Friday June 13th 2025

Dear Diary,

I had so much fun today, meeting all the pupils at Holy Trinity for the very first time and introducing them to WARNING: Magic Can Be Dangerous! and WARNING: May Contain Dragons. Fitting everyone into the hall for the morning assembly was a tight squeeze, though – with my banners and book props taking up a huge chunk of space. And with the sun streaming in… and so many bodies huddled together… it was extremely hot in the hall. But that didn’t stop the pupils sitting beautifully and engaging throughout. And they didn’t seem in any rush to leave when my assembly came to an end!

Next, it was on to my first workshop, for Year 3. It was a real treat to see how excited Albie was to have his pre-ordered copy of WARNING: May Contain Dragons signed and dedicated. And I was further delighted to see everyone put their hands up when I asked if any of the pupils were big readers. They all had great imaginations and were fast workers. But of all the work produced, I really loved Ginette’s story about her teacher being a dragon:

I also thought Tom’s story about a dragon eating his grandma was great fun:

The next session was for Year 4. And I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed such silent workers before! But they soon found their voices when the time came to read aloud in front of their classmates. Lots of certificates were handed out, just like in the previous session, but I especially enjoyed Emma’s story written under the title Dragon Farts vs Zombie Farts:

… and Sophia’s poem about a dragon hiding under her bed:

There’s a dragon under my bed!
It’s all scary, fluffy, and red!
It’s roaring under my pillow,
Like an angry armadillo.
It interrupted my sweet dream,
Now it’s sharing dragon memes.
It’s breathing flames,
Onto my photo frames!
I’ll call Mum, she’ll sort it out!
Ahhh, it’s just showed its scaly snout!
Look, it flew away.
It was night, and now it’s day!

Straight after lunch, it was time for a workshop with Year 5. There were definitely some future authors in this group. And with so many pupils wanting to read aloud, the time flew by in a flash. I thought Edith’s story was brilliant:

But my absolute favourite piece of work this session (and all day, I think) was Anais’ witty letter exchange between a pupil and her headteacher:

The final session was for the lively Year 6 pupils. All manner of weird and wonderful creations were dreamt up during this session… and performed with gusto! But I think I most enjoyed Kit’s story with its comedy ending:

I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent with the pupils at Holy Trinity. They couldn’t have been more polite and friendly throughout the day or more involved during the workshops, and they were all great fun to be around. I hope to visit Holy Trinity again next year and see them all again.