"Storytelling can be a shared pleasure": Frank Cottrell-Boyce's visit to a Sheffield nursery

"They were doing amazing things with scissors!"

Waterstones Children’s Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce is on the look-out for inspiring examples of sharing books and stories in the early years. Here’s what he took away from his visit to Meadows Nursery in Sheffield.

Books are only part of the story 

Situated on the Sheffield Hallam University campus, Meadows Nursery is also a space for research and developing best practice in early years and childcare. 

During his visit, Frank Cottrell-Boyce spoke with staff from Meadows Nursery and Sheffield Libraries. He observed how the nursery staff build families’ engagement with reading – using books as a starting point, then creating fun games and activities around the stories.  

“They were using books not as a meal, but as a recipe,” says Frank.

"They were squeezing the full value out of a book – doing amazing things with scissors, cardboard and a copy of The Very  Hungry Caterpillar."

"It was really drawing parents and carers in, getting them involved, and giving them confidence. It’s all about knowing how to handle a book, being confident, and making that book a source of fun and questioning.” 

Social cohesion through storytelling 

Frank was also inspired by the way Meadows Nursery has used storytelling activities to strengthen the local community. A couple of years ago, the nursery encouraged parents and carers to get involved in a story-themed activity around Jack and the Beanstalk. Now, these families all go on camping holidays together.  

“This is quite a fractured, underprivileged neighbourhood,” says Frank.

“These families have gone from not really talking to each other, to going camping together. That’s amazing. It shows how storytelling can be a shared pleasure. And shared pleasure creates social cohesion.” 

Championing equal access to reading rights 

Through his Reading Rights campaign, Frank Cottrell-Boyce is calling for a national provision so that every child – from their earliest years – has access to books, reading and the transformative ways in which they improve long-term life chances. 

Professor Sally Pearse is Strategic Lead for Early Years and Director of the Early Years Community Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University. “There’s a strong link between Frank’s goals and what we do at the Meadow’s Nursery,” she says. “We are researching how we can address issues of inequality in the early years. We know if we can make an impact then, it’s life-long. The work that we do is around making sure practitioners are confident and skilled around interacting with children and books, as well as working with parents.   

She adds: "Nurseries have a key role to play, because they see parents twice a day, five days a week. They build up really strong trusting relationships with parents. If parents don’t feel confident in reading, they’re quite likely to share that with practitioners. We can really help and support in that area."

What storytellers in the early years need  

Frank and staff at Meadows Nursery and Sheffield Libraries spent time discussing the uphill battle to protect the right for all children to become readers. 

"They all said becoming a reader has got harder,” says Frank. “Because of access to material, the competition of distraction, and because so many parents are demoralised. They also feel that we need a higher status for people involved in nurseries and childcare. Their skills are not celebrated and therefore not shared. If we can find good practice, we need to share it and celebrate it. 

Sally Pearse adds: “What we absolutely need, is for early years workers to be recognised for the important role they play, to be supported, to be developed, and to be recompensed appropriately for the skilled role that they have.

"The early years sector has had a really hard time in terms of the recruitment and retention crisis. It has often felt undervalued.  

"The fact that Frank Cottrell-Boyce took the time to come into an early years setting was really powerful. It made people feel that the work in the early years is going to be valued by him during his time as Waterstones Children’s Laureate.” 

Final thoughts from Frank – and next steps 

"Meadows Nursery is a staggeringly successful project," says Frank, "but also a set of extraordinary circumstances that have come together to make that project happen. That should be the standard. It shouldn’t be that the people in the neighbourhood have won some kind of postcode lottery."

"The first thing that needs to happen is to find more of these successful examples of projects like Meadows Nursery. Then we need to get the people who are doing them in front of people with power, so they can show that building engagement with reading in the early years can be done, and be honest about what they need.

"We’re not asking for some kind of new infrastructure project. It’s not a pipe dream. This is achievable. We want to seek out the best and share it with the rest."

Find out more about The Waterstones Children’s Laureate’s Reading Rights campaign