Teach Primary Issue 18.6

VO I C E S www.teachwire.net | 13 Frank Cottrell-Boyce TP It’s been a little while since you were announced as Children’s Laureate. Has anything surprised you about the role? FC-B Everyone thinks it’s the Poet Laureate! Nobody can say ‘laureate’, without putting ‘poet’ in front of it. Even those who remember it’s about children say Children’s Poet Laureate. People ask, “Have you got to write a poem?” Another thing is that everyone thinks of it as an accolade, but I’m very much treating it as a job. TP You’ve said you want to focus on tackling invisible privilege. What challenges do you think that will entail? FC-B I see a lot of really good practice; I’ve seen amazing stuff in primary. It’s just making sure that everyone gets to know about it and shares it. And I think for that to happen, we do need some kind of government intervention for it not to be patchy. Sometimes, in the same day, I’ll go to a school that has incredible practice around reading and then I’ll literally be able to walk to the next school and it’ll be dead. I just think, how is this happening? It shouldn’t be. It shouldn’t be a lottery. I think I will need some kind of political backup. If I get that, I think that collating good practice will be a joy. And getting people to share what they do well will be wonderful. TP You’re also launching a Reading Rights campaign with Booktrust, who are the UK’s largest children’s FC-B If you’ve got great practice in your primary, do, do, do reach out to me! I want to know about it. I’m going to collect good practice, and I’ve already seen some amazing things. I want this to be a good-news thing. I’m optimistic about it, because you can’t afford not to be. I feel that this is doable. There’s a great quote fromWilliam Beveridge, ‘Scratch a pessimist and you find often a defender of privilege.’ Another thing is that writers have got very hung up on the idea of libraries over the years. Libraries are really important and wonderful, but they’re not the only weapon, you know? There are people who are managing without libraries, or finding new ways to use or curate their libraries. I’ve seen libraries that have opened that look lovely, but they’re not properly curated, and kids don’t have agency about how to use them. So, I don’t want schools having a whip-round, building a lovely library and then doing nothing with it – which I have seen happen. I want to hear about good practice, you know? TP Frank Cottrell-Boyce is the Waterstones Children’s Laureate for 2024–26. A multi award-winning children’s book author and screenwriter, his debut children’s novel, Millions , won the prestigious CILIP Carnegie Medal reading charity, and who run the Laureateship. What are you hoping to achieve from that? FC-B We know what an enormous advantage it is to have a good experience with books before you start school. So, given that we know how important and huge the effect of access to books is, I think every child has a right to benefit from it. If it’s just not happening, we should find a way to make it happen. TP Have you had people reach out to you already regarding these projects? FC-B People started contacting me straight away, which I didn’t expect. It feels huge. People in publishing have asked if they can help; some celebrities too. Lots of organisations, such as Coram and Beanstalk, asked to meet and share with me what they’re doing. So, yeah, I think there’s a sense there that it needs to be done. TP Did you take any advice from Joseph [Coelho, previous Children’s Laureate] when he passed the baton to you? FC-B Yeah. Joseph’s big tip was “Book your holidays now.” Which, of course, I haven’t done. And when I spoke to him, I realised that he hadn’t done it either: he was describing the rocks on which he perished, rather than the wisdom that he’d exercised. TP Is there anything you’d like to say to Teach Primary readers? New Children’s Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce lays out his vision “Getting people to share what they do well will be wonderful” @UKLaureate @ frankcottrell_b booktrust.org.uk/childrens-laureate ©David Bebber