Booknic showcases contemporary children’s books

Our first-year trainee primary teachers visited a local primary school to hold a ‘booknic’

The trainees are all studying on our Primary English Education BA(Hons) with Qualified Teacher Status degree which focuses on English as a specialism alongside the other national curriculum subjects.

As the name might suggest, a booknic is like a picnic but shares new books instead of food. Prior to the booknic the students visited the classrooms at St Luke’s Primary School in Brighton to audit the book corners and learn about the children’s preferences so that they could research new books that the children would enjoy.

On the day blankets were spread out and the trainee teachers worked in pairs with small groups of the children from the class. The students shared the new contemporary books with the children which were later shared with the teacher.

The Booknic was arranged to support the trainee teachers learning for the Children’s Literature module and is just one of many activities they’ll get involved in during their degree.

“The visit was arranged to allow students to share high-quality and contemporary children’s literature with the pupils.

“The enjoyment and delight of the children at seeing the new books certainly demonstrated how important a knowledge of engaging children’s literature can be for all learners.”

Senior Lecturer Vicky Byfield

Thinking of training to be a teacher? Learn more about your options on the University of Brighton website.