Thursday June 19th 2025

Dear Diary,

Far, far away in Doncaster is a charming school called West Road Primary Academy. And today, I was up at sunrise and out of the house by 5.15am, as that was where I was headed.

Shortly after I arrived, I began with a workshop for Years 1 & 2. The pupils came up with some super written work in no time, and many were happy to share their work by reading aloud. I particularly liked Jaxon’s story about what dragons do with doughnuts:

I also thought Mabel’s story about her dragon who does her homework for her was brilliant:

Next, it was time for my assembly… during which I was introduced by one of the young pupils I’d just met (Jaxon, I think)! How lovely!!! The students were a fantastic audience throughout. They listened attentively whilst I read the opening chapters of WARNING: May Contain Dragons, and they eagerly asked and answered questions afterwards.

Straight after the assembly, it was a short trek around the school to Classroom 10, where I spent a joyful hour with the Year 6 pupils. Once again, we were treated to all number of stories, poems, and raps that were read aloud. But of all the work produced, I loved Rebecca’s story about her teacher who’s a dragon:

… and Summer’s diary entry about her grandma being eaten by a dragon:

After spending 30 minutes in the library, signing books for those who’d pre-ordered one, I grabbed a very quick bite to eat and something to drink, then it was time for some more workshops. We kicked the afternoon off with a shorter session for the Reception pupils. With a huge class of over 30 students, this session was LOUD. But it was also absolutely delightful… and over far too soon! Alice won the prize for being fastest during the letter tracing activity, with India coming in a quick second. But every single one of the pupils persevered, and they were all such neat writers! Everyone worked really hard, despite the heat, to produce some super colouring and book cover designs, too.

My penultimate workshop was for Years 3 & 4. And if the Reception pupils had been loud, then these pupils were next level! But it didn’t hamper them from coming up with some super work during this session and really impressing me with the speed at which they plucked ideas out of thin air and got them down on paper. I really enjoyed Alex’s story entitled Dragon Farts vs Zombie Farts:

I also thought Freya’s cunning story about a dragon eating her homework was super:

Finally, it was the last workshop of the day, for Year 5. Once again, the speed at which the pupils worked really impressed me. And with so many pupils keen to share their work with the whole group, this session flew by in a flash. My favourite pieces of work in this session were Cayden’s comical story about a dragon eating his grandma:

… and Preston’s awesome story about a dragon eating his homework:

Fitting an assembly, 5 workshops, AND almost 8 hours of driving into one day MAY have been a little crazy, but I don’t regret it one bit! The time flew by in a flash. The pupils at West Road Primary Academy were so polite, hardworking, and welcoming. It was a pleasure to spend time with them all, and I’d travel back to Doncaster in a heartbeat to spend time with them again!