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A surprising number of Welsh children, when asked about life in Wales, will respond with clichés about mountains, sheep, daffodils and national costume, even though these images are kept alive only in the tourist gift shops. The overwhelming majority of pupils even in the agricultural heartlands are not country children except in the sense that they live in rural surroundings; if they ever see sheep, very few have any understanding of the annual cycle of care and maintenance which dominated the lives of their ancestors. The reality of their everyday lives is very far removed from the olde worlde images, but they tend to feel that this makes them somehow non-Welsh.
This book, edited by Ann Saer, is an attempt to give Welsh children a voice in discussion of their identity and to help them to see their varied lifestyles as part of the normal fabric of 21st Century life in Wales. It features a range of children between the ages of eight and eleven, who describe their homes, hobbies and families in words and pictures. The selection includes people who live very different lives in a wide variety of locations across Wales. Each featured child has a double-page spread with the text broken up into small chunks or boxes using a range of print styles and colour, as well as action photographs of the subject. The overall effect is extremely successful in conveying the diversity of modern Welsh children’s lives, although interesting similarities emerge, not least their zest for life, enthusiasm and the impressive opportunities which they exploit in their environment. It is an optimistic book, designed to appeal to primary age children who are invited to use the same format, which is provided in a template, to add an account of their own lives. I would expect this to appeal to teachers, for whom the text would be an excellent basis for discussion and a stimulus to pupils’ own work. The book concludes with a map of Wales which indicates where the children live and a world map which names the places across the globe to which they are in some way connected. It is refreshing to find a book of this sort which allows children to speak for themselves.
W.M. Crockett
It is possible to use this review for promotional purposes, but the following acknowledgment should be included: A review from www.gwales.com, with the permission of the Welsh Books Council.
Gellir defnyddio’r adolygiad hwn at bwrpas hybu, ond gofynnir i chi gynnwys y gydnabyddiaeth ganlynol: Adolygiad oddi ar www.gwales.com, trwy ganiatâd Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru.
We Children of Wales
My Views and Opinions – by Sarah Valencia, St Aloysius RC Primary School, Merthyr Tydfil
Suitable for so many aspects of our schemes of work
This is a truly lovely resource, therefore it was a pleasure to incorporate it into my planning and teaching. Having studied the information in the book, it was clear that it would support many of our schemes of work for pupils in Year 6.
Its application to geography
This book supported the map work that was being carried out in our class. We had studied Wales and the wider world in geography last term, and had allocated many lessons to locating countries and places of interest on world wide and local maps. After introducing this resource to the pupils, we decided to locate the homes of the children mentioned in the book on a map of Wales. This enhanced the pupils’ knowledge of Wales, highlighting the position of many towns and villages within the country in which we live. The pupils showed a particular interest and enthusiasm for this activity as they felt they knew the children in the book due to reading and talking about them beforehand with their peers.
An extra resource for PSE
In addition to map work, this resource stimulated much discussion with regards to the PSE through Literacy scheme of work which is followed in our school. Having read about the children in the book, we linked it into many topics in PSE such as family, friends, worries, ambitions and life in the community. Pupils empathised with children in the book, such as Llinos, whose father works away from home. The children talked of their feelings when parents leave home, through work or parents splitting up. They enjoyed reading about children who have to share bedrooms with siblings. This is something many of our Year 6 pupils could well sympathise with. Our pupils in Year 6 are currently going through transition procedures with the local high school. The resource helped to raise issues about the pupils’ future, discussing jobs and aims in life. They particularly enjoyed reading and discussing the hopes and aspirations of the children in the book.
It encourages oracy and listening skills
This resource really encouraged pupils to talk and share their thoughts with each other, thus enhancing speaking and listening skills. I feel this was particularly successful as an oracy tool as pupils of all abilities could relate to the children within the text and the lifestyles many of them experience.
An inspiration for creative work
The pupils were enthused through reading ‘real-life’ stories about children of their own age. They enjoyed studying the pictures throughout the book and felt there was a good balance between text and images. Many of the pupils would like to create a ‘class’ version of the book, allowing them to create information pages about their own family, friends and hobbies. I have, therefore, written this as an activity into next term’s planning to support non-fiction work, in particular autobiography writing, in Literacy. I am sure it will be a successful activity that will develop planning, speaking and listening and ICT skills for the pupils.
Here is a resource the pupils could relate to
As a teacher in Wales, I am extremely aware of the need to address the key skill of the Cwricwlwm Cymreig in all teaching and planning. This resource enabled pupils to gain a real, true life insight into Wales through interesting, stimulating activities that they could easily relate to. It was used within a range of subjects and was also displayed in a central position in class for pupils to read through at their leisure.
I will certainly be using this resource again and hope to pass it on to other colleagues in our school.
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