Capita in partnership with the Education Authority (EA) and C2K have published a book - Too Much, Too Young, featuring eight short stories written by leading Irish children's authors.
Too Much, Too Young, has been created to help young readers empathise with characters going through difficult life challenges - and gain better insight and understanding of how to cope with challenging situations. Through the short stories teachers can guide discussions and activities, while the storylines help encourage reflection, resilience and promote better mental health.
The stories in the book are based on primary school-age characters dealing with difficult issues in their lives - from bullying, chronic shyness, self-esteem and anger issues to living in foster care, being a young carer, using a foodbank and living with autism
The topics were selected after consultation with a group of Key Stage 2 teachers, who made the suggestions based on experiences and issues they had faced in their own classrooms.
The book was officially launched during an event at St. Macnissi’s Primary School in Newtownabbey on the 15th of May. During the event Liz Weir, one of the contributing authors read her story to primary 6 and 7 pupils.
“The world of technology and in particular education technology is a space that we live in now on a minute-by-minute basis. Sometimes it’s nice to step away from that digital world and get a book in your hand. This publication, supported by Capita and our excellent C2k Newsdesk team, provides an opportunity to step out of the online world and take a few moments to engage the wellbeing challenges that all of us will face in our lives. This is a beautifully crafted set of short stories from some of the leading writers in this part of the world and we are delighted to play a part in bringing this to fruition.” Damian Harvey, Interim Head of C2k Services.
The Education Authority Library Service is currently distributing a copy of the book to every primary school in Northern Ireland. The published stories are also available on the C2K Newsdesk, an online digital literacy platform available to every school in NI, along with additional tales, audio narrations and meet the author videos, enabling access for a wide range of reading abilities.
Josie Cusack, Education Authority Library Services added
‘The Education Library Service is pleased to be involved in the distribution of ‘Too Much, Too Young’ - a title which is certain to be a valuable tool for teachers supporting pupils in difficult times and a useful addition to school libraries.’
Ross Anderson, managing director, schools at Capita concluded:
“We are delighted to be involved in this project. The stories highlight many pressing challenges facing young people today and is a remarkable way to support teachers in NI to address and discuss the sensitive subjects with their pupils. A special thanks to the EA library service for managing the distribution and ensuring every primary school receives a copy.”
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