Edinburgh primary selected to receive a professional author residency

Sighthill primary selected to receive a professional author residency

Traditional storyteller Claire McNicol will be coming to Sighthill Primary School, Edinburgh to work with pupils, after the school was selected as one of ten schools across Scotland to receive fully-funded author residencies from Scottish Book Trust.

The Live Literature School Residencies Programme, now in its ninth year is funded by the Walter Scott Giving Group and delivered by Scottish Book Trust, the national charity changing lives through reading and writing. 

Claire McNicol is an experienced traditional storyteller and singer born in Ulster and living in Edinburgh. She combines storytelling with a career in social work supporting vulnerable children and their families.

Over fourteen sessions, Claire will help boost confidence in pupils and to recognise the value of their own voice through telling stories. The residencies are designed to inspire a lifelong love of reading and writing amongst pupils, as well as giving professional writers the opportunity to build relationships with the school and work together on a creative project. 

Claire McNicol said: ‘Thanks to the support of the Live Literature School Residency I am delighted to be appointed to work with Sighthill Primary School. 

“I visited the school as part of Scottish Book Week and worked with the infant classes. This residency will afford me the opportunity to work across the whole school community nurturing children’s development through story and song.  

‘The aim of the residency is to catalyse confidence in each and every child that they have something important to say and that their voices matter and need to be heard both in spoken word and in writing.’

Marc Lambert, Chief Executive of Scottish Book Trust, said: ‘Well done to the ten schools across Scotland that have been selected for the Live Literature School Residencies Programme.

“It’s an incredibly valuable programme as it allows authors to build relationships with a school over time, and to inspire pupils to develop a love of writing and creative expression.

‘These creative projects also offer the chance to engage with the local community, while promoting reading and writing cultures. We are grateful to our funders the Walter Scott Giving Group for making this programme available to all schools.’

Schools across the country were invited to apply to the programme which brings professional authors into the classroom to inspire and engage pupils. Each school taking part in the programme will receive 14 fully-funded residency sessions carried out by an author.

The residencies will run across the 2024-25 school year and finish by May 2025. The Walter Scott Giving Group has funded the Live Literature School Residencies Programme for the past nine years. As well as an author residency, schools will receive a resources grant of £500.