Tuesday February 25th 2025

Dear Diary,

I started off a new round of school visits at Forest View Primary School today. And what a fabulous day it was! Whilst setting up for my assembly, I witnessed so many children walking through the hall on their way to registration and gasping in delight upon spotting my banner and book prop. It always touches my heart when I realise there are still children enthusiastic about books and excited to have an author in their midst – when all we ever seem to hear these days is that children aren’t reading for pleasure anymore! That bubble of excitement continued to build throughout the rest of the day when I hosted workshops for all of the KS2 classes. With sixty children per workshop, the hall was full of noise for the majority of the time. But everyone fell silent to listen attentively to all those who wanted to read their stories, poems, raps, and letters aloud. There were so many brilliant pieces of work produced that it’s impossible for me to pick a favourite. But both those children who received certificates and those who didn’t all put so much hard work and effort into everything that was asked of them that they should ALL be so proud of themselves. And there’s no doubt in my mind that I met many future authors today!!! Jemma and all the staff got so involved in all the activities I put on, and their pupils were an absolute credit to the school. I hope they enjoyed today just as much as I did. It’s always such a privilege to be invited to spend the whole day at a school and interact one-on-one with pupils during workshops (I hope I managed to work my way around everyone today). And it’s so rewarding when the pupils are as receptive to an author visit as these pupils were. I hope I’ve inspired them to keep tapping into their imaginations… as they’ve certainly inspired me to keep tapping into mine!!!