Books Books Books! - Cherbourg State School

Aim

Cherbourg State School’s Books Books Books! program is helping children become confident readers and writers by creating books from local Cherbourg stories. The program is part of the school’s vision for literacy to be a part of students’ everyday learning.

Background

Students learn to plan and prepare for writing, construct text, create illustrations and other artworks, design book layouts, develop their computer skills and create photographs and films about their books and the book-creation process. “By creating books, children understand books,” says Jo Ross, Cherbourg State School Principal and one of the program’s chief architects.

Eight books have been created as part of the program so far, with plans for another seven.

One of the first books to be created was Mundagarra, based on a story by Auntie Venus Rabbit, a respected Cherbourg Elder, artist and storyteller.

Mundagarra tells the story of the shiny eel-like creature that lives in Auntie Venus’ local watering hole. It tells of the day Mundagarra saved Auntie Venus’ life and why we shouldn’t fear the creatures and spirits that live around us.

“This was my best story,” says Auntie Venus. “The children did the story the way they wanted it done. I just told them the story and they did it themselves… they brought it to life.”

At its heart, the program is about building students’ confidence in their use of standard Australian English. While Cherbourg students mostly use English in the home, the way they use it differs from Standard Australian English – there are differences in intonation and inflection, and the meaning of words can be different. There is a different grammatical structure and semantics rely heavily on gestures and local knowledge, rather than vocabulary. These differences have made it important for the school to focus on the fundamentals of language development and acquisition.

Books Books Books! has proven to be a particularly successful way of introducing students to the grammatical structure of Standard Australian English and an expanded vocabulary. “Through the creation of personal and relevant books, children are learning both basic and complex language strategies, including the structure of language and the purpose of texts,” says Ms Ross.

Why it works well

According to the program’s coordinators, a large part of its success is that the books children are creating tell local stories that reflect life in Cherbourg. Creating books from local stories overcomes a substantial gap in existing literacy resources. Ms Ross said: “Books that reflect the prior knowledge of our Indigenous students are sadly lacking in mainstream learning. Developing books on local topics that are relevant to Cherbourg children’s lives is essential to valuing our students and their communities.”

The other key to the program’s success has been involving storytellers and artists from the local community. Bringing community members into the program is helping children value the uniqueness of their community. It “goes a long way in relation to the pupils’ understanding of their community and where and how they fit into it,” says Sam Murray, the Mayor of Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council.

The Cherbourg State School Parents and Citizens Association agrees and believes that involving community members in the program is benefiting the whole Cherbourg community. “Working alongside local community Elders, artists and historians has enriched the students’ own knowledge of their culture and heritage, as well as giving the local community a genuine opportunity to contribute to the children’s learning,” says the P&C Association.

According to Ms Ross, the program’s community partnership model is transforming the entire learning process. “The project has fostered and strengthened long-term education and cultural partnerships, enabling and empowering Indigenous youth and community members to reclaim and add to the positive aspects of their cultural and artistic heritage. It contributes to vibrant arts and strong culture in our Cherbourg community,” she said.

Benefits for children and young people in Cherbourg

The success of Cherbourg State School’s literacy programs is being reflected in national literacy test results. The 2008 National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) test results show that 88% of Cherbourg State School’s non-exempt Year 3 students achieved the national minimum standards for reading, along with 92% of Year 5 students and 80% of Year 7 students. Some students’ results put them among the top 20 per cent of students in the state.

But the program’s coordinators point out that the benefits extend well beyond what is seen in academic testing. “Books Books Books! consistently demonstrates a wide range of positive outcomes for students across our school,” says Ms Ross.

As she explains, the Books Books Books! initiative is giving Cherbourg students the opportunity to forge relationships with artists both inside and outside the Cherbourg community. For instance, Ballarat-based arts company Ratartat have been instrumental in the program, working alongside teaching staff and local artists to build students’ skills in a range of artistic techniques like mono-printing, painting, drawing and collage.

In 2006, the success of the program led a group of 10 Cherbourg State School students to become “artists-in-residence” at ArtPlay, a Melbourne-based creative arts centre. The ArtPlay centre is dedicated to promoting children’s education and skills by involving them in creative projects under the guidance of professional artists. During an intensive week-long workshop in Melbourne, the young artists created three books along with a film documenting their experiences, titled Dingoes are not Dogs.

Auntie Venus Rabbit believes the Books Books Books! program is also helping nurture a passion for storytelling that has been passed down through the generations. “The story of Mundagarra was handed down from Elders before my time, before my dad, and before my pops. Now it is in the book for the children to see and read, and they can tell their children and their children,” she says. “I will probably be gone when they grow up but the story will be there in the book. Fantastic!”

Keeping the initiative alive

Books Books Books! organisers believe the key to keeping the program thriving is to keep the same model that brings students together with local artists and storytellers, while nurturing new partnerships that will build on the program’s existing success.

The ambition is to turn the program into a commercial enterprise that will both fill a gap in existing mainstream literacy resources and channel profits back into new literacy programs. Ms Ross says that organisers have already learnt a lot about copyright and the distribution process, and she is sure that they will continue to learn more throughout this process.

Organisers are keen to develop a partnership with a well-established distributor who sees the value in backing an enterprise that brings widespread benefits to its local community. The school is looking for a distributor who will support the initiative by contributing to new learning opportunities and by maximising the profits coming back to the school’s literacy programs.

Advice to others who might want to try this in their communities

A vital ingredient of any successful literacy program is bringing reading out of the classroom and into homes and the community, according to the program’s organisers. “Building an energy and excitement for literacy through the local community is a good place to start,” says Ms Ross.

Giving students a tangible product of their literacy efforts to take home has been a successful way of bring reading into the home and engaging families in the learning process. “The books are deadly. I reckon they are neat,” says one parent. “The children have such pride in their work.”

To get the whole community behind the project, the children’s work has also been displayed in Cherbourg’s public spaces.

For communities looking for ways to enhance their literacy programs, Ms Ross also recommends:

• getting children into reading as young as possible
• involving older children by having them read to the younger ones, and
• finding innovative ways to reinforce the enjoyment of reading, like making the books into films.

Find out more
Contact:
Ms Jo Ross
Principal
Cherbourg State School
http://www.cherbourss.eq.edu.au/
Phone: 07 4169 9333

Images courtesy of Cherbourg State School

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