Programs - General
Pre–Schools
Parent Nights
Gael has a range of action stories that parents (especially dads) and children can learn together. The content and design of each will be discussed at the time of booking.
See also Tiny Tools
Primary Schools
All Programs 45-60 minutes
These themes can be adapted to any age level with more challenging tales for older children.
Fairy Tales
Fairy tales teach us essential life skills and provide the building blocks of our literature and our culture.
Learn to Listen
A special program of ‘everyday’ stories and poems for P-1.
Getting along together
There are so many ways in which we can learn from each other and find our own courage and compassion through the sharing of story.
History in the Making
True tales of Ted from the 1920s and ‘30s, breaking the rules in the 1960s, and the Drive-In experience. Australian stories of real people in recent times.
Stop the Bullying
This session uses traditional stories to introduce children to the role of the bully in folk literature.
Linked with comment, it creates a space for children to explore personalities and situations.
Reconciliation
Throughout the centuries there has been a need for reconciliation as there is today in Australia.
This is a great opportunity to examine a complex issue through story.
Chamber of Horrors
Ghost stories, spooky tales, words to make your eyes as big as saucers. Living forever has consequences and uncovering secrets needs a brave heart!
Your Choice
Whatever it is you are doing (beach, mini-beasts, gold rush, space, dinosaurs, fresh water ecosystems), Gael has stories to tell. Why not ask?
Grades P-6 Author presentation 45-60 minutes
Gael is a published author and her presentation of the process of writing the text and preparing the script for the illustrator is both illuminating and highly entertaining.
Storytelling workshops
Prep to 2: 60 minutes
Grades 3 to 4: 75 minutes
Grades 5 to 6: 90 minutes
Children discover for themselves in this workshop how to tell stories from memory.
Fabulous language experience that enhances all aspects of a child’s development. Learning to tell a story helps develop imagination, listening skills and memory.
This session requires adults to assist with small group work. Workshops adjusted to Year levels.
Secondary Schools
See the separate section
Workshops
How can a quilt be the universe?
Stories and exercises to give students an understanding of metaphor by moving from the concrete to the abstract.
This workshop is designed to assist students with both the development of their creative writing and with their ability to understand and respond to text.
How does each student learn?
Explore three methods of learning (reading, listening and visualization) to discover which is the preferred learning style of each student – and by the end of the session each one will have a story to tell!
Stories for girls
These sessions are designed to give girls a safe place in which to explore some of the issues of growing up. The insights obtained in these sessions will also enrich personal writing styles by exploring some of the ways metaphors work in the stories we listen to and tell. Follow up work will allow an understanding of the role the “point of view” in the shaping of metaphor and the meaning we take from these stories and allow participants to begin the work of re-shaping the stories they write and hear.
Get in touch with your inner fury…but I never get angry, do I?
Stories to stimulate discussion.
Get in touch with your inner princess: How do I become the person I want to be?
Stories of princesses to touch your heart, to recall your childhood, to give you pause, to think, to listen, for fun...
Parent Seminars & Professional Development
Learn and tell a story in one hour 90 mins
This workshop allows participants to explore some of the methods of learning a story and to reflect on which of the learning methods best matches his or her own style of learning.
Telling and Writing 2 hours
Donald Davis says that literacy is a second language - children learn to speak before they learn to write. In this workshop participants work with a traditional or personal story to explore the difference and reflect on the way working from one to another informs both processes. By the end of the session participants will have practiced telling their stories, have completed a written outline and have the tools necessary to complete the work.
Storytelling for Teachers 3 hours
A combination of the two workshops outlined above, designed to show how storytelling can assist with literacy, language and listening skills, drama, socialisation etc. The focus of this session is by arrangement.
Building Metaphors - Building Resilience 90 mins
Bullying, untidiness, forgetfulness, blended families: discover how to construct a story that will allow your child to find his or her own solution to the problem.
