Thursday March 27th 2025
Dear Diary,
Today, I returned to Lakeside Primary… just a stone’s throw away from home. This super school will always have a special place in my heart – given that my children enjoyed many happy years there when they were younger – and the students were so enthusiastic and hardworking during my visit that it was an absolute pleasure to spend time with them all again. They filed into assembly in fine fashion… just like last year… and sat beautifully whilst I read a couple of chapters from my new book (with some gasps and giggles thrown in here and there). But when it was time for audience participation, there was plenty of interaction and much merriment, as the pupils were very split on whether they would attempt to rescue their brothers or sisters if they happened to be whisked away by a (maybe) baby dragon! My first workshop of the day was for Class 4W. The pupils in this class were so enthusiastic about the activities I put on, and I think almost everyone was keen to read aloud to their peers. It was wonderful to see how many pupils chose to carry on with the writing task rather than moving on to the comic-strip activity, too. There were certainly many aspiring authors in this group, but two children really stood out for me. Emmy wrote a lovely story that began:
One time, me and my grandma were making pizza, and the dragon from next door came barging in asking if he could have some. But before that, he drank some water. He put a slice of pizza in his mouth, but then he was sick. Then he saw something delicious… my grandma… and swallowed her whole!
Samir also wrote a brilliant story, under the title Dragon Farts vs Zombie Farts.
And Jahmari wrote a terrific tale about a dragon hiding under his bed.
Next, it was on to a workshop for Class 4R. It was clear in this class how comfortable all the pupils were with one another, as not only did everyone want to read aloud, but we also had many songs performed. (I wouldn’t have been brave enough to sing in front of my classmates when I was at school!) We had a little time at the end of the session for pupils to express what they’d enjoyed most about the workshop, and it was clear that allowing them to have the freedom to create whatever written work they chose to (poems, songs, stories, raps, letters, diary entries, blurbs etc.), and also giving them many different title options to choose from, had gone down well. I loved the style of Sienna’s story:
But I think my favourite of all the masterpieces was a poem by Abi:
My final Year 4 session, after lunch, was for Class 4B… another enthusiastic group! I thought Everett’s song about a dragon eating his grandma was hilarious, Petar’s rap about a dragon eating his homework was superb, and Aoife’s story (below) was brilliant:
I finished the day with a special workshop for the gifted and passionate writers in Years 5 & 6. But there were so many super creations produced during this session that I had to leave Mr Moss the hard task of deciding who to award the cuddly dragon prize and certificates out to! I’ll showcase some of their work another day!
After a super time at Lakeside, I’m now off to what promises to be a rather exciting evening, as it’s the launch event in celebration of Theo’s fabulous cover illustrations at Clifton Waterstones tonight! I can’t wait!!!
