Please be patient my friends!
September 12, 2015 at 9:30 am | Posted in Writing competitions for kids | 3 CommentsTags: Bobby, Clever Competition, Writing Competitions for Kids
It’s been a funny old week this week, with a sick daughter and a sick dog, and lots of visits to doctors and vets (don’t worry, it’s nothing too serious)! So I’ve got a little bit delayed in getting the judging done for the Three Chinese Characters Story Competition! I’m sailing full steam ahead now, and hope to publish the results this weekend. So please bear with me – it won’t be long now!
A Fabulous Week for Celebrating Heroes and Book Reading!
September 10, 2015 at 10:10 am | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: Discovery Bay International School, Heroes, John Wood, Room to Read
This week I had the great pleasure of returning to Discovery Bay International School as part of Grade 7s Unit of study about Heroes in My Eyes! This year, my hero just has to be John Wood, above, the man who famously left a high-powered, high paid job with Microsoft in 1999 to set up Room to Read, a brilliant charity devoted to bringing literacy and education to children around the world.
Do you know that since his very first trip to Nepal delivering books (on the back of a yak and five donkeys) to a small school high in the mountains back in 1998, he – through the charity he established – has managed to set up over 17,000 libraries, build almost 2,000 schools and help over 9.7 million children? Now that’s what I call a hero! And that’s also why I’m so proud to be a Room to Read Writer Ambassador! Read more about their fantastic work at http://www.roomtoread.org. And if you and your class want to get involved in your own fund-raising effort to help kids less lucky than you to learn to read, get involved in the Room to Read World Change Challenge, which you can find here: http://www.tristanbancks.com/2015/05/room-to-read-world-change-challenge-2015_28.html.
Where to send your Clever Competition entry!
September 5, 2015 at 4:06 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentI’ve been having a few emails from kids today who aren’t sure where to send their entry. Please send them to me directly at sarah@auspicioustimes.com and I’ll be sure to receive them! You can send your entry typed on a Word document and attached to your email, or you can just type out your story into the body of your email and send it straight to me. Best of luck and I’ll let you know the results as soon as possible after the deadline tomorrow!
Reminder! Just two days to go in my Tale of Three Chinese Characters Competition!
September 4, 2015 at 2:53 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment
Hello again from Hong Kong! It’s sooooo good to be home with my family, and of course my funny, madcap cocker spaniel Bobby after 3 weeks away in Australia and Singapore! But hasn’t time flown! And do you know what? There’s now only TWO days to go to get your entry into my writing competition for primary school kids! But there’s still the weekend ahead – and who knows what fabulous story you can write in 2 days when you put your mind to it?! So you’d better get hopping! If you want to be a winner, just take a look at the information on my Clever Competitions page above, and send in your entry by midnight on 6th September! I can’t wait to read your stories!
A Funny and Fabulous Story Reading at CIS Tanjong Katong!
September 2, 2015 at 11:04 am | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment
Rodney Ram and I paid a special visit to the fabulous Grade 2 Bilingual students today at Canadian International School of Singapore, Tanjong Katong campus! The kids were great fun and Rodney and I had a lovely morning! Many thanks to lovely librarian Nadine Bailey (with me, above) and her terrific library staff for hosting me today! You can read more here:
Thank you Avondale Grammar in Singapore!
September 1, 2015 at 8:32 am | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: Avondale Grammar Singapore, Books are a Brain's Best Friend Workshop, Poetry workshops, Singapore, Singapore schools
A big thank you to the friendly, enthusiastic, book-loving staff and students of Avondale Grammar in Singapore for hosting me yesterday! We had a fabulous day of story readings with the Foundation to Year 2 students, who met Chester Choi and Pin Yin Panda, then my Introduction to Poetry Workshop with the Year 3 and 4s, and my Books are a Brain’s Best Friend with the Year 5 to 8s! We even had time for a quick reading of A Dirty Story to the Year 5 to 8s, who very accurately predicted the rhyming words to each couplet! I saw books everywhere, the teachers were huge fans of book-reading, and the students were clearly HUGE book-readers, with, predictably, impressive general knowledge and very interesting questions and opinions to offer. Now that’s what I call an education! I look forward to some great entries in my Clever Competition!
Creating Literate, Literary Kids in the Digital Age with ALEA Nth Sydney
August 27, 2015 at 8:00 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: ALEA North Sydney, children's literacy, Digital games and toys, RoomtoRead
This afternoon I had the huge privilege of talking to ALEA Nth Sydney about how to create literate, literary kids in the digital age. Those who know me will know how passionate I am about this subject, and how concerned I am about the over-exposure of children to digital toys and devices, as well as the increasing use of digital technology to deliver education in primary schools. We talked all about the latest studies from around the world indicating the vital importance of children being regularly immersed in the deep reading of print books, as well as troubling data coming out of studies in Europe and the States about reading on screens. It’s a fascinating subject, and one that needs careful study by educators everywhere. Special thanks to my hosts Alix McKittrick, Virginia Outram and Robyn (pictured above to my left). And many thanks to the 50+ teachers and librarians who attended for your feedback and participation. Thanks also to Wendy Rapee of Room to Read who told the ALEA members more about Room to Read‘s essential work in promoting and building literacy in third world countries.
Helloooo to the Bellevue Hill Public School Grade Ones from Pin Yin Panda!
August 27, 2015 at 7:47 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: Bellevue Hill Public School, Chinese Calendar Tales, Chinese Zodiac, Sydney Schools, The Tale of Pin Yin Panda
Well that was fun! Courtesy of my lovely friend Anna Bragg, I made a brief drop-in visit today to the scrumptious Grade Ones of Bellevue Hill Public School today to introduce them to my vain but loveable Pin Yin Panda! And it just so happened that they’d been learning all about the Chinese Zodiac animals and Lord Buddha’s Race yesterday! It was perfect timing! It was lovely to meet you all – I hope to see you again next year!
A Rhyming Testimonial from Rose Bay Public School!
August 25, 2015 at 2:28 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: Chinese Calendar Tales, Rose Bay Public School, Testimonials
I’ve just received the cleverest testimonial in rhyme from Sarah Skelton at Rose Bay Public School and couldn’t resist sharing it with you all right away! Here it is…I think that Sarah is a great poet, don’t you?
Sarah Brennan an author of Chinese Tales arrived
Presenting fascinating stories she devised.
The Rose Bay students, all 600 were enthralled by her presentation
All the K-6 teachers we would recommend her without hesitation.
She has inspired some future writers amongst all our stages
Already our students are reading and writing pages.
Many of our students will be sending you emails
Thank you for visiting and teaching us about the Chinese Tales.
Sarah Skelton (Rose Bay Public School Librarian)
Rodney Ram meets the fabulous Kincoppal kids!
August 25, 2015 at 1:42 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 2 CommentsTags: Chinese Calendar Tales, Chinese Zodiac, Kincoppal Rose Bay, Sydney Schools, The Tale of Rodney Ram, Writing workshops
What a fun day I just had with the keen readers and writers of Grades 3 to 6 at Kincoppal Rose Bay in Sydney! We started with a fun reading of my latest book, The Tale of Rodney Ram, then had three fabulous workshops where we talked about How to Write a Riveting Story. After the sessions, some of the classes immediately got started on story plans for my Clever Competition – and I can’t wait to read the results! Warm thanks to librarian Helen Webster (above) for being such a kind and supportive host.
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