- Australian Animals
- Visiting the shops
- Going to the doctor (or hospital)
- Transport
- Teddy Bears
- Getting along together
- The Enormous Beetroot (turnip)
- Jack and the Beanstalk
Parent Nights
Gael has a range of action stories that parents (especially dads) and children can learn together. The content and design of each will be discussed at the time of booking.
See also Tiny Tools
Primary Schools
All Programs 45-60 minutes
These themes can be adapted to any age level with more challenging tales for older children.
Fairy Tales
Fairy tales teach us essential life skills and provide the building blocks of our literature and our culture.
Learn to Listen
A special program of ‘everyday’ stories and poems for P-1.
Getting along together
There are so many ways in which we can learn from each other and find our own courage and compassion through the sharing of story.
History in the Making
True tales of Ted from the 1920s and ‘30s, breaking the rules in the 1960s, and the Drive-In experience. Australian stories of real people in recent times.
Stop the Bullying
This session uses traditional stories to introduce children to the role of the bully in folk literature.
Linked with comment, it creates a space for children to explore personalities and situations.
Reconciliation
Throughout the centuries there has been a need for reconciliation as there is today in Australia.
This is a great opportunity to examine a complex issue through story.
Chamber of Horrors
Ghost stories, spooky tales, words to make your eyes as big as saucers. Living forever has consequences and uncovering secrets needs a brave heart!
Your Choice
Whatever it is you are doing (beach, mini-beasts, gold rush, space, dinosaurs, fresh water ecosystems), Gael has stories to tell. Why not ask?
Grades P-6 Author presentation 45-60 minutes
Gael is a published author and her presentation of the process of writing the text and preparing the script for the illustrator is both illuminating and highly entertaining.
Storytelling workshops
Prep to 2: 60 minutes
Grades 3 to 4: 75 minutes
Grades 5 to 6: 90 minutes
Children discover for themselves in this workshop how to tell stories from memory.
Fabulous language experience that enhances all aspects of a child’s development. Learning to tell a story helps develop imagination, listening skills and memory.
This session requires adults to assist with small group work. Workshops adjusted to Year levels.
Secondary Schools
See the separate section
Workshops
How can a quilt be the universe?
Stories and exercises to give students an understanding of metaphor by moving from the concrete to the abstract.
This workshop is designed to assist students with both the development of their creative writing and with their ability to understand and respond to text.
How does each student learn?
Explore three methods of learning (reading, listening and visualization) to discover which is the preferred learning style of each student – and by the end of the session each one will have a story to tell!
Stories for girls
These sessions are designed to give girls a safe place in which to explore some of the issues of growing up. The insights obtained in these sessions will also enrich personal writing styles by exploring some of the ways metaphors work in the stories we listen to and tell. Follow up work will allow an understanding of the role the “point of view” in the shaping of metaphor and the meaning we take from these stories and allow participants to begin the work of re-shaping the stories they write and hear.
Get in touch with your inner fury…but I never get angry, do I?
Stories to stimulate discussion.
Get in touch with your inner princess: How do I become the person I want to be?
Stories of princesses to touch your heart, to recall your childhood, to give you pause, to think, to listen, for fun...
Parent Seminars & Professional Development
Learn and tell a story in one hour 90 mins
This workshop allows participants to explore some of the methods of learning a story and to reflect on which of the learning methods best matches his or her own style of learning.
Telling and Writing 2 hours
Donald Davis says that literacy is a second language - children learn to speak before they learn to write. In this workshop participants work with a traditional or personal story to explore the difference and reflect on the way working from one to another informs both processes. By the end of the session participants will have practiced telling their stories, have completed a written outline and have the tools necessary to complete the work.
Storytelling for Teachers 3 hours
A combination of the two workshops outlined above, designed to show how storytelling can assist with literacy, language and listening skills, drama, socialisation etc. The focus of this session is by arrangement.
Building Metaphors - Building Resilience 90 mins
Bullying, untidiness, forgetfulness, blended families: discover how to construct a story that will allow your child to find his or her own solution to the problem.
