Your Voice Matters
Every child has a voice that needs to be heard.
Our youth publishing projects help young people develop their voice.
Te Kaupapa
The Idea
Young people work with author-teacher, David Riley, to publish their own stories in book form.
The books will be published in paperback and eBook form so families and extended family can access them at home and around the world. The books will be launched in a celebration with families. When possible we also create audio and animated versions of the stories.
Te whakatutuki
The Process
Where: At your place (eg school, marae, church or other community location)
When: David works with the young writers once a week for an hour. He also gives them tasks to complete at home. The project runs between five and ten weeks, depending on the nature of the work.
Note: the project can be moved to an online format if there are changes to New Zealand’s alert levels due to COVID-19 or other disruptions.
Ngā tāngata
The People
David grew up in Māngere and has 25 years’ experience teaching English and Drama in South Auckland. David has written nearly 60 books for young people and run writing, reading and drama workshops with students and adults across Aotearoa and the Pacific. He’s helped a number of communities to create and publish their own books including Flat Bush School (Ōtara), St Mary MacKillop School (Māngere), Kedgley Intermediate, Panama Road School, Tangaroa College, the Auckland Tuvalu Community Trust, the Vagahau Niue Trust, Tokelau Kaulotu Petone, and the New Zealand Kiribati Trust.
“It was a great experience for me because it was the first time I ever wrote a book and it was fun writing it with an amazing group of people from my school. I had the greatest opportunity to leave a legacy for my school and to be an author this young.”
Ngā paearu
How the project benefits young people and whānau
We believe that strong literacy impacts wellness. Children and young people who are confident in how to express themselves and in understanding others' viewpoints are better able to contribute to their families and communities and feel better about who they are.
Our writing projects are multi-generational because we ask the children to connect with grandparents/elders and in the connecting and storytelling family bonds are strengthened. Young people who are secure in who they are and in their families are more likely to be successful.
Creating books from elders' stories adds mana to them. Our model is 100% ownership, tino rangatiratanga, by the families of the stories, how they are told, and what happens to them after they are published. Our role is just to assist them to celebrate their stories through literature.
Our families have amazing strengths in storytelling in all forms. It also gives families the opportunity to see their young people excelling as they grow in bravery, creativity, confidence, and mental wellbeing.
The launch brings families and communities together to celebrate the young people, their whānau, their school, their communities and the kaupapa.
“When David asked me about our students creating a book with his support, I immediately endorsed the project. I knew it would inspire our students. Having this experience while in primary school is amazing, and to have the chance to work with such a supportive mentor in David is life changing. Our students have been involved in the planning, designing, drafting, editing and publishing of their book. They will carry the memory of this with them as they move onto the next stage of their educational journey. Flat Bush School is very grateful to be part of this project. It has resonated in a powerful and impactful way across our school community.”
A sense of achievement and fulfilment from the creative experience
Students will learn why it’s important for all of us to know how to write well, and learn some useful writing skills including:
- Writing brain warm ups
- Sensational sentences
- Dynamic dialogue
- Fresh similes
- Talking senses
- Editing
Tamariki experience the thrill of being published authors and hopefully some of them will be inspired to become writers and storytellers in the future.
Working with a professional author-mentor who comes from South Auckland and shares with them his journey, shows the young people that being a published writer is achievable for everyone.
“This was an amazing experience for the students. They saw the writing process authors go through and were photographers for their own book. The biggest learning was realising they can ALL write and ALL have the potential to be an author. It was definitely a confidence boost for our not so confident writers. All students felt that through writing this book, their voice would be heard by others. We now have a rich resource to use as part of our reading programme within our school and one that all students will have a connection to.”
"I like sharing my stories and I want people to know how good I am and how brave I am.””
“I just wanted to share how much I feel honoured that you chose our school and I got to work with you, David. You showed me how to be cool, calm and collected with writing, to keep it fun and if the children are happy with it, let it be.”