About this project

My son has just started Year 2 of the local primary school. The statisticians tell us that boys often lag behind girls in school. Not only does my son have the disadvantage of being a boy, he’s also one of the youngest in his class; birthdays it seems also make a difference.

I had difficulty with reading and writing at school. An appalling speller, I still heavily rely on spellcheck. Having children at school brings out all of the old insecurities. One thing that has really helped with my confidence in writing has been working with my colleague Philip, he’s an experimental poet who’s also passionate about the visual look of the work. He’s introduced me to the world of text/art. Together, we have played with many ways to combine poems and visuals http://www.flickr.com/ working with marginalised people to find their creative voice. We’ve worked with older hospital patients, holocaust survivors, excluded schoolchildren, children who have special needs. Each new project inspires new ways of working, so we continually develop new techniques. 

concrete poem in brain illustration, part of the Patience project

So here, in a un-scientific sort of way, I’m going to use my son as a guinea pig to see if I can help him progress with his reading and writing. I want to try to inspire excitement in putting pen/pencil to paper. Through this blog, I'll share some of the creative ideas with you. Some will work, some will be flops, if you try any of the ideas, it would be great to hear your story. 

Another inspiration of late, has been the wonderful Garath Malone, and his tv series Extraordinary School For Boys. http://www.bbc.co.uk I highly recommend viewing it.

Please note that although called Boys can write, everything on this blogsite is equally valid for the girls - and for the grownups.