Our first visit to Stoke on Trent was exciting. We visited all the Year 1 and 2 classes and finished with a group session at the end of the day. There were lots of tricky questions which Vlad had to check. Luckily he was able to write a letter to […]
There was lots of enthusiasm, ideas and questions from Zircon, Topaz, Citrine and Amber classes. There were also plenty of screams and excellent group work talking about the people caught up in the Great Fire of London. A big thank you to all the staff for making the day run […]
We had such a lot of fun with Elm, Pear and Oak Class in Victoria Road School in Runcorn. After much enthusiastic screaming and filling up buckets the children were all building houses as we left. Thanks to the lovely staff for making us […]
We had a great trip up to Manchester to visit the three Year 2 classes in Wilbraham Primary School. We finished off with an assembly for KS1 talking about the importance of the reading and supporting the local library. Thank you to all the KS1 staff. “Thank you for travelling […]
Vlad had a fantastic time meeting Giraffes and Zebras in Milton Keynes. He didn’t bite too many. Thank you Mrs Dalton and Miss Burt. “A very enjoyable afternoon which brought the story to life. Good to handle some real life artefacts.”
“Vlad’s here! Vlad’s here!” was the wonderful greeting he got from the Year 2 children at Dedworth Green First School on Monday. He’s been a bit big-headed ever since but I have pointed out that he still needs me to drive him to meet his fans. The children joined in […]
As Vlad flies over, through and around the battles of March 1918 he sees many people caught up in the conflict. To write this story I researched the real people in far more depth than is finally included in a 1000 word book. I wanted to share some of what […]
After a lovely welcome to Quinton House we shared the story and looked at the Sun plaque. The children were ahead of me in knowing about parchment and quills as they have been working hard on the topic, using Vlad’s story. I was so excited to see the paintings of […]
It was a pleasure to visit this lovely school in such a beautiful part of the country. Class 2 had read Vlad’s story and written their own accounts of his adventure. We told the story together with our actions and rhymes. After a re-enacting the bucket chains we did some […]
When you are 6 years old it is almost impossibly difficult to understand 350 years ago. I regularly told my pupils I was one hundred and eighty three on my birthday … and some of them believed me. Props and artefacts help put it all in context. That is the […]
This is a call to action! An appeal to educators across the country to do something that would encourage their pupils to read more, and connect with the urgent need to keep libraries safely at the core of their local community. The long-term benefits could be significant in terms […]
If you are reading this, you are probably already a fully-fledged advocate of supporting young children to read. You already know the importance of nurturing pleasurable reading experiences and how to grow the love that will make them life-long readaholics. You teach them, and read with them, and they grow […]
