It's great to get away from behind my desk and visit people in the real world.
I'm happy to visit primary schools, libraries and just about anywhere else... talking about my work and telling stories to children from nursery age to year 6 (and adults)
"Thanks for a great day last Thursday, at Padiham Primary School. Children and Staff loved it! In fact, they’re still talking about it. It has certainly inspired us as a school to do more events like this in the future." F Billam Padiham Primary School, Lancashire
"I just wanted to say a massive thank you for coming to see us on Friday. I know that the children (and staff!) got so much out of the sessions. The stories were really entertaining and fun and kept even my most challenging child gripped!" L Towle, Merridale Primary School, Wolverhampton.
"The Children and staff all found your visit interesting and amusing, we all enjoyed the funny stories! It inspired the children and they created some fantastic pieces of writing. An excellent visit, thank you." C Addison, Our Lady & St Gerrard's RCP, Preston.
"Your visit motivated and inspired children and staff, it was a very rewarding experience! I would strongly recommend you to any other schools." Dearham Primary School ~ Cumbria
"The children thoroughly enjoyed your stories and it was a topic of conversation for days after your visit!" Moorpark Primary School ~ Blackpool, Lancashire.
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If you’d like a school or library visit, then please contact me for further details without any obligation...
I still have a few dates available for this school year but am now taking bookings for the 2008/2009 schoolyear so book early for the best choice of dates.
A lively mixture of storytelling and chat...
Sessions are designed to be both fun and informative - leaving the children enthused and excited about books, reading, writing and telling stories...
My sessions are suitable for children from nursery/reception up to year six, and last from 20 minutes (for Nursery) up to an hour or more for older age groups.
I prefer to work with no more than one or two classes at a time, if possible, as I find this makes the children feel less self conscious, more relaxed and happier to take get involved in the sessions and ask lots of questions.
If you have a school assembly I am more than happy to get things started there by introducing myself to the whole school and telling a lively, humorous story. This is a great way of getting the day started and really gets the children looking forward to the sessions to follow.
My sessions consist of a mixture of storytelling, poems, and general chat with lots of questions and answers. During the sessions I talk about different aspects of writing - what it's like being a writer, getting ideas etc. I tell stories and read poems from a selection of my books as well as telling stories without pictures... these consist of stories that I'm working on and books in progress...This gives audiences a chance to see books and stories in progress and get an idea of the sort of things that go into writing a story and making a children's book. The drafting, editing, reworking and even the illustrations and layout.
The sessions are very lively and include plenty of audience participation so the children are not just sat there being talked at. I discuss how I get ideas and show how these ideas develop into a story or book.
It can be useful to have a whiteboard/flipchart available but this is by no means essential.
As I do not rigidly plan out my sessions in advance it allows each one to be unique to the group that I'm working with and ensures that the children get as much from the sessions as possible. Children (and adults) always have lots of questions to ask and I'm more than happy to answer any questions. I find that this helps to shape the way sessions progress, making each one different and interesting to the individual.
The overall aim of my sessions is to be entertaining, informative and stimulating so that children are left feeling enthusiatic and excited about books, stories and the idea of writing stories for themselves.... For this reason I don't generally get the children to do any writing during the sessions, but teachers (and children) tell me that they feel fired up to go and do some writing afterwards, however, I am happy to spend longer with a class of children to work on different aspects of story writing.
Feel free to contact me without obligation for further details
Telephone 0798 66 56 876.
New for 2009
ROBO-RUNNERS
sessions for larger groups aged 7+
contact me (or watch this space) for further details...
Some of the schools and libraries I've visited include...
Wingrove Primary School (Newcastle), St Patricks RC Primary (Southport), St Edwards RC Primary (Darwin), Dulwich Village CE Infants (Dulwich), Merridale Primary School (Wolverhampton), St John's RC Primary School (Skelmersdale), Shooters Grove Primary School (Sheffield), Margaret McMillan Primary School (Bradford), Tower View Primary School - Burton-on-Trent, St Mary's First School - Westmoors, Dorset, Morton Trentside Primary School - Gainsborough, Overdale Primary School - Kirkby, Knowsley, Greengate Junior School - Barrow-in-Furness, Bradley Primary School - Nelson, Kingsfold Primary School - Penwortham, Our Lady & St Gerrard's RC Primary - Preston, St Chad's CE Primary School, Poulton-le-Fylde, Ysgol Capalulo - Dwygyfylchi, Conwy, St Hilda's C.E. Primary School (Oldham), Maryport Infant School (Cumbria), Sailsbury Primary School (Blackburn, Lancs), Seymour Park Primary School ( Manchester), Bawtry Mayflower Primary School (Bawtry, Doncaster), Ash Grove Primary School (Macclesfield), Heyhouses Primary School (St Annes - Lancashire), Fensiclowels Primary School (Blackburn), Deer Park Primary School (Chesterfield), Grimsargh Primary School (Grimsargh - Preston), Keelby Primary School (Keelby - Grimsby), Kirkham Grammar Junior School (Kirkham - Lancashire), Newport Libraries (Newport - South Wales), Sacred Heart RC Primary School (Church - Accrington), Middleton Primary School (Peterborough - Cambridgeshire), St John's CE Priamry School (Accrington), Sudell Primary School (Darwin), Sunning Hill Primary School (Bolton), Camelot Primary School (Peckham - London), Bacup Library (Bacup - Lancashire), The Harris Library (Preston - Lancashire), Manor Fields Primary School (Bishops Stortford - Hertfordshire), Mill Lane Primary School (Chinnor - Oxfordshire), Dearham Primary School (Dearham - Cumbria), Anchorsholme Primary School (Blackpool),
Lancashire Libraries ~ "Shout About Books" Children's Literature Festival
Click here for an A4 size poster number 2 (pdf)
Click here for an A4 size poster number 4(pdf)
Click here for an A4 size poster number 3(pdf)
Click here for an A4 author profile sheet with book covers (WORD)
