Tuesday July 1st 2025

Dear Diary,

The second of my four visits in and around Hay-on-Wye was to Michaelchurch Escley Primary this afternoon. And thankfully, the thirty-minute assembly and hour-long workshop I’d planned were exactly what the teachers were expecting. With only 63 pupils at this school in total – and the Year 1 pupils out swimming for the afternoon – my assembly was a cosy affair. But it meant that reading the opening chapters of WARNING: May Contain Dragons was especially lovely, as it felt far less formal than normal. One pupil nervously hovered behind afterwards whilst everyone else raced out of the room for a quick dash around the field. It turned out she wanted to know how she could get her hands on a copy of each of my books. How sweet!

During my workshop for all year groups bar Reception, it was great seeing the older pupils helping and encouraging the younger ones. There were some fantastic stories, poems, diary entries, letters, and raps dreamt up. And there were definitely some future authors in this group. I especially loved Holly’s story written under the title My Teacher Is a Dragon:

… Millie’s diary entry written under the same title prompt:

… Elsa’s poem on the same theme:

… Isla’s diary entry, again about a teacher being a dragon:

… Erin’s story written under the same title:

… Esta’s story, also about a dragon teacher:

… and Henry’s story about dragon farts vs zombie farts:

But after witnessing so pupils writing about dragon teachers, I’m pleased to confirm that NONE of the teachers at Michaelchurch Escley Primary are dragons. In fact, they’re all rather wonderful, as are the pupils there. It was a real pleasure spending the afternoon at this school, I just wish my visit had been a lot longer!