With life being back to near-normal over the past three months, I have been back to near-normal in terms of reading quality fiction, watching some great theatre and viewing some wonderful movies and series. It has been an exhilarating term for me arts-wise. BOOKS I’ve had a chance to read 9 novels over the past three months, several of which … Read More
With regards to the arts, these three months have been an exquisite mixture of reading quality fiction (11 texts in all), viewing some great movies on the big screen, and watching some excellent series on the small screen. Viewing and watching is always great at this time of the year as the world moves toward ‘Oscar season’. There has to … Read More
Because of the extended lock-down we have been in – and continue to be in if you’re in Auckland – this Arts update is exclusively about the books that I have been reading during the lockdown. Eighteen books in all!! Yes, I could also write about the streamed shows I’ve looked at, but it’s my reading that has pre-occupied me. … Read More
I’m beginning this Arts review with my reading journey that included three of the novels short-listed for the 2021 International Booker Prize – two translated into English from French and one from Spanish. Subsequently, I read another seven novels from around the world: three from America, one from the UK, one from Egypt, one from Barbados and one from across … Read More
As usual, I’ve read a diverse range of books, watched a number of movies and seen some wonderful plays over the past few months, taking me to all corners of the world. One of the reasons I love all of these stories is because they introduce me to ideas and take me into places and characters I would never normally … Read More
At the end of my last Arts Update (August 2020), I was part way through reading Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet and about to start David Mitchell’s Utopia Avenue. I would highly recommend both of these novels, but especially Hamnet. Set in seventeenth-century Warwickshire (England), Hamnet is a beautifully written fictionalisation of the ups and downs of William Shakespeare’s family and particularly … Read More
Taylor McGrath is in his third year of teaching and works at Howick Intermediate which is a medium-sized decile 4 school in East Auckland. He is currently working with a diverse group of 30 students from a range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds. The Love of Writing & Music Taylor loves teaching writing and he loves listening to contemporary music. … Read More
I had the pleasure of working at Raroa Normal Intermediate (in Johnsonville, Wellington) for two days at the end of last term, modelling good practice in classrooms. At the end of my second day, one of the teams (Whai Wahi, led by Ethan Porteous) invited me to an after-school display in the hall that they had put together based on … Read More
I was astounded by the quality of a set of stories written by Year 1-2 students at Merrin School (situated in Christchurch; decile 8; a high proportion of ESOL students) and asked the teacher (Jeanne Coker) how they had been motivated. Jeanne talked enthusiastically about the importance of play-based learning in their school and how she had developed Learning /Ako … Read More
Kia ora koutou, I do hope you’ve all had a great break, getting yourself ready to take on the challenges of the final term. Yes, it’s been a difficult year hasn’t it, especially for those of us who live in Auckland. But, as a professional community, I think we’ve done very well. We’ve taken risks, we’ve found new ways of … Read More