Not Now, Bernard

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using ICT the children might design their own monster and give him/ her a story using the paint programme Then there is that other monster, the one that has become such a fixture in the garden that even the opposition seems not to notice it any more. Can we talk about Brexit? Not now, Bernard!

Not Now, Bernard | Centre for Literacy in Primary Education Not Now, Bernard | Centre for Literacy in Primary Education

The Tory party recognises only two possible positions on Britain’s relationship with the EU – heroic insistence on further severance and cowardly plotting to rejoin. Labour, unwilling to adopt the former stance and afraid of being cast in the latter one, says nothing meaningful on the subject. The sentences in the story are all quite short. Could you use a connective to join some of them together? Does this improve the story? Meanwhile, the erection of pointless customs barriers between Britain and its nearest markets has obstructed trade, imposed costs on business, snarled up supply chains and stoked inflation. The end of free movement has caused labour shortages for food producers, care homes and a gamut of services in between. It can’t be done. Opinion polls suggest a majority of voters think the whole thing was a mistake. Liz Truss, the likely winner of the leadership contest, insists otherwise with the vehemence of a zealous convert.

Teaching Ideas and Resources:

Bernard’s parents ignored him in the story. How does it feel when people are ignoring us? How should we behave when people are trying to speak to us? How can we attract people’s attention in a polite, positive way? I was reminded of it by Rafael Behr's opinion piece in today's Guardian, 31 August 2022, six days before Johnson actually resigned as Prime Minister and Liz Truss took over, "Brexit is the monster under the bed Liz Truss is desperately trying to ignore" - see below. Anyone who pays an energy bill and does a weekly shop can feel the claws of a budget squeeze closing around the nation’s windpipe. There’s an ogre in the health service. “Not now, Bernard,” says Rishi Sunak. There’s a fiend in the financial outlook. “Not now, Bernard,” says Liz Truss. There are devils in your policy details. “Not now, Bernard!” Share favourite parts of the story or favourite illustrations. Talk about anything that puzzles your child, for example why Bernard’s parents don’t listen to him. Join in Role play conversations like the ones in the story as you go about everyday tasks with ‘Hello Mum or Dad’ and ‘Not now Bernard’ (perhaps inserting your child’s name!) as the reply. Your child might enjoy taking on the adult’s role with you as Bernard. Make a monster mask

Not Now, Bernard by David McKee | Goodreads

Britain’s self-exclusion from continental markets is not the biggest cause of present economic pain but it will be hard to imagine remedies in the absence of any rational audit of that decision or any reexamination of the ideological fixations that provoked it. But for Brexit believers, it is always too soon and too late to pass judgment. Having learned to despise received Treasury wisdom, Truss has graduated on to scorn for diplomacy as traditionally practised at the Foreign Office. Reports of her encounters with overseas counterparts suggest she stumbles at the subtle boundary between direct and brusque; candid and crass.

Write a story that explains what happens next. How do Bernard’s family react when they realise what has happened? Write a sequel to the story, explaining how Bernard escaped and managed to return home to his family. The author uses the word ‘said’ a lot in the story. Can you think of any synonyms that would be more suitable in each sentence? Tories now speak increasingly fondly of the outgoing prime minister, not because they remember him as a skilled leader, but because his unique skill is mesmerising them into forgetting what good government is meant to look like. Truss doesn’t have that magic touch. The Brexit booster wand sits awkwardly in her hand. I've read and enjoyed this many times, albeit not recently. The story and illustrations are good, funny, and, at first, relatable, with echoes of The Boy who Cried 'Wolf'. The parents are always too busy to pay much attention to their son. It was written in 1980, long before smartphones and social media.