I had seen lots of great things on Twitter about The District so when the opportunity to visit came about, I jumped at the chance.
Firstly, I met Mrs McFarlane who gave me a guided tour of both libraries and the outdoor reading facilities. I was shown around the ‘story shack’ which is used by the school to hold storytelling sessions. It was brilliant! I would love to pull on the story waistcoat to share some of the Tales in there with the pupils.
On our way back in, we passed a book bench which was really cool. There had obviously been lots of thought put into the layout of the outdoor facilities and it was great to see.
The session I delivered to the Key Stage 2 children explained about the writing process involved in Impossible Tales and the writing and illustration process involved in creating Eric. The children listened so well as I shared an extract from Blown Away. They even laughed at all the right bits! I think they were a bit shocked when I showed them all of the edited manuscripts! Next time their teacher tells them to ‘have another look’ at their work they might not complain!
We then looked at Eric and the illustrations at each stage of the process. I read an extract about Eric as they looked at one of the illustrations on the big screen. I was thrilled that the children agreed the illustration and text matched up. I’m sure Martin will be chuffed when I tell him!
It was great to stick around after school to join the book fair and sign some books. I had a fantastic time at The District C of E Primary. It was fab to see reading and writing being encouraged so successfully and how committed the staff are to creating a love of reading among the pupils.
I had a wonderful afternoon with the fantastic children and staff. I was made to feel welcome and it was a pleasure to share my stories. Thanks to the inspirational Mrs Wright for organising the event. Hopefully I’ll get to visit again at some point soon.
Eric enjoyed his selfie with Mrs Wright
