The Story Exchange (2023 - 2025)
Empowering teachers and children through storytelling and creative partnership.
About the Project: Generously funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation’s Teacher Development Fund, this two year project aimed to aimed to support teachers in developing the necessary skills, knowledge, and confidence to provide space for improving emotional literacy and pupil voice in the classroom. Working together as co-enquirers, teachers and storytellers aimed to tackle the enquiry question: How can oral storytelling support teachers to improve emotional literacy?
Read below to discover our insights, findings and reflections.
This was a partnership project run by Oxygen and The Story Museum involving the wonderful;
5 Professional Storytellers from the Story Museum
14 Teachers from 7 schools in Oxfordshire
Professional Storytellers Adrienne Duggan, Peter Chand and Wendy Shearer
“‘I think people often confuse storytelling with reading, and it’s not the same, and it’s actually so much more powerful without the book. I actually can be more, you know, confident with it - I take ownership of it.’ ”
TEACHER SPOTLIGHT
Hear from one of our teachers, Jade Matthews from St Christopher’s School in Oxford talk about her experience of the project at the Teach Meet (hosted by Paul Hamlyn Foundation). Jade discusses and showcases the meaningful impact of oral storytelling in her teaching and in the classroom.
Read Our Project Report here
Discover how The Story Exchange Project transformed storytelling into a powerful tool for emotional literacy in Oxfordshire schools. The report shares key findings, teacher insights, and practical approaches for embedding arts-based learning and strengthening school–arts partnerships.
Whether you are a teacher, arts organisation or practitioner working with young people - find out our tips and ideas for your setting, and how to embed art-based learning. READ THE FINAL REPORT HERE!
The Story Exchange Symposium!
In July, Oxygen and The Story Museum hosted The Story Exchange Symposium, bringing together teachers and education leaders to celebrate the power of storytelling in learning, it was an inspiring event!
Co-designed with teachers, the event featured creative workshops and keynote speaker Wendy Shearer who shared 'The Magic of Storytelling' exploring how story can build emotional literacy and inclusion. Teachers and cultural partners left inspired to use storytelling tools alongside teaching about emotional literacy in classrooms and community settings.
To find out more Read our report and download our toolkits ready to use in the classroom!
Toolkits & Further Resources
Our toolkits translate the findings from The Story Exchange Project into practical resources for teachers and storytellers. Each toolkit includes ideas for action, reflection questions, and creative exercises to support arts-based learning and storytelling as tools for developing emotional literacy.
The project’s legacy will continue with resources featuring on The Story Museum’s 1001 Stories platform. The new website, www.1001stories.co.uk, launching in January 2026 to coincide with the National Year of Reading, will allow teachers to search stories by theme, feeling, or value, linking directly to Story Exchange resources.
Coming soon - resources will be published in November 2025