Friday March 21st 2025
Dear Diary,
Today’s visit to Shurdington Primary was my final school visit with WARNING: Magic Can Be Dangerous! (because from Monday onwards, I’ll be hitting the road with WARNING: May Contain Dragons). But thanks to all the wonderful pupils there, this magical final visit went with a bang!!! Year 2 (Acer Class) was first into assembly. And I have to say that the pupils in this class sang ‘The Story of the Cross’ at the tops of their voices like angels whilst everyone else (dressed up superbly for Comic Relief) filed in to join them. It was such a treat to witness! After much merriment as we discussed what everyone would do if they had magic at their fingertips… and agreed that very few of us would like to have an uncle as odd as Uncle John… it was time for the workshops. Year 4 (Cherry Class) was first, and everyone quickly got underway with the writing task. There were so many wonderful pieces of work produced during this hour. Nate’s blurb about a superhero with an embarrassing superpower was very comical:
‘Fart, fart, and away!’ cried Smelly Face, as he stink-bombed into the air. Can he destroy the asteroid with a fart before the world crumbles? Find out…
Nate’s accompanying poems were super, too! I also loved Martha’s story about a crazy old lady who hates children – which she continued to edit and perfect as the session continued. And I thought David’s story about a librarian who can time travel was extremely well thought out:
A librarian who can time travel travelled to the prehistoric era. There, he learned the local language. ‘Ooga booga.’ That means hello! He made friends and spread stories of the modern-day world. He hunted chicken and wrote books that the cavemen were interested in. He taught the cavemen about clothes, castles, and how to fight dinosaurs. Next, he travelled to the medieval era and told them about skyscrapers. He encountered many battles, met several kings, and introduced them to education. Next, he went to the future…
I then moved on to Year 5 (Elder Class), where I was once again impressed with the imaginative work produced and the speed at which the children came up with their ideas and got them down on paper. Sylvie’s brilliant story began:
There once was a child called Jimmy who had a secret that he could not tell to anyone. It all started when the FBI called young Jimmy. This was to give him a special job. Jimmy accepted, and they gave him a gun. BANG! Don’t worry, it didn’t shoot anyone. He was testing it! CHICHING RING! Oh, look, he got a notification. When Jimmy looked at the notification, it read ‘Your mission: find who murdered Phoebe’. It also read ‘We know someone in the school murdered her, so we need you to go undercover and figure it out’…
Alfred’s and John’s stories about children who were top-secret agents also really tickled me, along with Max’s limerick about an adorable monster and Rose’s haiku. In fact, we kept having to hand out more and more certificates during this session, as many of the pupils ended up producing multiple pieces of written work, and they were all exceptional! After lunch, I hosted a shorter workshop for Year 3 (Sycamore Class). But despite this session not being as long as the previous ones, there were still many masterpieces created. Ruby’s story about a crazy old lady who has hated children ever since she was a babysitter – and a child decided to spill water everywhere, which ended up flooding her house – really stood out. But there were so many other super stories, too. By the time I got to Year 6 (Eucalyptus Class), my brain was a little frazzled, so I’m struggling to remember who came up with what during this session. I definitely remember being thrilled that so many of the class members were eager to share their creations by reading aloud to the rest of the group, though. And I was also blown away by how artistic this bunch was when it came to the second activity… designing book covers. Thanks to everyone in this class, it was a terrific end to a delightful day. But this session was simply over too soon! I’m looking forward to hosting fresh and new assemblies and workshops with WARNING: May Contain Dragons going forwards. But I will miss doing visits based around my debut. Thankfully, I have a bank of memories and many photos of the magical school visits I’ve done over the past year, and I’ll share some more of my favourites online soon.
