Wednesday October 15th 2025

Dear Diary,

I was so cold when I arrived at Hatherop Primary for today’s free school visit that I couldn’t stop shivering, but the pupils there soon warmed my heart. With only eighty or so students at this school, my assembly was a cosy affair. There were grins, giggles, and whispers throughout the first part… then total silence and mouths open wide whilst I read the opening chapters of WARNING: May Contain Dragons. And I can’t believe how beautifully all the Reception pupils sat for the whole thirty minutes, given how new they are to school life. I always love it when I get to follow my assembly with workshops for every single year group, as it means I get the chance to answer any questions I didn’t have time to during my assembly. So, it was great to host activity sessions for everyone today. The Reception pupils got stuck into my letter tracing sheets whilst their Year 1 classmates designed book covers. And they all really impressed me with the speed at which they worked and how advanced they seemed for their ages. Year 2 and Year 3 then got creative, dreaming up poems, stories, songs, and diary entries. And there were so many questions and suggestions for future stories that I should write at the end of the session that we ended up running on for an extra fifteen minutes. After lunch, I was really impressed with the writing the Year 5 and Year 6 pupils came up with. And there were some very brave souls happy to stand up in front of their peers and perform raps! (I’d have never been that brave at their age!!!) I finished the day with a session for Year 4. With only 9 pupils during this workshop, I was able to spend a lot of one-on-one time with each of them, and it was lovely to help them develop their writing in a bit more depth. But in no time at all, the day was over and it was time to head home. And after such a wonderful day, it was a real wrench to leave. The pupils at Hatherop are so happy, care-free, creative, and polite. So many of them came up to me during lunchtime or after school to personally thank me for visiting, even though the pleasure had been all mine. But it’s not just the pupils at this school that are fantastic, as the teachers are awesome, too! It was a joy to witness them nurturing the individuality of their pupils and encouraging them to tap into their creativity and believe in their potential whilst I was there.