Wednesday April 9th 2025
Dear Diary,
Today’s visit to Dinglewell Junior couldn’t have been more perfect! Dinglewell was the very first school I ever visited as a published author, back on May 1st last year, so it will always have a very special place in my heart. And this year, I got to spend the whole day there… what a treat!!! Because of my affinity for this school, I felt it was only fitting to take along some prizes, so I went in armed with three dragons, which I planned to hand out for the best written work during each of the Year 4 workshops I’d be hosting.
The day was a little topsy turvy compared to most of my visits, as we started off with a workshop, rather than an assembly. It was lovely that everyone in 4SU remembered me, though. And they were all wide awake and keen to get writing… with the dragon prize that was up for grabs clearly on everyone’s mind. We were treated to some super work, with many poems, stories, diary entries, and letters read aloud. But it was Esmé who impressed us all the most (and won the first dragon of the day), with her super story about a dragon hiding under her bed:
Maya was a close contender, though, with her lovely diary entry about a dragon hiding under her bed:
Next, it was time to visit 4F, where once again, I was blown away by the written work the pupils produced in such a short time. And although I’d planned to also give a dragon away during this session… I actually ended up giving away TWO!!! It was far too difficult to choose between Charlie’s fabulous poem about dragon farts vs zombie farts:
… and Heshto’s super stories:
… so they each received a dragon!
With high hopes for a third and final workshop that delivered more fantastic work, I wasn’t disappointed during my time with 4SH. These pupils certainly made it tricky, once again, to decide who to award a dragon to. So tricky, in fact, that we ended up giving every single student in this class a certificate:
… before announcing (after a hands-on-knees drumroll) that Jacob (who often writes stories at home) would be taking the dragon home with him, thanks to his hilarious diary entry written under the title A Dragon Just Ate My Grandma:
The pupils at Dinglewell were all an absolute pleasure to spend today with. They were courteous, hardworking, highly intelligent, and a lot of fun! I did at one point wonder whether I’d got lost around the school and ended up in Year 6 classrooms three times in a row, as the Year 4 students I encountered today couldn’t have impressed me more, and were all academically way ahead of their years. (And one of them is already a published author!!!) So, if today was a reflection on what Dinglewell’s Year 4 pupils are capable of, then their Year 6 students should have no problem with SATs next term… best of luck to you all!
And if the pupils at Dinglewell are phenomenal, then it has to be said that their teachers are, too. They were all great sports when it came to having stories written about them. And at the end of the day, they (along with some wonderful Year 6 students) put on the sleekest operation I’ve ever witnessed when it came to selling signed copies of my books and handing out free stickers and bookmarks. They couldn’t have been more helpful. I still can’t believe that 1 in 3 of the students ended up buying (or pre-ordering) a book! That’s unbelievable!!!
