'Lunch and Literature' is a voluntary class that runs on Thursday afternoons (1-1:45pm) here in St Mary's. It began in earnest last September and came about as a response to how first year primary and post-primary students might be supported in their growing knowledge and use of children’s high-quality literature – while having a bite to eat! Final year primary students were invited to act as mentors on this programme. As a result, a small but interested party of students have been meeting up regularly to exchange ideas, recommend resources, advise on reading strategies and generally nurture each other’s progress in coming to know and use good quality literature in schools. The conversations generated have been enlightening to say the least. The proof of this is borne out in many cases in the students’ feedback from teaching practice and their written responses in their first year annotated anthology literacy assignments.


Over the course of this year, it became apparent that 'Lunch and Literature' has potential to expand in many directions. Therefore, the current group have been brainstorming creative ways of doing this. So as not to give away any secrets just yet, suffice to say that news of the revamped programme will be coming your way in the new academic year. This is really just an invitation to be aware that in the next semester – you have been invited!