Tuesday April 29th 2025

Dear Diary,

After a busy time hosting bookshop events over the past couple of weeks, I was back to school visits today. But getting caught up in stationary traffic for over an hour – due to roadworks on the ‘short’ drive from Cheltenham to Stroud – definitely wasn’t part of the plan!

Fortunately, when I finally arrived at Brimscombe Primary (a little later than intended), a tiny re-shuffle was all that was needed to quickly get the day back on track. And I had a super time with all the Brimscombe pupils. I received a warm welcome in my morning assembly, during which everyone sat beautifully whilst they waited for the hall to fill up… and seemed enthralled whilst I read the opening chapters of WARNING: May Contain Dragons. Then it was straight on to workshops, beginning with a session for Robins (Reception and Year 1).

These young pupils had lots of lovely questions for me, then they launched into designing book covers and creating stories of their own. One of the Reception pupils wowed us all with his story idea about a dragon who breathed water and a dragon who breathed fire. To begin with, these two dragons didn’t get on. But by the end of the story, they’d put their differences aside and become good friends!

Next, it was time for a workshop with Dragonflies (Years 2 & 3). These pupils were fast workers, and came up with ideas for stories and comic strips in no time.

But before I got a chance to take any more photos, or make any notes about the work, it was time to move on to Years 4 & 5 (Kingfishers). During this session, I particularly loved Beth’s story about a dragon hiding under her bed:

… and Ava’s story under the same title, for which she’d written 6 pages by the end of the workshop:

I also thought Ivan’s choice to add his comic strip at the end of his story was genius:

Lunch gave me a chance to refuel and catch my breath, after the awful journey I’d had to get to the school this morning. Then I finished up with another lovely session session – a slightly longer one for Otters (Year 6). There was no knowing that SATs are just around the corner, as these pupils were all in high spirits and eager to get stuck into the activities. Otto and Sam treated us all to a brilliant rap battle (which had us all in stitches), so many other pupils read their work aloud, and there was some fantastic work produced during the final ninety minutes of the day. I particularly liked Lauren’s story entitled ‘Sorry, Sir, but a Dragon Ate My Homework’:

I also thought Saskia’s poem about a dragon hiding under her bed was very well written:

And I thought Ava’s comic strip was amazing:

This was my first visit to Brimscombe Primary, but I hope it won’t be my last, as I really enjoyed my time with all the pupils today. And I wish all the Year 6 pupils all the best for their SATs.