Tuesday November 5th 2024

Dear Diary,

Today’s visit was to Rendcomb College Junior School in Cirencester. The laid-back atmosphere at this school was apparent from the moment I arrived, with my assembly being met with a great deal of merriment and excitable chatter… which I loved! And with much smaller classes in each Year Group at this school, the assembly also felt lovely and cosy. It was a shame when it came to an end and I had to say goodbye to all the Reception, Year 1, and Year 2 pupils. But despite the relaxed environment at Rendcomb, the pupils were so studious. During each of my classroom visits for KS2, they concentrated fully on creating their characters and stories — and came up with some ingenious plots! It’s always so hard to work out who to award certificates to, even with help from the teachers, and today it was almost impossible to decide. One of the teachers had to spell a pupils’ name for me (for a certificate) at one point, and began by saying, ‘Capital p…’ — giving us both a good giggle. (Ever the teacher! He actually deserved a certificate himself, for singing a song about an adorable monster that three of the pupils had written but were too shy to perform themselves!!!) Fiona and all the staff made the day so enjoyable from start to finish. Fiona even arranged for me to have a super school dinner. The pupils really were incredible, too. It was a joy to spend so much time with each of them individually, due to their smaller class sizes, and I hope they’ll get in touch via the website to show me any more work they do on their stories or comic books. I can’t wait to return next year with WARNING: May Contain Dragons.