Stuart Mycroft is inspired by writing, websites and Roald Dahl.
Best book ever
The Twits by Roald Dahl. I remember fighting over copies in the lending corner when I was in Year 6. Now I’m reading it to my class and they love it. It’s the sheer ghastliness of these two horrible people; the way they never wash and hate children.
Best film ever
The Shawshank Redemption, pictured, is an amazing film, about the horror of being locked away when you are innocent. The hero doesn’t sit back and hope to be released; he crawls through sewers and gets away. I’m not really a scary movie kind of person, but a friend asked me to go and see White Noise, which is about how the dead communicate with the living through the TV and radio. On the way home the car radio started buzzing, so it was a quick flick of the switch and turn that off, thank you.
Best on the web
I got into web design by accident. I started work at Beechwood as parents’
learning mentor and asked the ICT co-ordinator for a page on the school website. He said, “Yes, if you make the website.” You can be completely creative, doing something that people all over the world can reach.
Something for school
We’ve just taken our Year 6s on an Arvon writing course at Lumb Bank (Ted Hughes’s old house) in Yorkshire. The children were working with Wes Magee, the poet, and Linda Newbery, who read them her novel At The Firefly Gate, which I’d never heard of but I loved it. Linda asked the kids to write a story beginning with something unexpected they had discovered in a shop. I said, “Can I join in?” and we were all there, writing away until 9.30pm. We all gained so much confidence.
Looking forward
In 12 months I’ll finish my Open University degree in childhood and youth studies. Then I can go on to the registered teacher programme. At the moment I’m unqualified; I was asked to take on this Year 1 class of 13 children because the teacher retired sick.
Stuart Mycroft, 21, is a Year 1 instructor at Beechwood primary school in Huyton, near Liverpool. He was talking to Karen Gold. Details of Arvon Foundation writing courses can be found at www.arvonfoundation.org
