Visits from writers inspire SGS students
Over the years Stockport Grammar School has welcomed a wide range of great writers onto the site to deliver talks, carry out book signings and conduct workshops. In the space of one week, we were delighted to have wordsmiths David Farr, Ian Bland and Matt Dickinson impart their wisdom to appreciative audiences.
David Farr
Screenwriter, playwright, theatre director and now children’s author David Farr gave a wonderful talk to pupils in Year Five, Year Six and First Year.
He read from the opening of his book ‘The Book of Stolen Dreams’ and revealed the inspiration behind Rachel and Robert’s fantastical adventures to locate the lost book and rescue their father, detained by the dictator Malstain’s regime.
It was interactive session with lots of contributions from the audience where they contemplated a world without stories, and even went on to create intriguing and dramatic starter sentences in small groups. David was delighted with pupils’ creative contributions and the volley of thoughtful questions asked at the end of the session.
When asked which book he would save if he were living under an authoritarian regime such as President Malstain’s, he was quick to declare ‘Danny the Champion of the World’ by Roald Dahl, a book that had meant so much to him as a child. Which book would you save…?
Ian Bland
Junior School pupils had an amazing time during National Poetry Day as children’s poet Ian Bland delivered absurdly fun interactive workshops.
Reception pupils wrote action poems whilst children in Years One and Two looked at the poem ‘Can You Do It’ and learnt about the effects of adding alliteration into poems to create rhythm and atmosphere. The children were fabulous poets and, at the end of the day, they proudly presented their poems in an assembly.
Boys and girls in Years Three to Six enjoyed Ian’s assembly where he recited some of his poems, including ‘The Dinner Lady Dance’, complete with choreography.
The pupils then split up into different workshops to create their own poems based on some of Ian’s poetry. Years Three and Four worked on ‘What Am I’ and Years Five and Six focussed on ‘I’d Like To Be’. During the workshops they looked at couplets, rhythm and rhymes as they crafted their verses.
Matt Dickinson
Author and film-maker Matt Dickinson made a welcome return to SGS as he gave a number of captivating talks to First Year pupils.
Matt, who has successfully climbed Mount Everest and delivered documentary work for National Geographic Television, the Discovery Channel and the BBC, thrilled the audience with his mountaineering tales and spoke about how the trips were the inspiration for his books, including ‘The Everest Files’. His talk also had a serious side as he covered the topics of plastic pollution and the treatment of Sherpas.
During lunchtime, he completed a book signing and spoke to pupils about their interests.
