I enjoyed a wonderful visit to St. Peter’s Primary School in Ashton-Under-Lyne yesterday – my first school event of 2010!

Thank you to everyone there for being so welcoming and enthusiastic although I suspect they enjoyed the day just as much as I did.  Here’s what the assistant head had to say:

What a fangtastic day!

Tommy arrived at our school and spent the morning in class doing writing workshops. It was great for the children to see the actual process a ‘real author’ goes through when planning a story – an area the children struggle with.

One child sat near me kept asking, ‘Are we going to write the story Miss?’  They were all eager to be able to continue and finish the story they had planned. The workshop gave them a good basis to plan from and how to organise their ideas.

Myself and the children are really excited about the next writing process and can’t wait to get started tomorrow!

In the afternoon year 4, 5, 6 and visitors from another school arrived to take part in a gameshow style quiz – Vampires ‘V’ werewolves. My class were amazed that Tommy actually had the six relics that Luke has to find in the Scream Street series. It was brilliant that they could ask questions relating to the characters and that they could even win the chance to become a character in one of Tommy’s books.

I have never laughed so much and everyone was involved. Each challenge related to reading and promoted the importance of it in a fun and exciting way.

Previously in our class writing sessions we have been analyzing the first chapter of ‘Fang of the Vampire’. It has all the ingredients needed to teach better sentence construction: short sentences for effect, starting with an adverb, and use of powerful verbs. It can be difficult finding texts that have the elements that you want the children to learn. Scream Street is definitely the book for this. Perfect!

After today’s visit the children are not only excited about reading but also about writing…..what more can I say.

I would highly recommend inviting Tommy Donbavand into your school. He is well organised and the sessions are perfectly timed. I have enjoyed reading all of the Scream Street series so far and have even pre-ordered the next book. Fantastic books and a fabulous day was had by all.

Eileen Anderson
Assistant Headteacher
St Peter’s Primary School
Ashton-Under-Lyne

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