Thursday July 10th 2025
Dear Diary,
My final school visit this term was to Chalford Hill Primary, a school I last visited with WARNING: Magic Can Be Dangerous! just four months ago. And it was great to be back again so soon. The pupils were eager to hear all about WARNING: May Contain Dragons… and excited to find out that book 3 (about a crazy grandma) is in the making!
With the stage still up in the hall (following the recent school production), it was a tight squeeze in there for my whole-school assembly. But the students were a fantastic audience once again. And after a little difficulty (due to there being no room for anyone to move a muscle), we finally managed to get two volunteers up to join me for the book title suggestion challenge.
After pulling out some tables in the hall, my workshop for Years 5 & 6 then got underway. There were lots of collaborations during this session, and My Teacher Is a Dragon was a firm favourite when it came to the title prompt choices. But there was a great deal of variety when it came to the stories, diary entries, raps, poems, and letters that were produced. And I couldn’t tell that the end of term was fast approaching, as the students all worked dilligently right up until the end of the worskhop.
Next, it was time for a session with Years 3 & 4. I think we must have heard almost everyone in the room read aloud during this session, which was utterly fantastic. These pupils had great imaginations and were quick at getting their ideas down on paper. They all seemed to really enjoy the comic strip activity that followed the writing task, too. And there were many talented artists in this group.
Just before I started my workshop for the Reception pupils, I was informed that they were really struggling due to the heat of the day. So, I wasn’t expecting them to get stuck into my activities anywhere near as eagerly as they did! They were all so quick at completing the letter tracing sheet (Emily and Arthur were the fastest), and they came up with some super ideas for stories of their own and designed book covers for them afterwards.
My final session of the day – and of this school year! – was for Years 1 & 2. Sorry, Sir, but a Dragon Ate My Homework and How to Train Your Dragon to Do Your Homework were the most popular title prompts chosen. But given the level of work these pupils came up with during this workshop, I can’t believe ANY of them have problems doing their homework themselves… and handing it in on time every time!
At the end of the day, it was Eddie from Year 5 who went home with one of my dragons as a prize! His story really tickled me, and I wish I’d been able to extend the Year 5 workshop first thing in order to see where he planned to take the plot next.
I had such a wonderful day at Chalford Hill again, it was just over too soon! The pupils were an absolute pleasure to spend time with, and the teachers couldn’t have been more helpful and accommodating.
It was an added bonus to return home to a flurry of sales through the website from parents who’d missed out on the opportunity to purchase a book at the end of my visit!
After securing and executing 120 school visits over the past 226 school days, I’m feeling a little shattered now, to say the least! But I won’t be able to rest for long, as I have 25 bookshop and library events booked this summer!!! https://www.wordsofwarning.com/c/events/
