From the Teachers

Many thanks to these teachers for providing a little feedback:

“An engaging creative writing workshop that extracts imagination from every child. Our students were encouraged to generate ideas from the mysterious ‘objects’ that they found in ‘The Shop of Things’, and challenged to give each artefact a context; a magical quality; a story. The extended writing time provided every child with the opportunity to create a foundation, which they can build upon during follow-up lessons… Pertinent questions from Ian focused the children as they wrote… The children were inspired to conjure up metaphorical language to evoke powerful imagery in the minds of their readers and give depth to their writing. The exchange between Ian and the children was meaningful and memorable. I know that the students at Avenue House School will draw upon Ian’s advice and experience as a talented author for years to come, and they have undoubtedly developed an appreciation for the craft of writing.” Kirsty Knowles – Director of Studies, Head of English and Drama, Year 6 Form Teacher Avenue House School, West Ealing, London

“Your lesson was excellent… The magical items really got the children thinking, and lots of magical items found their way into their creative writing.” – Alec Leslie, Y5/6 teacher, St Ebbes Primary School, Oxford

“The kids really enjoyed the opportunity for some magical writing and particularly liked the box of artefacts which were very well chosen.” – Saskia Van Dee Zee, Y6 teacher, St Ebbes Primary School, Oxford

“Thank you so much for coming in to lead your workshops. I know the children really enjoyed them and hopefully their writing will reflect how much they were inspired.” – Sarah Burgess, Asst. Head Teacher, St John’s Primary School, Wallingford

“Thank you Ian for an inspirational afternoon with fascinating artefacts.” – Karen Donaghy, Y6 teacher, Wolvercote Primary School, Oxford

From the Students

Thanks to Year 5 and Year 6 of Avenue House School for giving me their feedback:

“It was really exciting pulling random objects out of the box.”

“It’s given me more confidence with my writing.”

“It’s made descriptive writing a lot easier.”

“It was a once in a lifetime chance.”

“I loved how involved we were.”

“It was great that we didn’t have to write in silence, but did different activities and stopped to listen and participate.”

“It was impossible not to get drawn in.”

“The mystery of not knowing which object I was going to take out of the box was fun.”

“I liked how Ian read from, and used different books.”