Wednesday May 7th 2025

Dear Diary,

Today’s school visit was to Staunton & Corse Academy, where the pupils truly embrace the school vision – Let Your Light Shine! They filed into assembly with huge grins on their faces, in awe of my revolving book props… and eagerly awaiting the day ahead. I always find assemblies at smaller schools rather charming, as they’re a lot cosier than those at bigger schools, and the pupils at Staunton & Corse were a super audience. They listened attentively whilst I read the opening chapters of WARNING: May Contain Dragons, and they had some super questions for me about what it’s like to be an author. But sadly, the general consensus was that they WOULDN’T rescue their brother or sister from a dragon attack! 🤣

My first workshop of the day was for Sunbeams (Years 1 & 2).

The pupils in this class were ahead of their years, coming up with some super story ideas in no time. We awarded lots of aspiring author certificates, including one for Charlie for his super story about a dragon who ate his homework:

… one for Ismay for her funny story about a dragon who ate her grandma:

… and one for Alexander for his story entitled Dragon Farts vs Zombie Farts:

And there were lots of amazing artists in this class, too:

With Sunbeams having really impressed me with their work, I then moved on to a session for Trinity (Years 3 & 4). And once again, I was blown away by what these students came up within in the space of an hour. I loved Jacob’s witty account about a dragon who’d eaten his homework:

I thought Corbyn’s tale about a dragon who’d eaten his grandma… AND the neighbour… was hilarious:

And I thought Imogen’s story written under the title What Do Dragons Do with Doughnuts was fantastic:

It’s always a treat when I get to host a workshop for Reception pupils, and my session for Rainbows didn’t disappoint. These tiny students had huge imaginations and were so neat when it came to tracing sentences about WARNING: May Contain Dragons.

It was a race to the finish, meaning TWO of the pupils ended up winning badges, and we ended up awarding certificates to everyone.

After lunch, my final workshop – a slightly longer session – was for Aurora (Years 5 & 6). These pupils were adamant that I’d end up handing out a dragon prize during this session. (I take a dragon along on all of my school visits these days, just in case I come across any exceptional work and need to award a prize.) And they were right!!! The wonderful work they came up with during this ninety-minute session meant that EVERYONE ended up with a certificate… and Lily is now the proud new owner of one of my dragons. Her writing is sensational. She says she doesn’t often write stories but is a big reader. And she’s clearly picked up a lot from the vast number of books she’s read, as her writing makes a compelling read:

I also really liked Ben’s story, also about a teacher who is a dragon:

And I thought Neve’s story under the same title was super:

There were more budding artists in this group, too… but I’ve sadly forgotten the name of this one:

Doubtless to say, that the Year 6 pupils in Aurora Class will have no problems with their SATs next week.

I had such a fantastic day at Staunton Corse Academy today, and was sad to say goodbye. But I hope to return again before too long. I was supposed to spend the day inspiring the pupils there… but instead, they ended up inspiring me!!!