Friday June 6th 2025

Dear Diary,

Today’s visit was to St John’s Primary, a charming little school hidden in the heart of Cheltenham town centre. And what struck me the moment I arrived was the mutual respect the teachers and pupils at St John’s have for one another. The way they greeted each other upon arrival and communicated with one another throughout the day made the pupils seem socially way beyond their years and illustrated what a tight bond they and their teachers share.

The day started off pretty normally, with a whole-school assembly. But the pupils excitedly filed into the small hall then sat down in vertical lines rather than horizontal lines (something I haven’t ever seen before)! I knew I was in for a good day the minute the assembly started, with fantastic audience participation throughout and none of the pupils afraid to take on a dragon in order to rescue their best friend. (It would have been a slightly different story had their little brother or sister had been whisked away, but we won’t go into that!) I had a good chuckle upon learning what the students would use to fend off a dragon during an attack… with Nerf guns, frying pans, and swords top of the list. And there were so many good title ideas for future books in the Words of WARNING collection.

Once the assembly was over, it was on to the workshops. My first (slightly longer than usual) session was for Year 6. And it was great that we had a bit of extra time and didn’t have to rush through the activities, as there were definitely some future authors in this group. Only a few of the students in this class were keen to read aloud, but we WERE all treated to a rap-off. Of all the work that was created, I especially enjoyed Olivia’s diary entry in which she suspects her teacher is a dragon:

… Lizzie’s story written under the same title prompt:

… and Harry’s four whole pages about a dragon hiding under his bed:

I was with the Year 5 pupils next, and they were a noisy bunch! But the level of noise was only because so many of them decided to buddy up and were excited to share ideas. It was especially lovely to see a whole table of 6 pupils working so well together, with everyone’s input given consideration. During this session, I particularly liked Tommy’s poem:

I had a box of doughnuts,
The box was at my height,
I saved them for tomorrow,
But I woke up to a sight!

“Where was the box?”
“Was it taken by a fox?”
But upstairs I heard a low growl,
It was a dragon on the prowl…

Wearing doughnuts on one ear!
I had a great fear:
Would it take me…
For tea?!

… and Aadi and Ian’s diary entry:

After lunch, things were a lot quieter. You could have heard a pin drop whilst the Year 4 pupils got their ideas down on paper. This workshop was shorter than normal and seemed to be over almost as soon as it had begun. So, I still can’t believe how much some of the pupils wrote in this session! I thought Paloma’s story written under the title Sorry, Sir, but a Dragon Ate My Homework was super:

Olivia’s story about her teacher being a dragon also really impressed me:

And I thought Rowan and Woody did a great job of considering all the implications of dragons wearing pyjamas… and why it’s probably best they don’t wear them:

With the end of the first week of term drawing to a close (and Year 3 having chosen the short straw and getting the final workshop of the day), I’d anticipated being greeted by tired pupils all desperate for the bell to ring for home time. But that simply wasn’t the case. One of my favourite pieces would have to be Rushi’s scary story about dragons (all named after his friends, I believe) who steal people’s organs!!! We sadly ran out of time before finding out what the dreaded zombies get up to… but maybe that was for the best:

I also thought Eden’s story, with its twists and turns, was genius!

Today wasn’t the first time teachers remarked on how impressed they were with what ALL of the pupils came up with when given the chance to do some free writing. I do wish the national curriculum would allow just a little more time for this in the school timetable, to give creative souls a chance to flourish.

I definitely didn’t deserve the round of applause I received at the end of every workshop… OR the double round of applause after my assembly first thing… but this further illustrated how embracing the students and staff at this wonderful school are. I really felt like a part of St John’s whilst I was there, and I desperately hope I’ll get to return in the future!