Listen Up!
LAPA Publishers is looking for contributions for unique, original and impactful ideas or devotionals for use in schools, assemblies and classrooms. These contributions can be in Afrikaans or English, and we need submissions for both Primary and High School students – and teachers!
What is it for?
LAPA Publishers would like to invite you to collaborate with us in the compilation of two exciting new books for teachers, titled Listen up! The assembly book every teacher needs. There will be one for the primary school and one for the high school, and the text will be in a combination of English and Afrikaans. Our aim with these books is to provide a valuable resource for teachers for use during school assemblies, sporting events, class openings and any opportunity to address the students – as well as serving as encouragement for teachers themselves.
We know all too well how difficult it is being a teacher in South Africa today, and the incredible amounts of stress and pressure you encounter from all sides. We also know that teachers value their students and want to support them wherever they can, while so often have to deal with difficult and heavy topics such as grief, bullying, traumatic events, mental health and more. LAPA’s goal with our educational books has always been to aid teachers wherever we can, and these two new books are no different. Not only do we want to provide you with resources for how to address these kinds of difficult topics in an accessible and meaningful way, but we also want to provide the teachers with support.
In order to do that, we need your help. We need unique, original and impactful ideas or devotionals for schools, assemblies or teachers and we are asking authors and schools to send us their contributions.
What are we looking for?
Your contribution must be:
- Original: something you wrote or created yourself
- Unique: not something that’s been done many times before
- Impactful: something that will really cause a reaction; whether motivational, supportive or humorous in nature
- Practical and realistic for use in schools
What format can the contribution take?
Your submission can include, but is not limited to, any of the following formats:
- A devotional (not religious)
- A story to read/tell
- An age-appropriate activity to do with the students
- A skit to be performed by teachers or prefects
Who is the target audience?
While these contributions will mostly be aimed at respectively primary and high school aged students, we are also looking for additional resources for teachers that will serve to encourage them. For example, a devotional that can be read in the staff room – whether it’s an motivational piece to uplift teachers drowning in marking, or a tongue-in-the-cheek guide for dealing with difficult parents.
Themes to consider:
- Emotional and mental wellbeing
- Moral values
- School pillars
- Traumatic events (for example the death of a fellow student, or a violent incident at school)
- Contemporary social issues (such as cyber bullying, social media)
- Motivational (for exams, sporting events, arts and culture, etc)
Length
There are no specific length requirements because we’re looking for a variety of lengths for different event purposes.
For each applicable contribution, we would like one version that is long enough for use in an assembly, and one shorter, more practical version that a teacher can use during their early morning register class.
Reward
Each submission that is chosen to be published will earn its author R350 in cash. The author and/or school’s name will be published alongside the piece in the book.
Submission information
- All submissions and contributions need to be submitted electronically and in Word or PDF format by 1 July 2023.
- You can submit as many pieces as you want, and there is no word limit.
Please provide the following information in your submission:
- Which category your submission is for: primary school, high school or staff room
- A short paragraph about you as a writer or teacher
- The name of the school you’re associated with (if applicable)
For any queries or submissions, please contact:
An-Mari do Carmo
Senior Editor: Children’s, Teen and Young Adult Books