School children bring Knightlow to the world

The book - titled Knightlow to the World - was published as part of the Stories4Schools project and is being sent to school classrooms in Australia, the United States, South Africa, Malawi, India and more.

It is the fifth time Knightlow Primary have participated in the project but this year the entire school was able to contribute.

They took inspiration for their stories from the history and heritage of Stretton-on-Dunsmore, working closely with members of the community and Marton Museum to learn about the village.

The school also held a Story Journey event on Friday to mark the book’s publication, where people had the opportunity to speak to the young authors and teachers and see their hard work first hand.

Cllr Sally Bragg attended the event (her first as town mayor) along with the children’s parents, grandparents and members of the village community.

Teacher Cathy Amos-Simpson, whose husband Mike set up Stories4Schools, said: “Not only has learning about our local area enabled us to have closer links to members of our local community, they have inspired the children to create stories and poems that can now be shared and exchanged with children around the world.”

Cathy is pictured above left with Cllr Sally Bragg, and students Lola Owen-Mckenna, Ryan Jones and Annabelle Jacks.

She added: “The books we send to Malawi will probably be the first books that these children will ever own. It has been wonderful to see the pleasure that our previous books have brought to the lives of others - children writing stories for other children.

The books cost £6 and the money will help Knightlow to send additional copies to their partner schools in Malawi, India and other countries, as part of the school’s ongoing support to children in developing nations.