One of our favourite things to do with a book is to share it; we will read it to literally anyone, anywhere but our favourite places to visit are schools, book shops and libraries.
The Literacy Trust comments that, “Children who had an author visit to their school reported higher levels of reading enjoyment (68.2% vs 47.2%) and writing enjoyment (43.9% vs 32.4%) than their peers who didn’t receive a visit.” It gives us great joy to be able to be part of this bigger picture to inspire and motivate children.
As a former primary school teacher, I absolutely love to promote and celebrate reading and writing and I always try to tailor any school visits to the year groups’ specific needs and the national curriculum.
Testimonials
We have had some lovely feedback from the visits we have been on and here are some of the comments made…
“Rachel’s visit to our school was fantastic. The children loved listening to an actual author read their story to them and loved the opportunity to get their own signed copy of the book too. Rachel also lead a workshop with our Year 2 children, which they found very inspiring – hopefully some budding authors in the making!!! We would welcome Rachel back in the future and look forward to seeing her new book!”
Rebecca Bridgeman, English Co-ordinator, St Clare’s Primary School
“Rachel visited our Beaver Scout groups and the young people were captivated as she introduced them to Dotty and all the dogs. She was brilliant with the children and led some super activities where they thought about their favourite dogs from the book.”
Iain Blundell, Beaver Scout Leader
“Rachel came along to school to read her latest book ‘ Dotty the Dogwalker’ and complete a writing workshop with year 1/2. Rachel’s primary experience shines through and she is at ease within the classroom – establishing brilliant relationships with all pupils and staff alike. She quickly feels like part of the team and works with staff to bring out the excitement and enthusiasm in pupils.
Her love of language and reading is evident and she engages pupils with her stories that are made even more exciting when they are read by a real life author!! Having an author share their top tips…alliteration, playing with language etc. serves to encourage our pupils to do the same too.
Rachel adapts to her audience quickly and has also worked with our key stage two pupils.
We look forward to welcoming Rachel back soon!”
Mrs A. Brogden, Headteacher, St. Mary’s Catholic School
“What a wonderful morning our Pre-School and I1 pupils have had today! We welcomed local and very talented author, Rachel A Walmsley to Kirkham Grammar School. Rachel shared her new book, ‘Dotty The Dogwalker’, with our Infant and Pre-School pupils and they delighted in the fun, vocabulary rich picture book, designed to stimulate children’s imagination through conversations about dogs and relationships with others. During Rachel’s visit, our Infant and Pre-School pupils enjoyed an enriching 45 minute workshop with Rachel, which saw our Pre-School and I1 pupils learn illustrating techniques, whilst our I2 and I3 pupils learnt both writing and illustrating techniques to help them in their journey of becoming young authors and illustrators. The visit was a wonderful opportunity to promote the excitement of reading, writing and illustrating. Thank you, Rachel for visiting KGS and inspiring the next generation of young authors…it is wonderful to see the pupils so enthusiastic about writing and illustrating!“
Michelle Tickle, Head of Publicity, Kirkham Grammar School
For more information about school visits please email rachelawalmsley@gmail.co.uk.
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