Thursday April 10th 2025

Dear Diary,

Today, I returned to Waterwells Primary Academy, with WARNING: May Contain Dragons. During my two back-to-back assemblies, I remembered what attentive listeners the Waterwells pupils are. And straight afterwards, I was reminded what a helpful bunch they are, too, as they pulled tables out in the hall for the first workshop, for Year 5. The pupils in Skylark and Swift classes hadn’t forgotten the activities I did with them last November, and were keen to get writing under the titles I gave them to choose from (rather than characters) this time around. A number of them got to read their work aloud before everyone moved on to the comic-strip activity. And I especially loved Arthur’s story about his teacher who was a dragon:

I also thought Clarke’s story was super:

And I really enjoyed Oscar’s poem written under the title Sorry, Sir, but a Dragon Ate My Homework:

Next, it was on to workshops in each of the Year 6 classrooms. Owl class was first, and these students were speedy workers. They came up with some great written work and artwork in just 45 minutes, and one of my favourite pieces was Matilda’s story entitled A Dragon Just Ate My Grandma:

I also thought Zack’s poem under the same title was really clever:

In the other Year 6 class, we were treated to many super raps, just like last November. And I thought Seb’s trio of raps was brilliant:

I also really liked Logan’s blurb:

After lunch – and another helpful group of pupils assisting with tables again – we finished up with a workshop for Year 3 and Year 4. It was a noisy affair, with almost 100 students in the hall, but they all produced some super work, and many were keen to read aloud to their peers. One of my favourites was Aaradhya’s story about a dragon hiding under her bed:

I also loved Eden’s story under the same title:

And I thought India’s comic strip, entitled The Tower, was adorable:

Today’s pupils were so much fun to spend time with today, and I was sad to leave Waterwells this afternoon. But after another delightful (but busy) day, I’m wondering whether my energy will hold up for one last visit before the Easter holidays. I hope to see some of the pupils from all of my recent school visits when I host bookshop events during the last couple of weeks of April. But for now, it’s time to clock off and get some sleep, as I have a feeling tomorrow (being the last day of term) is going to be interesting!!!