Guardian of Imagination
Old English. A poet and storyteller; keeper of memory, imagination and truth. From the same root as shape.
A child who shapes their imagination into stories they are proud to share.
Guardian of Imagination. Giving children the confidence to find their voice and the tools to shape their words into stories they are proud to share, alone or together, as imaginations spark each other.
The first stage
Imagination sparks in the spaces where we meet.
The Imagination Exchange is the first fully analogue stage of Scoplings: a collaborative storytelling pilot for primary classrooms, created by Charlotte Pearl and supported by The English Association.
Each story passes through four different imaginations before it is complete, following the natural shape of a story. Children read what has come before, then add the next part. To continue another child's story, they must first enter it. Reading becomes an act of participation. Writing becomes an act of listening.
Between each stage, stories are placed into the Story Box and drawn again at random. The model runs over five weeks and takes around twenty minutes a week, with no marking and no grading. In the final week the class shares and celebrates the completed stories aloud, and every voice is gathered into a class anthology.
There is no competition and no voting. Every child's part stays in the story, and no story is left out.
Every child begins a story and folds it into the Story Box.
A story is drawn at random. Read what came before, then carry it forward.
A third imagination writes the moment that shifts the story's direction.
A fourth child concludes it. Then the class reads everything aloud.
Supported by The English Association
The Imagination Exchange: One Story, Four Imaginations
Watch the webinar ↗
Already registered? You can also keep in touch with Scoplings below.
The Imagination Exchange is supported by The English Association, the subject association for English, incorporated by Royal Charter and founded in 1906.
Charlotte explores the thinking behind The Imagination Exchange in A ‘Call to Words’, published in NAWE’s Writing in Education, issue 99, Autumn 2026.
Read more about the thinking behind The Imagination Exchange.
Published article
Published in NAWE’s Writing in Education, issue 99, Autumn 2026.
A reflection on imagination, authorship and what happens when children inherit and build upon one another’s stories, exploring some of the thinking behind The Imagination Exchange.
Originally published in Writing in Education, issue 99, pp. 19–24, by the National Association of Writers in Education (NAWE). Shared with permission.
Keep in touch
The first classroom pilot runs this autumn. If you would like to hear what we learn, or to be part of what comes next, leave your details and we will write when there is something worth reading.
This is not registration for the Imagination Exchange. To take part this term, register through The English Association.
Founded by
Charlotte Pearl is a poet, author and multi-award-winning founder. Her debut collection after-words was selected by The Poetry Book Society. Through her participatory practice Gathered Words she creates literary portraits of the places people gather, written and drawn by hand, such as the inaugural Notting Hill Literary Festival. She previously built and exited Pink Lining, winner of Brand of the Year, and was selected for UBS Project Female Founder in 2025. She is the founder of Scoplings and the creator of The Imagination Exchange.
Scoplings is run by Charlotte Pearl. If you have any question about your information, or want it removed, write to charlotte@scoplings.com and we will deal with it. Last updated October 2026.
We collect your name, your email address, which of the four descriptions you chose, and whether you ticked the box about trying Scoplings early. We use it for one thing only: to write to you about Scoplings. We ask for it on the basis of your consent, which you give by choosing to fill the form in and then confirming it by clicking the link in the email we send you.
We keep your details until you ask us to stop, and we will check from time to time that you still want to hear from us. Every email we send has an unsubscribe link, and you can ask to be removed at any point without giving a reason. We do not sell your details and we do not share them with anyone else for their own purposes. We use MailerLite to store the list and send the messages. MailerLite is based in the European Union and may store the information outside the UK.
This form is for adults. Please do not use it if you are under 18, and please do not enter any details about a child.
Scoplings Pioneers. If you join as a Scoplings Pioneer, we use your name and email address to send you occasional news about Scoplings and opportunities to take part. We also record which page you signed up from (for example, a class anthology, a printed anthology or our website), so we know how people find Scoplings. Joining is optional and separate from your child’s school and from any permission given for a class anthology. We never link your sign-up to a child or their work.
Teachers register through The English Association, which runs the sign-up form and holds those responses. Charlotte Pearl uses the contact details of participating teachers to send materials, answer questions and gather their reflections on the pilot.
When a participating school agrees, Scoplings receives the children's original story sheets and illustrations so they can be gathered into a class anthology. The stories are anonymous: no child's name appears beside their writing or drawings.
We do this only with the school's agreement and the permissions the school arranges with families. Scans and anthology files are kept in Scoplings' private Google Workspace. They are shared only with the class's families, through a private link and access code sent by the school, and are not published publicly. We keep them only for as long as agreed with each school, and return or securely destroy the original sheets as agreed.
Families can ask their school to change their decision at any time. Copies that have already been downloaded or printed cannot be recalled.
Scoplings does not ask children for names, contact details or accounts, and does not use children's work for advertising or to train artificial intelligence.
Children write anonymously within the classroom activity, and their teacher keeps sight of everything they write.
You can ask us for a copy of what we hold about you, ask us to correct it, ask us to delete it, or withdraw your consent at any time. If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.
