Monday June 30th 2025

Dear Diary,

Going into a different school day after day can be daunting until I get the lay of the land. But the staff at so many of the schools I’ve visited over the past 14 months have gone over and above to put me at ease and make me feel at home. And I received the same treatment at Wilden All Saints Primary. From the moment I stepped onto the school grounds, I was welcomed into the Wilden All Saints family with open arms… and excited to get the day started.

And what better place to kick things off on the hottest day of the year so far than in the cool of the church next door?! I’ve hosted assemblies in church halls before, but I think this is the first time I’ve ever hosted one in an actual church! The acoustics were fantastic, allowing my voice to travel all the way to the back with ease, saving me from having to gasp for breath. But speaking of the ridiculously hot weather, I wasn’t too sure what to expect from my workshops that followed, as I was worried the pupils would be too busy melting to get stuck into my activities. That wasn’t the case at all, though!!!

My first session was for Years 1 & 2, who took a few minutes to grab a drink and some air before we got started, then launched straight into the writing task. There were some really imaginative ideas during this session, and everyone was eager to share their work aloud with their peers. But I especially loved the stinky stories two of the pupils came up with under the title Dragon Farts vs Zombie Farts. This one by Fergus:

And this one by Zachary:

It was then time for a workshop for Years 3 & 4. Once again, the pupils attacked my activities with gusto. And there were some talented writers in the room from both year groups. Eliza’s story about her teacher being a dragon was one of my favourites, and she read it out beautifully:

I thought Elijah’s story about a dragon hiding under his bed was really well written, too:

With no time to stop and cool down, I abandoned my author trolley (there were far too many stairs to negotiate) and made my way out of the hall (aided by some super helpers) to the Year 5 classroom. It was baking in there. But with a number of pupils deciding to collaborate and others opting to work alone, it wasn’t long at all before the creativity was flowing. And although not many of the pupils during this session were willing to read or perform their work aloud, we WERE treated to a rap battle at one point… along with a super song, and a lovely play script. I particularly liked Flo’s story about her teacher being a dragon:

… and Millie’s story written under the title A Dragon Just Ate My Grandma:

After a very welcome cooked meal at lunchtime, I was then in with the Reception pupils for half an hour. And these pupils were fast workers!!! Abbie won the prize for being fastest at the letter tracing sheet… with many of her peers finishing just seconds after she did. And Joseph won the prize for best effort during this task:

But when each pupil finished and moved on to my colouring sheet… and then my book cover design sheet… and completed THOSE at break-neck speed, I began to worry that I didn’t have enough activities with me to fill the remaining minutes. Question time was the answer in the end, and we all discussed favourite books, favourite authors, and future stories I should write. Then it was time for my final workshop.

Half of Year 6 was joined by a number of Year 5 pupils for this session. And it was the perfect end to what had already been a fantastic day. There were so many aspiring authors in this group. Everyone came up with great ideas and got them down on paper in no time at all, filling page after page with some truly wonderful work. I especially loved Lewis and Harvey’s poem:

… Henry and Lukas’ story:

… and Nell and Charlotte’s story:

The pupils at Wilden All Saints were so happy, friendly, and hardworking throughout my visit. It seemed they were all immune to the normal grumpiness that hot weather can often bring on, and they couldn’t have impressed me more with the ideas they came up with and the work they produced. They were all keen to help out in whatever way they could, too. At the end of the day, a number of pupils kindly assisted in setting up my stall in the playground. And Lilly was brilliant at home time, handing out free stickers and bookmarks to fellow pupils.

Having already been treated to a cooked lunch earlier, it was an added bonus to receive an ice lolly when I left the building… the perfect way to cool down before making the journey home! But I was certainly sad to leave.

I’m really looking forward to returning to Wilden All Saints next year with my third book in the Words of WARNING collection, and I hope to visit more schools in the Severn Academies Educational Trust going forwards.