Grandad's Island

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I really liked going to hair, make-up and costume every morning. My favourite costume was my wedding dress costume. That was really nice. I wore my wellies with it though! Family: Katie Morag lives with her parents Isobel and Peter, her little brother Liam and her baby sister Flora Ann. Mr McColl is the shopkeeper in the village shop and Mrs McColl is the postmistress.

Katie Morag - Media Centre - BBC Katie Morag - Media Centre - BBC

I managed to compose myself and, on reaching the end of the story, when Syd receives a mysterious envelope, asked the children what they thought might be in the envelope. “A letter from Grandad!” they chorused. It had to be! They soon set about writing their own letters in the role of Grandad and it was at this point that I had to leave the classroom. Once again, I had started crying. I sat in the toilets for a while sobbing, feeling very foolish. I asked my children if they thought Grandad would return and almost all of them thought that no, he was happy on his island and the big, metal door in the attic had vanished anyway. Syd hugged Grandad one last time. He would miss him very much. The biggest difference is that there are more episodes than there were stories. The scriptwriters have taken the characters, the locations and the relationships and created six brand new stories and six special episodes. They have come up with new original ideas while still being very faithful to the original stories. I have written one script myself which was a very different process because I had no illustrations to rely on.When I returned, under the expert guidance of my Mum and an LSA, my Year 2 class had begun to compose their letters from Grandad to Syd, writing things like: Until then, like Syd, I shall continue to try and steer my ship safely home, weathering the storms, and filling my own attic of memories with laughter, music, art, books, love and maybe even a giant tortoise teapot. They were impressed too with Grandad’s painting and expressed their own longing to visit the island and play in the tumbling, cascading waterfalls with Syd. This group of lessons has probably been one of the highlights of my teaching career so far. Firstly, I think this is because it was my first successful attempt at carrying out whole class reading over a sustained amount of time (about six weeks). We use VIPERS, created by The Literacy Shed, to help develop our sessions and I felt that I had implemented this structure effectively. Secondly, the children really enjoyed the story, which created a shared excitement and buzz within the classroom. My mum looked at me, with tears in her eyes, then nodded with determination and, thankfully, seamlessly carried on reading to the children, while I turned away and dried my eyes.

Taken inspiration from Pinterest. Here is my Rivers and

I was reading to the class and had reached the part of the story where Grandad tells Syd that he is thinking of staying on the island. Up until this point, I have to admit that my reading of the book had been rather superficial, reminding me even now that revisiting a story, re-reading it and allowing ourselves time to slowly pore over the illustrations is vital and time well spend.

Cherry Campbell biography and interview

The biggest challenge was retaining Katie Morag’s perspective on the world. I think they have definitely done it. It’s still her island and they have captured it. I had a moment when I was on set, watching all the actors and film crew. I thought how rewarding it was that so many people have been employed on a project that started as an idea in my head 33 years ago. That gives me a great feeling, better than anything else. And the knowledge that Katie Morag is a real ambassador for the Scottish Highlands and Islands, a part of our country that a lot of people don’t know about.