This week The Land featured a story from Cobargo Public School's Brock Alison on his experience in 2020 - from the bushfires which forced his family to evacuate their home, to the coronavirus lockdown.
It was the second story The Land has published from Cobargo Public School, which were written as part of the Littlescribe program.
Littlescribe founder Jenny Atkinson wrote the below on the experience of working with Cobargo Public School on their stories, including Year 5/6 student's story 'The Day She Stole The Sun,' which has been published as a book for Littlescribe.
Writing after the flames
On January 1, 2020 Cobargo Public School stood amongst the backdrop of embers, ash, smoke, and devastation.
On Monday, January 27 at 8.30am, the day before school started, Littlescribe had a scheduled webinar with Cobargo Public, organised back in 2019, when the world was a different place.
We asked would you like to postpone our meeting? 'No' was the unequivocal response from principal Gillian Park.
The team used their mobile phone to ensure internet connectivity and a group of smiling, positive, extraordinary teachers beamed across our screens. Our only focus was to support, enable and be of service.
We explored how our literacy program could support students and teachers throughout the year and this is the behind the scenes story of what can unfold when a school community creates a road map that empowers, builds literacy skills, and tackles the toughest of challenges with grit, grace and gratitude.
Year 5/6 students agreed to collaborate, as writers, illustrators, editors, investigators.
"Can we make it a 24-page book?"
They started with a storyboard to create a 12 page book, but it was soon apparent that was not big enough.
Their teacher Campbell Kerr asked us 'Can we make a 24-page book?', the answer was yes.
Then he asked for a 32 page book and then a 40 page book. The answer from us was still a big yes.
The students started drawing, painting, sketching their memories.
Burnt sticks and leaves picked up added layers to the illustrations and helped find the words within and build a narrative. Together they reflected, rehashed, rewrote, reviewed sometimes four to six reiterations.
The ear tags from the local co-op, originally colourful, did not look quite right incorporated into the illustrations. So white tags were chosen, a better representation of a gravestone for each animal alongside their white twisted wire-like bones.
The storyboard helped build a chronological order. Students fact-checked with the Rural Fire Service as the story evolved. The dates and times layered throughout each page, create a historical record.
The fire was not a thing. It was life-like, life-changing, life-taking. To personify the story allowed the experience to be shared more deeply.
They consulted local elders, Yuin nation in their area, and proudly used the traditional Dhurga word for fire, which is Ganyi.
Ganyi was personified via images, similes, metaphors.
The approach providing a safe way to share the truth, while building literacy and communication skills, which can often regress following traumatic experiences.
The audience was always a key consideration throughout the process and co-authoring and working together brought the students closer.
It allowed them to bounce off each other, elaborate, and appreciate the variety of experiences and different truths that came from the same event.
Hope that others will relate and find comfort
This story is written with the hope of connecting with a bigger community, in the possibility that others may relate, learn, find comfort, and hope.
As the families and community of Cobargo read 'The Day She Stole the Sun', they unashamedly shed tears, a mixture of awe and pride.
The book is already connecting and giving permission to continue the conversations yet to be had and continue those still in progress.
The students, now authors, want you to know 'our community is small but our spirit is strong.'
They wanted to express their thanks.
They wanted you to know their story in its purest form.
They wanted you to read their story.
- The book is available for purchase at www.littlescribe.com/cobargo.