NET Scheme News 2024 Spring issue 45

22 NET Scheme News Issue 45 The Bucket Filling Week Reading is a gateway to knowledge, imagination, and personal growth. It has the power to instill values, shape character, among many other things. In this article, I will explore how stories were successfully used to implement values education during our ‘Bucket Filling Week’, and the impact of these stories not only during the activity week but beyond it as well. Classroom reading allowed us to first introduce the concept to students in a structured manner. The concept was fairly new and quite abstract, and so provided students with a solid understanding of the theme. This meant that students were able to wholly engage in the week and its upcoming activities. The stories selected allowed students to explore themes such as kindness, respect, and compassion, and the importance of these values within their lives. We also sought to further cement key concepts through lunchtime storytelling, so that students could access the theme in a freer, less structured environment. Through these sessions, students were able to identify the positive and negative behaviours modelled by the characters, raising the question, what kind of person do I want to be? The experience encouraged active participation involving the use of open-ended questions, interactive props, role-play, just to name a few. Following this, we found that when returning to the classroom, students were much more willing and able to participate in discussions regarding the theme. Students were able to better analyse characters’ motivations, reflect on the values portrayed and apply their knowledge to real-life scenarios.With a sound base established,this propelled us into some deep discussions about moral dilemmas and the ethical implications of our actions. The power of stories extended beyond our ‘Bucket Filling Week’. Throughout the school year, we were able to leverage the impact of stories by incorporating such into various events and activities that promoted values education. Using a similar approach, students were given the chance to combine their knowledge and build upon concepts with a different focus. For example, applying their understanding of bucket filling and how this ties into other themes like love and growth. Incorporating stories into values education is a powerful way to engage students, nurture empathy, and develop their understanding.As teachers,we know it is important to find opportunities where we can create meaningful reading experiences that instill values and shape our students’ lives.With this in mind, we have continued to leverage the impact of stories, in the aim of building a culture of character development that goes beyond the classroom. Naomi De-Alwis, NET St. Mary’s Canossian School To help cultivate a love of reading at my school, I have decorated the English Room with the theme ‘Under the Sea’ to create a comfortable and quiet place for students to read. I have also filmed ‘Reading with Mr Todman’ videos for students to watch at home, where we read several books together.Once the students finish reading a book, they design a book review poster which is displayed on the ‘Good Work’ wall in the English Room. This has helped all students to love reading and improve their English. Andre Todman, NET N.T.W.J.W.A Christian Remembrance of Grace Primary School Printed by the Government Logistics Department The Power of Reading