Children’s author ‘MC Grammar’ drops in to inspire local primary school pupils
MC Grammar, a renowned children's author and former teacher, visited primary schools under The Harmony Trust in Oldham to inspire pupils through rap and music, promoting reading and writing. The event was part of the Trust's 'Read, Achieve, Succeed' strategy to enhance children's engagement with reading.
MC Grammar Brings Rhymes and Reading Fever to Oldham Primaries
Oldham, England - Acclaimed rapper and former primary teacher MC Grammar swapped the recording studio for the school hall this week, storming through a series of high-energy workshops for Year 6 pupils from every Harmony Trust primary academy in the borough.
Clutching a microphone and backed by his own beat-box loops, the viral educator—whose real name is Jacob Mitchell—led hundreds of ten- and eleven-year-olds in call-and-response chants about nouns, verbs and metaphors. Between bars he paused to underline a simple message: words matter, and the more you collect, the farther you’ll go.
“He didn’t just talk at us—he pulled us up on stage,” said Aisha Khan, 11, from Alexandra Park Academy. “I got to beat-box and he said my rapper name should be ‘Lyric Lioness’. My heart was thumping but it was brilliant.”
The atmosphere reached fever pitch when teachers—and finally Trust Chief Executive Antony Hughes—were challenged to a “swagger showdown”, judged entirely by pupil applause. Mr Hughes traded his usual suit jacket for sunglasses and attempted a tongue-twister rap before surrendering the floor to a victorious deputy head known to her class as “DJ Dow-Jones”.
MC Grammar’s rise began in 2019 when homework videos he filmed in his Stockport classroom clocked up millions of views. Since then he has appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, signed a publishing deal and toured schools worldwide, arguing that melody and movement cement memory. “If children can recite every lyric to a drill track, they can absolutely recall a relative clause,” he told reporters after the final session.
Thursday’s events form part of the Trust’s “Read, Achieve, Succeed” strategy, launched after internal data showed reading enjoyment dipping post-pandemic. Recent initiatives have included visits from rugby legend Kevin Sinfield and comedian Lenny Henry, each arranged in partnership with Chadderton bookshop Madeleine Lindley.
Antony Hughes said the rapper’s visit had already triggered a surge in library loans. “We’ve never seen author event tickets sell out in 24 hours before. MC Grammar’s super-power is turning reading into a backstage pass rather than homework.”
Rachelle Carter, schools liaison manager at Madeleine Lindley, watched pupils queue to borrow poetry collections normally left on the shelf. “One boy asked for a thesaurus so he could ‘level-up his rhymes’. That’s the moment you know the strategy is working.”
MC Grammar left each child with a challenge: write eight bars about their favourite book and record it for the Trust’s online “Reading Radio” station. Winning tracks will be played during morning registration across all 14 Harmony academies, ensuring the beat—and the books—keep dropping long after the visitor has left the building.
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