Last Thursday the students of Rūma Kiwi held its first 'Babble of Writers'; an event to celebrate the publication of the first stories emerging from their 'Writer's Notebooks'. Invitations went out, books were printed and bound, and sweet treats were plated in readiness for our guests to arrive.

 Quite a turn out.

To say that the lead up to the 2:30 pm deadline was chaotic would be an understatement but, when the door was thrown open and the children's whānua came in, every one in the class had a story to show them. I was delighted with the turn out and, while not all the children's whānua could attend, those that did took the time to read many of the stories on offer.

As an added extra whānua had the opportunity to preview a diorama, the class are working on, depicting scenes from Morris Gleitzmann's novel 'Once'. Although the diorama is still a work in progress it was clear some students took great pride in explaining it to their guests.

While the process to get to this point has involved some metaphorical, blood, sweat, and tears, every one of the children have worked hard to achieved, what for some, is the best piece of writing I have seen from them all year. More important than my view of their writing is the way they are beginning to see themselves as writers. As one boy so eloquently wrote in his 'writers profile':

              "I found out I had things inside me I did not realise that were in there. 
              I'm a pretty good writer and other people think that too, not just me".

             " I also learned that I knew more than I realised and I need to believe in myself. 
             I have interesting ideas and other people want to hear them". 

Explaining the 'Once' diorama.

 Checking out the book covers.

Lots to see.

Lots to read.