Wednesday January 14th 2026

My destination for today’s FREE school visit was Bournville Village Primary in Birmingham, where I hosted two back-to-back assemblies followed by workshops for each of the four KS2 year groups. I do sadly have to say that despite the KS2 hall looking gorgeous, the acoustics in there are horrific! Thankfully, the KS2 pupils and teachers more than made up for that, as they were an absolute joy to spend time with (as were the younger pupils during my assembly with them in their much kinder hall). It was wonderful to see how involved all the teachers were during each of the KS2 workshops, it was a delight to witness so many pupils eager to read their work aloud in front of their peers, and it was super to see many of those who wouldn’t normally engage in writing tasks winning certificates for their fabulous written creations. And the icing on the cake? Well, that would have to be seeing Abigail again, after initially meeting her at Stirchley Library last summer. Congratulations on your certificate, Abigail. And huge thanks to eveveryone at Bournville Village for a wonderful day. There are definitely many future authors among the pupils at this school, I just wish I could have spent a little more time there, as the day was over far too soon!