Wednesday July 10th 2024

Dear Diary,

Final preparations for this Saturday’s BIG EVENT at the Regent Arcade had to be put on hold this afternoon, as I had another school visit booked in. But the pupils at Steam Mills Primary were a joy to behold! I arrived there at lunchtime, amidst a great deal of noise in the school hall – and a great deal of melon on the hall floor. But during my assembly, everyone sat quietly and listened attentively… until question time, when almost everyone was keen to join in! Sadly, all the reception pupils missed out today, due to their trip wearing them out this morning. Hopefully, I’ll be able to see them all when I return next year. There’s something rather magical about doing a workshop in the school hall for the whole of KS2 – which only works at smaller schools, of course. It just seems to bring out the absolute best in everyone. There was a real buzz of energy in the air today that was wonderful to witness. With only sixty or so children across four Year Groups, who all know each other well, the pupils weren’t afraid to read their work aloud in front of the whole group at the end of the session. And so many of them wanted to. It’s a shame we ran out of time for everyone to share what they’d been working on. There were certainly a few stories with dark themes this afternoon that needed their own WARNING labels, but each and every one of them was unique, creative, and well thought out. One of the pupils had the entire room in hysterics when he read his aloud. And today, for the first time, I was treated to a poem. It was created under the ‘Fearless Twins’ prompt, and it was so cleverly conceived. I hope I inspired all the pupils to keep reading and writing because they definitely inspired me today.Take a look at it on the slideshow! Thank you, Steph, for organising today’s visit. What a phenomenal afternoon!