling Games and Creative Activities.
Adam Guillain
Adam is a co-founder of Storytelling Schools. He is a children’s author, storyteller, trainer and educationalist. Adam has worked with Chris Smith supporting Storytelling Schools since 2007 as a trainer and mentor.
Kate Barron
My name is Kate Barron. I have worked in education for over 10 years, teaching and leading across a range of key stages, at both primary and middle school level.
I have a wealth of experience leading on English and Oracy in challenging, inner-city school settings. Over the past 6 years, alongside full-time teaching, I have also worked as a senior teacher trainer for Storytelling Schools, transforming learning through this powerful approach in settings all over the UK. I now work full-time for Storytelling Schools, delivering teacher training on all aspects of our education model. Excitingly, this work is now taking me to Malta, where we are working with the National Literacy Agency to improve verbal and written communication skills across the island, as well as places like Nepal and Sierra Leone.
I am passionate about education that is creative, fun and inclusive, built on engaging language-rich experiences that are so paramount in enabling children to flourish, both personally and academically. I truly believe in the magic of storytelling and that filling children up with a treasure chest of stories that they can tell from memory, time and time again, is one of the greatest gifts we can give. Promoting fluent communication in all areas of the curriculum is essential if we want to develop confident, creative and critical thinking individuals: those who can lead happy lives and make a positive contribution to the world.
Jules Pottle
Jules Pottle has been in primary teaching for over twenty years as a classteacher, a science primary specialist teacher and a museum educator. Jules uses storytelling in all aspects of her work and really enjoys this imaginative approach to learning. She’s very excited to be adding ‘storytelling trainer’ to her list of roles! In her spare time, she’s involved with a community theatre group and loves being on stage or directing. In fact, Jules likes anything that involves stories and being creative. Jules is co-author with Chris Smith on our book Science through Storytelling. For more information about Jules please visit www.sciencethroughstory.com
Nanette Noonan
Nanette is a founding associate of Storytelling Schools. She is a trainer, mentor, and works as Literacy Coordinator at Pegasus Primary School, a Storytelling School on the Blackbird Leys estate. Nanette works with schools to adopt the storytelling schools model and has developed detailed schemes for integrating storytelling into literacy learning.