Written accounts

Use a testimony as a stimulus for writing a personal account. Again examine the testimony for important information and an insight into someone's experience. For example:

"About 1948, when I was about eight years of age - Saturday morning pictures at the Regal, Bexleyheath. In those days, to get into Saturday morning pictures you had to be a member of the ABC Minors, which meant you had to fill in a card and an application form to get an admission card and a little tin badge to display on your lapel. Before the cinema actually started there was usually some fun by the manager from out on stage. He'd announce a few birthdays and sing Happy Birthday to whoever it was. Then before the films actually started there was always, every week, the ABC Minors Song…"

Imagine you are a member of the Club and retelling what happened when it was your turn to be on stage at the cinema…

• Perhaps it was your birthday, or you had won a club competition for something?
• Who did you go with?
• How did you feel before you went?
• What was the 'fun' that the manager had lined up?

Your story might begin something like this:

"My parents used to let me and my brother Len go on our own to the cinema, every Saturday. It started at 10.30 in the morning, so we had to get the bus at 10 o'clock, so we could get there in time to queue up with our mates. On my eighth birthday…."

Write from the Manager's point of view, having to deal with hundreds of children every Saturday morning. Before you write, think about:

• What happened last week when a film star came to visit?
• What special preparations did you have to make?
• How did the children behave?
• Perhaps one of your usherettes didn't turn up for work?
• What films were you showing?
• How did the day go?
• How did you feel at the end of the day?
• What kind of things will you do for next week's Club?