Passmores Academy in Harlow will welcome rapper Christian Foley as part of the Essex Year of Reading to show young children how reading can not only be fun but can also open-up opportunities for them throughout their lives.
Rapper Christian Foley, whose improvised performances have been lauded by stars like 50 Cent, will help celebrate the Essex Year of Reading at Passmores Academy in Harlow on Wednesday 29 March from 10am to 2.30pm.
The Essex Year of Reading is a £1m campaign set up to support children and young people in Essex whose learning was affected by the pandemic.
Created by the Essex Education Taskforce and funded by Essex County Council (ECC), the campaign has hosted writing competitions, author events, story time sessions and a wealth of free reading resources. Now the campaign is working with spoken word artists to engage young people in reading in new ways.
Over 500 schoolchildren aged between 7 and 14 from across Harlow will gather at Passmores Academy, a secondary school featured on Educating Essex, to celebrate the Essex Year of Reading.
Christian, who was trained in his word skills by Michael Rosen and was brought to prominence by Benjamin Zephaniah, will give the children a special spoken word and hip hop performance.
Councillor Tony Ball, ECC’s Cabinet Member for Education Excellence, Lifelong Learning and Employability, said: “Reading is such a valuable skill. It opens doors to other areas of education and an important part of this campaign has been to show children and young people that reading can also be fun.”
He added: “So far, the Essex Year of Reading campaign has had great success. We’ve seen Dermot O’Leary read Toto the Ninja Cat to thousands of primary school children and Michael Rosen perform Chocolate Cake at Basildon Theatre. This latest event at Passmores Academy is a great way to engage pupils in new ways and let them see where reading can take them.”
Christian’s freestyle poetry has made him a viral sensation, as well as a regular on British television and radio. His talents have also seen him feature on Oprah’s Television Networks, Prime Minister’s Questions at Westminster, TED talks and the Premier League.
Vic Goddard, Principal of Passmores Academy, is really pleased to host the event. He said: “We’re delighted to welcome pupils from across Harlow to this Essex Year of Reading celebration event. Christian Foley is a standout performer and we’re really looking forward to seeing how he engages with schoolchildren, especially those who aren’t so keen to open a book.”
Youngsters from secondary schools will attend the morning performance and schoolchildren from the area’s primary schools will enjoy an afternoon session.
A legacy book of the Essex Year of Reading, featuring creative works submitted by the people of Essex, is also in development and will be published this year.
To discover more about the Essex Year of Reading, download the free app from Google Play or the App Store. Find out more about the campaign by visiting https://www.essex.gov.uk/news/essex-year-of-reading.
