The 3/33 Tartan Design, Weaving and Writing Competition
Glasgow born multi-award-winning author and storyteller Michael Kerins has worked with Saint Barbara’s Primary School Muirhead, North Lanarkshire on a regular basis for at least fifteen years.
Michael says that he was thoroughly delighted when the theme of this past project was accepted immediately by the Head Teacher, Mrs Sheelah McKinney, but he reports that he was also greatly surprised when she suggested that the whole school should participate in this project, which was instantly named “The 3/33 Tartan Design, Weaving and Writing Competition” and Michael launched the project at a whole school assembly.
Two distinct groups:
The children should, using the three colours, they had chosen design and make their own tartan,
Acrostic (a poem in which certain letters of each line spells out a word, name, or phrase when read vertically) – compose a new poem.
Either using the word TARTAN or the vocabulary of the selected colours i.e.
R
E
D
W
H
I
T
E
B
L
A
C
K
Simple sentences, short paragraphs to create a poem.
Middle and Upper School P4 P5 P6 P7
Children to create a new tartan as a family tartan. They also must limit the number of colours to a maximum of three. Designs could be created manually or using one of the various online tools. The children should then describe why they have created their specific tartan in EXACTLY 33 words, no more, no less. The written piece can be Rhyming, In Scots, A Poem, or Prose. Three-week time scale was allocated and proved to be satisfactory for the whole school to participate fully. Prizes were awarded by a judging panel, with each class having a winning contribution. Michael then returned to the school and awarded the successful participants in person.
Two online programmes were made available to the upper school to chose from
and
https://www.houseoftartan.co.uk
A plain A4 template was also provided, this was split into two separate halves. Top half – A box in which the tartan design will be drawn, Bottom Half – A lined section in which the children will write their individual narrative.
Every child in the school (186) was invited to participate and they did.
After a short display in the school, a small exhibition of The 3/33 Tartan Design, Weaving and Writing Competition was installed Chryston Library – Lindsaybeg Road Chryston G69 9LD
Michael Kerins gives thanks to Mrs McKinney HT, staff and pupils for their wonderful support across the whole school.
The project is now scheduled to transfer to The English Literature Department Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, Bouazizi University Istanbul, Turkey, in the late autumn.
In the photograph Marat Kabak of Boğaziçi University Istanbul, Turkey can be seen admiring the exhibition.
This small exhibition will remain on display at Chryston Library until September 2024 after which it will transfer to The English Literature Department Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, Boğaziçi University Istanbul, Turkey,
The Exhibition will remain in Chryston, at the library where you will be most welcome to view these wonderful works of art.
Michael Kerins
Author and Storyteller