Claire

@Claire Davies began The Secret Chapter as a small after-school club in a local primary school for children who needed a quieter place to land at the end of the day.

Since then, it has slowly started growing into something much bigger.

Built around oral storytelling and shared imagination, The Secret Chapter invites children into a calm story circle where traditional folk and fairy tales become a way of exploring ideas about courage, belonging, kindness, and difference.

These are stories that have travelled through generations, helping people understand themselves and the communities around them. In the circle, children don’t just listen to stories. They respond to them, question them, and build new ideas from them together.

A Different Kind of Space

Each group brings together children from different classes and age groups, many of whom would never normally spend time together during the school day.

Something changes when they sit together in the circle.

Children begin listening more openly and speaking more freely. The pressure of the school day softens a little. The space gives them room to step outside the roles they usually carry and connect through imagination instead.

The Secret Chapter has been shaped especially for children who may not naturally find confidence through written literacy. Oral storytelling offers another route in, one that values memory, expression, imagination, and voice.

For some children, discovering that their ideas matter can become a real turning point.

Growing Outwards

At the moment, sessions run as a small paid group with only six places available in each circle. But the long-term vision reaches much further.

The hope is to eventually offer funded places for children receiving pupil premium support and to grow The Secret Chapter into a public-interest organisation that can deliver free storytelling experiences for children most separated from literacy opportunity or creative confidence.

A wider community is already beginning to form around the project through families, supporters, and a growing mailing list. Children can also take part in competitions, creative challenges, and imaginative activities that continue outside the sessions themselves.

This summer, The Secret Chapter will appear at school fairs and local festivals, bringing storytelling into shared community spaces and exploring how the project works beyond the classroom.

There are also plans to begin working with home-educating groups from September.

Looking Ahead

The longer journey ahead is ambitious.

The Secret Chapter is gradually growing towards becoming a magical literacy charity, somewhere children can discover their voices, stretch their imaginations, and begin to see new possibilities for themselves.

Stories have always helped people find their place in the world.

This project is about making sure more children have the chance to step into them, and this is only the beginning of the story…