I love visiting schools and sharing my enthusiasm for reading, writing and illustrating. I see the children’s eyes begin to sparkle and smiles light up their faces as they catch the joy of reading. Receiving feedback from schools and pupils is amazing. Below is a few of my visits, accompanied by photos and feedback. I hope it gives a little picture of the benefit of author visits to your school.
Barnburgh Primary School 29th November, 2022
I enjoyed a lovely day at Barnburgh school. I began in year 1 then went on to Foundation, introducing ‘Toby is Lost’ and ‘Thief to both groups. We had a lovely time acting out the story and the children laughed at the antics of my Toby Squirrel, Wise owl and Thief puppets.
After that, I joined each class year 2 up to year 6, talking about achieving your goals, never giving up, their favourite books and introducing ‘Meet Sammy’, ‘Family Secrets’, Family MIssing’, ‘Witness’ and ‘Time Fixers’. Each group heard about the books most appropriate for their ages.
Several children bought books and it was lovely to hear from children who had enjoyed the books they purchased on my last visit to the school.
The children were very eager to listen and join in, asking very intelligent questions. Overall, a lovely day,
New Pastures School 19 October, 2022
I was very happy to be invited back to New Pastures school. I visited Year 3 and Year 5, spending an hour in each class. The pupils were as happy and interested as I remembered. We had a lovely time talking about their favourite books and mine. They purchased many books and each one was individually signed for each child. Thank you for inviting me.
Swinton Brookfield Junior Academy 3rd March, 2022
It was wonderful to return to Swinton Brookfield for World Book Day this year. This school was my last visit before Covid closed the doors of all schools and it is my first visit since doors re-opened. It was very fitting and a wonderful day. I visited all eight classes and all were attentive, enthusiastic and obviously, avid readers.
I attended as Mrs Bucket, Charlie’s mum, although my shawl disappeared into my bag during the very first class as it was very warm.
The youngest children loved meeting Toby Squirrel for the first time and hearing about how he became lost. They also joined in a mini dramatic re-telling of ‘Thief’. The slightly older children laughed and became very serious then relieved at the ‘Meet Sammy’ story. They were eager to find out what happens in the other two stories in the book ‘Meet Sammy’, unfortunately, there was only time to give them a slight hint.
The older classes heard about Family Secrets, Family Fear, Family Missing, Witness and Time Fixers, depending on the age of pupils in each class. It was lovely to talk to pupils who remembered my last visit and hear about them having read many of my books during the two years. Well done Swinton Brookfield pupils for your amazing reading skills and enthusiasm! I thorough enjoyed spending time with you and thank you for inviting me!
Swinton Brookfield Junior and Infants School 5th March, 2020
I spent a wonderful day at Swinton Brookfield, visiting Foundation, right through to Year 6. The children were amazing and so involved. The older children enjoyed hearing about Sammy the Robot and Jess’s rescue attempts in ‘Time Fixers’. The Foundation children loved my Toby Squirrel puppet and taking part in an active version of ‘Thief’, my second Toby Squirrel book. I am looking forward to seeing you all again in 2022!
Barnburgh PrimarySchool February 2020
Barnburgh Primary School is a lovely little school in a beautiful village. The children in Reception and KS1 were lively and attentive. Each class had many questions and were keen to hear the answers. Toby Squirrel and Sammy the Robot were very well received. Thank you for having me.
New Pastures School 2019 (2 visits)
In October, I visited year 6 and told them all about my books and about ‘Time Fixers’. We had a competition where the children could write their own mission for Jess and Eli. The winner was Aiden Caley and his winning entry will appear in ‘Time Fixers 2 – Saving Eli’. Aiden, you are a gifted writer, please continue to use your talents well.
