The aim of this monthly, online magazine is to showcase the work of adults across the U.K. who are studying to improve their literacy and numeracy skills. It doesn't matter if they are studying in a college, or at work, or in a neighbourhood centre. It doesn't matter if they are at level 1, or entry level 1 of the curriculum and it doesn't matter if they are working on their literacy or their numeracy..... this section is open to all.
Remember, if you don't like what you see here, or if you have an ideas about how we could improve 'Your stories' please do let us know.

Tracking sheet
To help you or your students keep a record of the stories they have read we have added a printable tracking sheet to the homepage. Let us know if you find this useful or if we could improve it in any way through our feedback form.

Are there any rules?
Contributors to 'Your stories' must be over 16 and they must be studying to improve their basic skills in the UK. Apart from that the rules really just relate to copyright. You can find the rules here.

How and when should entries be sent?
It's really helpful if you can send as many entries as possible electronically. To do this you can either email 'Word' documents, or use the email form that has been supplied. If you really can't supply entries electronically then there is a printable form that you can print off and post to us. Full details of how to send in entries are here.

Please keep the entries coming! We publish a new version of 'Your stories' every month, so we need quite a lot of material.

How do we choose which stories get published?
We don't mind what learners write about (as long it's decent and not defamatory!) and we don't mind what form that writing takes - it might be a letter, or a poem, or an article, or an imaginary story. We hope that whenever you are practising writing with your students you think of using Skillswise 'Your stories' to encourage and motivate them.

Stories will be chosen for publication on the basis of merit, of interest and of variety within that particular edition. We cannot guarantee to publish everything that we receive, but we will reply to every single person who sends us a story to thank them for their time and effort. There will be small prizes for those who are published.

After taking advice from several tutors we have decided that, where necessary, we will correct spelling errors within stories, but we will not do any re-writing of the texts.

Hints and tips on getting stories:
If you are looking for a few hints and tips on helping your students tell their stories take a look at the first ever Skillswise 'Expert column'. Basic skills tutor John Holloway has written a piece for us about how he used a Lottery Millennium Award to turn his students' stories into a motivational book and learning resource.

How does this tie in with the new curriculums?

• England
  Writing composition:
  Wt/L1.1 - Wt/L1.2 - Wt/L1.3 - Wt/L1.4 - Wt/L1.5 - Wt/L1.6
  Spelling and handwriting:
  Ww/L1.2
  
• Wales
  As England
• Northern Ireland
  As England.
• Scotland
  Awaiting publication of Scottish Curriculum.

Technical help:

You don't need any special 'plug-ins' to use this area of the site.
If you have any problems with any 'Your stories' pages, or if you have any trouble trying to use the email form please do let us know.

Don't forget that you can find out more about using Skillswise in the dedicated 'Help' section.

If you are new to the web, why not try the BBC WebWise online course, 'Becoming WebWise'? It's free, you can do it in your own time from any computer and it will take you through everything you need to know to use the web successfully in your teaching.
Find out more about 'Becoming WebWise'.

Taking it further:

Here's a few suggestions of other places on the web where you might find inspiration to help learners share their stories and experiences.

• The unheard voices
  BBC 'Voices' is a project that is currently running with local radio, TV and websites across the UK. The BBC wants to hear the voices of people who don't normally get the chance to speak out. There are over 45 projects across the UK, including people in Hull making their own radio packages, literacy workshops in London and people in Newport, Wales making videos about their neighbourhood. Take a look at the site and find out what the project is near you. It might be that you could volunteer your students to tell their stories to a broader audience.
• Canterbury College
  Meet some of the learners who are improving their basic computer skills at Canterbury College. Each one has written a little bit about themselves, there are samples of their work and, best of all, there are pictures! Inspiring stuff.
• Telling tales
  This is part of the National Literacy Trust's National Reading Campaign. The aim of 'Telling Tales' is to help material written and told by different cultural groups within Britain find a broader audience and to promote reading and writing within the context of cultural diversity. There is no writing currently on the site, but there are some useful links and some 'best practice' examples.
  (You will need to hit the 'more' link under 'Telling Tales' on the NLT homepage.)
• Books for new readers
  This is a list of titles that came out of the National Literacy Trust 'Vital Link' project. This was a project that worked with libraries, adult readers and basic skills tutors to discover what kind of reading material works well with adult emergent readers. This is now being grouped under the 'First Choice' brand.
• Your photos - BBC History archive
  A treasure trove of old photographs, all sent in by BBCi History users. Select a theme and then marvel at the old wedding photos, pictures of 'My brilliant Nan' and a lovely snapshot of milking the cows. Many of the photos have short stories attached to them, giving some background to what the photo is about. Why not get your students to send one in?
• Video Nation
  You probably remember the programmes on BBC2, now 'Video Nation' is online. There is an enormous archive of two minute films about everyday life made by ordinary people from around the U.K., grouped under headings such as 'disability', 'countryside', or 'pets'. You can also find clips grouped by region, or by contributor. Plus, there's information on how to use a small camera and how to volunteer to make your own videos.
• Capture Wales
  BBC Wales is running digital storytelling workshops around Wales. Here you can find out how to put together your own short film about anything you like, using your ideas and your photos. No experience is necessary and anyone can apply. There is also a great list of other storytelling websites from around the World on this site.
• Once upon a time...
  Stories written by people in Devon feature on this BBC site. They have all been recorded, so you might be able to use the audio with your students in some way. There is also a virtual novel, so why not contribute the next chapter?
• Story sacks
  Story sacks are best known as a resource for children. They are cloth bags that contain a variety of items that relate to a story. However, it might be possible to do something similar with adult readers ... maybe put a number of items into a sack that they have to link together in a story?

Please note that the BBC is not responsible for the content of other websites.

Do you know of any great online resources for writing or telling stories? Tell us about them!