In case you were wondering how I spend my time when I'm not writing, knitting knots in my spreadsheets, or chasing round after my own children, quite a bit of that time is taken up with school workshops. When I counted up, I found I had made over 100 visits to schools since I published the first book in The Scar Gatherer series.
2020 was an amazingly busy spring season for me, squeezed in with just a week to spare before the first Covid lockdown. Between mid January and mid March, I ...
... visited 24 schools
... taught 82 workshops
... sold 848 books
... drove 1813 miles
... and spoke to about 3400 children!
Yikes!
Here is a list of the main school visits and events I've done, not including the odds and ends like World Book Week bedtime stories, or the countless hours I've spent sitting behind tables at school fairs and book sales!
2020
St. John's Primary School, Warminster – Patron of Reading visit 2
Garvestone Primary School
Loddon Junior School - repeat visit
Toftwood Junior School, Dereham - repeat visit
Alpington & Bergh Apton Primary School
Hillside Avenue Primary School, Norwich
Little Plumstead Primary School
Castle Primary School, Stoke sub Hamdon
Buckland St. Mary Primary School
St. John's Catholic Primary School, Tiverton
Webber's Primary School
Burlescombe Primary School
Hamp Academy
St. John's Primary School, Warminster - World Book Week
Monkton Combe School - World Book Week
Wilton Primary School - World Book Week
Minerva Primary School - World Book Week
Heacham Junior School
St. Martin at Shouldham Primary Academy
All Saints Academy, Kings Lynn
Valley Primary Academy, Norwich
Holly Meadows School, Norfolk
Wensum Junior School
Peterhouse Primary Academy
Nelson Academy
2019
St. John's Primary School, Warminster – Patron of Reading visit 1
Bemerton St. John Primary School, Salisbury – Patron of Reading visit 4 & 5
Broad Chalke Primary School – Patron of Reading visit 4 & 5
The English School, Gothenburg, Sweden – 3 days of workshops
Sarum Academy, Salisbury - repeat visit
Bemerton St. John Primary School, Salisbury – Patron of Reading visit 3
Broad Chalke Primary School – Patron of Reading visit 3
Taverham Junior School
Caister Junior School
Stradbroke Primary Academy, Great Yarmouth
Edward Worlledge Ormiston Academy, Great Yarmouth
Little Melton Primary School
Redcastle Family School, Thetford - repeat visit
Broad Chalke Primary School – Patron of Reading visit 2
Alderbury Primary School
Dulwich College
Bemerton St. John Primary School, Salisbury – Patron of Reading visit 2
2018
Winterslow Primary School - repeat visit
Bemerton St. John Primary School, Salisbury – Patron of Reading visit 1
Broad Chalke Primary School – Patron of Reading visit 1
St. Andrew's Primary School, Salisbury – Patron of Reading visit 5 & 6
Old Sarum Primary School, Salisbury - repeat visit
Wyvern College, Salisbury
Clarendon Junior School – 2 days of workshops for Y5 and Y6
Whiteparish All Saints Primary School
Sarum Academy, Salisbury – The Big Write competition judging and award presentation speech
Winterbourne Earls Primary School - repeat visit
Bemerton St. John Primary School, Salisbury
Sarum Academy, Salisbury - repeat visit
Downton Primary School
Clarendon Junior School – 2 days of workshops for Y3 and Y4
St. Andrew's Primary School, Salisbury – Patron of Reading visit 3 & 4
Loddon Primary School
Redcastle Family School, Thetford
Toftwood Primary School, Dereham
Rockland St. Mary's Primary School
Surlingham Primary School
North Denes Primary School, Great Yarmouth
St. Mary's Primary School, Beetley
St. Andrew's Primary School, Salisbury – Patron of Reading visit 2
2017
Bartley Junior School - repeat visit
St. Andrew's Primary School, Salisbury – Patron of Reading visit 1
Sarum Academy, Salisbury – The Big Write competition judging and award presentation speech
Wilton and Barford Primary School – Patron of Reading visits 3, 4 & 5
Sarum Academy, Salisbury
Wilton and Barford Primary School – Patron of Reading visits 1 & 2
2016
St. Martin's Cranbrook Primary School
Lydeard St. Lawrence Primary School
St. Andrew's Primary School, Salisbury - repeat visit
Waterstones book launch for The Demon in the Embers
Winterbourne Earls Primary School – Patron of Reading visits 4, 5, & 6
Sarum Academy, Salisbury – The Big Write competition judging and award presentation speech
Exeter House School, Salisbury
Winterbourne Earls Primary School – Patron of Reading visits 2 & 3
2015
Winterbourne Earls Primary School – Patron of Reading visit 1
Winterslow Primary School
Winterbourne Earls Primary School
St. Andrew's Primary School, Salisbury - repeat visit
Opening of Winterslow Primary School fete, and competition judging
2014
Christ Church Primary School, Bradford on Avon – book festival
St Andrew's Primary School, Salisbury
Old Sarum Primary School, Salisbury – under the scrutiny of Ofsted!
Bartley Junior School
St. Nicholas' School, Idmiston
Christ Church Primary School, Bradford on Avon
Corsham Regis Primary Academy
If you'd like more details about what I did for any of these visits or events, please drop me an email.
I was delighted to spend the first six months of the 2019/20 academic year working as Patron of Reading and Writing with St. John's Primary School in Warminster. We had our first day together in November, followed by some really fun sessions in January and February, to shake off the post-Christmas blues! Unfortunately, Covid put a stop to the rest of my visits in that school year, but I'm really hoping to be allowed to return to St. John's early in 2021 to finish what we started!
As Patron of Reading and Writing, my job is to work with children in a school across an extended period, usually a school year, to inspire them in their reading, and along the way also teach them how to write better. We'll be doing story-telling workshops, workshops on how to create convincing characters and settings, workshops on dialogue, and detailed plot workshops to guide the children through the steps to constructing a successful story.
As part of the scheme, schools also have the opportunity to follow the progress of the latest book I'm writing, in real time, from the research notes and early scribblings through the writing and editing, and the head-scratching as I try to come up with a title!
Children at my previous Patron of Reading schools have enjoyed regular updates on the writing of the last four of the Scar Gatherer books, (including seeing the bits that ended up in the bin!), and they even got trial copies to read and give feedback on. Almost all of their comments were incorporated in the final edit of the book, so they have been a very real part of the process.
World Book Day 2019: me as Helena Calvina from The Leopard in the Golden Cage, holding my very Roman mobile phone.
To find out more about the Patron of Reading scheme in general, please click here.
If you think you might like me to work with your school as Patron of Reading in the 2020/21 academic year, please contact me.
To watch a video about the writing of the fifth book, Slaves for the Isabella, click here.
I was thrilled to be invited to teach three days of workshops at the English School in Gothenburg in March 2019!
I had the most fantastic time meeting the children at ESG! They grilled me on my books, my work habits, and diverse topics such as my favourite word, animal, and colour, and the names of my former pets! I also did some proper work with years 3 to 6 on dramatic tension (also known as the wolfing around workshop), character and plot development, and how to edit.
The majority of children at ESG speak English as a second, third, or even fourth language. Despite this, they've been reading The Scar Gatherer books with great enthusiasm and participated energetically in the workshops (especially the wolves!). Their work was a match for any UK school! Hugely impressive!
Thank you for having me, ESG! I would love to come back again one day!