New Pastures School 2018 (2 visits, year 2 and year 6)
In September 2018 I visited New Pastures’ lunchtime book club where many children were spending their lunch time reading from a wide selection of books. Afterwards, I visited year 6 who listened attentively to Jess’s adventures with mysterious Eli in ‘Time Fixers’. They went on to design their own book cover. Their wonderful pictures gave me inspiration for an alternative cover for ‘Time Fixers’.
On a separate day, I visited Year 2. After hearing about Sammy the Robot, they created their own robot designs. Later they turned their designs into robots and their teacher very kindly sent me the pictures below.
St John the Baptist Jun & Inf – March 2014
I spent a lovely day visiting each class for half an hour. The youngest classes heard the story of ‘Toby is Lost’ with puppets, then an interactive version of ‘Thief’ with the children using the puppets. Junior classes heard a story about ‘Mikey and Sammy’, Mikey invents his own robot which has a mind of its own! The older children then went on to invent their own class stories, each adding the next line. They were very inventive and funny, making for fast-paced sessions! We also talked about writing and how my books came to be published. Thankyou for a very enjoyable day! Below is a young man, called Daniel, who went home and created his own Toby. Thankyou to his mum who emailed it to me and gave me permission to add it to my site.
Swinton Community School – March, 2014 World Book Day
I had a wonderful afternoon on my annual visit to Swinton School. The pupils were well deserving of their prizes in the Accelerated Reading Programme. They had lots of questions about my writing and urged me to complete my next book ‘Witness’, as soon as possible. It is such an encouragement to my writing to have such keen readers. They also shared their favourite books with me and, as usual, introduced me to authors I have not yet tried. Here are some of the lovely letters I received after my visit:
  |
  |
  |
Broom Valley Junior and Infants – February, 2014
I had an enjoyable day with pupils aged 5 & 6 years. I spent the day with one class in the morning and another in the afternoon. We had a wonderful time. I told my ‘Toby is Lost’ story with puppets and then the children took over the puppets while I told the story of ‘Thief’. They had a good time watching their classmates chasing the thief. The children then made up their own puppet stories and re-enacted them for the rest of the class. They were very inventive. After break came an art session with children using my drawing aids to create their own woodland scenes, complete with owls and squirrels.
I was warmly welcomed to Swinton Community School again this year. Their theme was the Wizard of Oz with a Mad Hatter’s tea party. The pupils had all won awards for either reading most words in the last year or scoring highest in the Accelerated Reading program. Both staff and pupils were full of questions and enthusiasm which made the visit interesting and fun. Thanks for inviting me and well done to you all.
Wickersley Library Parents and Tots, World Book Day – April 2012
Today I visited the Parents and Tots at Wickersley Library and met the Blue Book Bear! I had so much fun singing nursery rhymes with the children. My books are a little old for them at the moment but I have new books about Toby Squirrel coming out soon.
Swinton Community School for World Book Day – March 2012
On 1st March, I again attended Swinton Community School for World Book Day. I met with pupils who had all made great achievements in the ‘Accelerated Reading Program’ either by reading the most words or by completing the most quizzes. The young people were enthusiastic and friendly asking lots of questions. I got the impression that a number of them would like to become authors themselves and I wish them every success.
Parkside Community School, Chesterfield – December 2011
I judged a writing competition for Parkside Community School, Chesterfield and some local primary schools. There were over 100 entries from KS2, 3, 4 and staff members. Each had to compose a story in no more than 50 words. I was amazed at the standard of entries and had a wonderful time reading them. The hardest part was picking a winner and runner up in each category, they were all so good! I did manage to make a decision though and had an enjoyable time on 6th December, meeting the entrants and giving out their rewards. I was a little late arriving as I got well and truly lost on the way there! But thanks to a last minute phone call to the school they managed to direct me the last part of the way. Thanks to all of the school for giving me such a warm welcome and well done to all the entrants!
World Book Day – 3rd March 2011
Swinton Community School, South Yorkshire
Thanks for a great afternoon! I loved meeting you all, chatting and answering your questions. Keep on reading!
