This week I am enjoying my second week of five with the affa fine tutors of SC&T Youth – we’re in Riverbank Primary this week and we’re teaching tunes and songs to P3, P4 and P5.
P5 are learning the Fisherman’s Lassie and made sure I had some help up at the front of the class from Charmander here. Who knew Pokemon were such good singers!?
Here’s a video of P4, 5 and 6 gien it laldy an singin The Wellyboot Song!
Well that was a fun week for the SC&T Youth tutors at St Peter’s Primary School in Aberdeen!
P4, 5 and 6 pupils learned clasarch, guitar, whistle, and Scots song every morning, with a concert on Friday where they were able to show off the tunes and songs they’d learned to the rest of the school and their teachers. P4 and 5 instruments would accompany the P6 singers, for example.
Here’s a photo of P6 enjoying a video of Joe Aitken singing the Barnyards of Delgaty – they were all singing along within a couple of choruses! I was especially impressed with their pronunciation of all the Doric words which were new to almost all the pupils.
One of the P6 girls drew this amazing portrait of me! – I love it when pupils do that! There are some amazing details in there – I’m particularly loving the duck earrings!
I’m really looking forward to next week when we’ll be sharing songs and tunes with the pupils of Riverbank Primary School.
This week, and for a further four weeks, I get to do something a little different!
Rather than storytelling, I’m going to be working as a tutor with SC&T Youth (the tuition for bairns and young adults through Scottish Culture and Traditions). I’ll be teaching a different song to Primaries 3, 4 and 5 (this week it’s Ps 4, 5 and 6) and one song they’ll all sing together. Meanwhile the other wonderful tutors will be teaching them accompaniment on clasarch, guitar and whistle as well as some trad tunes.
This week we’ve been at St Peter’s Primary – and the snow hasn’t dampened the pupils enthusiasm for learning! Here’s a photo taken on Don St yesterday. A beautiful part of town affa bonny in the snaa.
The Primary 4 pupils are learning one of our old favourites –
The P4s are learning our old favourite, The Fisherman’s Lassie. Noo I wis rummaging aboot tae find a video tae show you of someone singing it – totally forgetting that I recorded a wee video of it at Fraserburgh Lighthouse Museum back in… 2016! Which seems an eternity ago 
Here’s my version The Fisherman’s Lassie – more on the song tomorrow if I get a chance to post again 
For those of you thinking of booking a storyteller for 2024, I am available to tell stories on many different themes throughout the year! Obviously Easter, Spring, Summer, Autumn, Halloween, Christmas and Winter… but here’s a list of some of the different literary, science and history dates in 2024. To book me to tell stories at your event, just ping me a message! Email: paulinecordiner@gmail.com
Burns Night – 25th January 2024
National Storytelling Week – 30th January to 6th February 2024
World Book Day – 7nd March 2024
Mother’s Day – 10th March 2024
World Poetry Day – 21st March 2024
British Science Week 8th – 17th March 2024
International Children’s Book Day – 2nd April
National Share A Story Month – May 1st to May 31st 2024
Father’s Day – June 16th 2024
National Writing Day – June 26th 2024
Festival of British Archaeology – July 13th to July 28th
National Poetry Day – 5th October 2024
Scottish International Storytelling Festival – End Oct 2024
Odd Socks Day – Anti Bullying Week – 11th – 17th November 2024
St Andrews Day – 30th November 2024
Book Week Scotland – 18th to 24th November 2024
It’s just over a month until Spectra Festival 2024!
I’m delighted to announce that the wonderful Lindsey Gibb will be joining me again for more tales, fun and Irn Bru Jellybabies!
We’ve been looking at the exhibits Spectra have announced and are seeing what they inspire! 
The theme this year is “Connections” and one of the art works I’m most excited to see is “Spin Me A Yarn” by Studio Vertigo which ties into a wonderful folk tale.
Fizzy and Fuzzy will undoubtedly be getting a story to themselves (as well as their own supply of sweeties)
What a great day out Fizzy the Fairy and I had yesterday at the brand new library at Greyhope School and Community Hub!
Aberdeen City Libraries had organised a visit for each of the Primary 1 classes who got a couple of stories and then received their Bookbug Bags containing 5 books, an activity book and colouring pencils. All part of Book Week Scotland and funded by the Scottish Book Trust!
The bairns had a story about an adventure and another story about a silly loon! But my favourite moment by far was….
“Jack, if someone gives you something like that, you need to carry it home underneath your…”
“OXTER!”
For those of you that dinna spik Doric, that means your armpit. It’s one of my favourite words and I was gey chuffed to have it shouted out! 
Fizzy and I had a right nosey round the new library and facilities – which are so brand new, they (along with the school) only opened on the 1st November!
In fact we were so busy enjoying telling stories and having a nosey round that I forgot to take a photo – so you’ll have to make do with an old one 
Well Fizzy, Fuzzy and I had a wonderful time last night telling stories at KCCH (Kincorth Community Centre Hub) to a wonderful group of families and grown ups!
There were crafts for the bairns first, through in Kincorth Library before an hour of stories – unfortunately interrupted by Fizzy the Fairy and her brother Fuzzy. Well ok… Fizzy did help tell a story and Fuzzy did get the chance to do his favourite poem.
Thanks so much Anne and everyone at the Community Centre and Library for inviting us along, hosting the session and for making us feel so welcome! And thanks to the Scottish International Storytelling Festival for their Big Scottish Story Ripple community funding which made the event possible! #SISFStoryRipple
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Oh Wow! What a wonderful #SISFStoryRipple session today at Udny Green School today! What a fantastic outside area they have too, with their own wee woodie and circle of benches with a high up chair which I was none to elegant in climbing on to 🤣
Thanks to the school for having me along and to the Scottish International Storytelling Festival for funding the session
It’s been 11 days since Halloween and I’m just about recovered 
Well it was a wee bit busy!
9 locations, 13 events, 55 stories and about 10 packets of marshmallows toasted by the local guisers on the fire on Halloween itself!
I’m all set for Book Week Scotland next week and a few #SISFStoryRipple events the week after that!
Pauline Cordiner - Scottish Storyteller 