Tuesday March 4th 2025
Dear Diary,
Chalford Hill Primary very kindly arranged the weather for today’s visit, and the sun didn’t stop shining all day! I arrived and set up whilst breakfast club was finishing up, and met some very excitable children who were eager to know what my visit would entail. But silence quickly followed, and you could hear a pin drop when I read a couple of chapters of WARNING: Magic Can Be Dangerous! during my assembly. I’ve learnt, over time, not to worry if silence descends when I’m reading. I used to imagine it meant no one was enjoying the story, but I’ve since realised it just means pupils are listening intently, and I think the children at Castle Hill Primary were some of the most attentive listeners I’ve ever met. They soon found their voices and launched into fits of giggles when it was time to decide what we’d all like to do if we had magic at our fingertips, though! My first workshop of the day was for Years 1 & 2. Molly really impressed me with her lovely song about fairies, and Alfred had us all quaking in our boots with his story about a vegetarian vampire. In fact, there were lots of great vampire stories during this session. Years 3 & 4 were next, and I think Tommy and Jake’s story about a headteacher who’s hiding a secret – and feeds pupils to the monster in his office – was a firm favourite with everyone. But I equally adored Kit’s story about a child who’s a top-secret agent… complete with sound effects! It’s always lovely seeing pupils bouncing ideas off one another and collaborating on creative work. And it’s great when so many children are happy to read their work aloud, as it gives those who need a bit of help getting started some inspiration. After lunch (during which my jacket potato was very welcome), I hosted a shorter workshop for the Reception pupils. Given that it was a huge class of 28 children (normally 30), the half-hour session flew by in an instant. The children drew some super pictures of incredibly odd Uncle John and traced over some sentences about him. But I had to leave colouring sheets with them to do after I’d gone, whilst I dashed off to the last workshop of the day, for Years 5 & 6. The acrostic poem Eva and Phoebe came up with about a headteacher, using the words ‘Hiding Something’, was… without a doubt… the best acrostic poem I’ve ever come across! The girls managed to tell a whole story from start to finish in great detail. Something I’ve never seen done so well before through an acrostic poem. The pupils filled the workshops with so much fun today, tapping into their imaginations so brilliantly, and sharing their creations with the rest of their peers. And I had some super helpers at the end of the day – Evie, Tilda, Jemima, Sophia, Ella, and Ralph – assisting me with selling signed copies and handing out free stickers and bookmarks (with Ralph working my Zettle card reader and shouting out ‘approved’ whenever a transaction went through)!
