I spent the last academic year as Patron of Reading at Boundary Primary. It was lovely to return to work with Year 5. I’d been asked to work with the children on creating a ‘legend-style’ story to fit in with their literacy topic. After much thought, I decided to use one of the Impossible Tales…
It had been two years since my last visit to PPA, so it was great to return. The morning kicked off with an author assembly. I got the children up to speed with the books that have launched since my last visit. They discovered how much editing it takes to create a story and saw…
It was great to return to Christ Church for my fourth visit. It’s a really lovely place and always a joy to return, especially to mark the start of the 2018 school events. The morning started with an author assembly. It had been sixteen months since my last visit so I had plenty to tell…
When the opportunity arose to visit Nelson and Colne College, I jumped at the chance. Before the visit I spent time designing a presentation entitled ‘Engaging young readers and writers’, which was to be delivered to childcare level 2/3 students at the college. The session started with an explanation of my journey – from teacher…
After many previous visits, I was thrilled to return to Carleton Green Primary during November and early December to work with a group of writers. Week one saw the children introduced to a piece of unpublished text. We looked at it from the point of view of a writer to understand what I wanted the…
Two more author assemblies brought down the curtain on a busy November. First up was a visit to Thames Primary Academy, Blackpool. It had been a few months since I’d visited with More Impossible Tales, so it was lovely to return with the new book. The pupils were ace and you could have heard a…
It was an early start to get to Moorside Academy in Skelmersdale. The morning started with an assembly in the hall. Year 2 through to Year 6 joined the session and in a fast-paced forty minutes I managed to explain how the books are made. I even made time to put on the storytelling waistcoat…
Two author assemblies were squeezed into another busy week. First up was a visit to St John’s CE Primary, Blackpool. It had been a year since I’d visited with More Impossible Tales, so it was lovely to return with the new book. The pupils listened really well as I explained how Eric’s new story came…
I visited Clifton Primary in October to share Danger Zone with the pupils – we had a great time. It was lovely to be invited back to write with the Year 6 pupils. We started the session off by discussing nasty characters from books the pupils had read. Lots of great examples featured and it…
In 2016 I visited Park High School, Colne and had a fantastic afternoon with a group of Year 9 pupils. It was lovely to return to work with students from Year 7 and 8. The morning started with a session involving a group of Year 7 students. The pupils had been looking at story openings…