Tuesday, April 11, 2006


Celebratory cakes on our 'brand new day' - the launch of Booktrust's new logo and brand.

At a recent Arts Council seminar on work with children and young people, arts organisations were presented with the five targets of 'Every Child Matters'.
It's hard to disagree that children should be healthy and safe etc., but shouldn't the arts community be pushing at the boundaries of these definitions?

I've been talking to a range of people about how we in the field of literature development can set out our stall as organisations happy to be working in the education system, but also having an approach all our own.

Here's my reworking of the 5 precepts.Your comments are invited.

Every Child Matters More

Be healthy - and feel free to be strange
Stay safe - take risks in your imagination
Enjoy and achieve - and be prepared to "Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett
Make a positive contribution - and always be prepared to kick up a fuss
Achieve economic well-being - but know there's more to life than money