FULFORD SCHOOL, YORK – Spring 2006
Early in 2006 I was asked by the National Association of Writers in Education to devise a series of lessons for Fulford School as part of the Booktrust Writing Together programme.
As Writer in Residence, working two days a week for five weeks, I would be working with a Year 7 class, two Year 10 classes and a Year 12 English Language class, as well as making myself available at lunchtimes for drop-in sessions with students of all ages who wanted my assessment and help with their personal writing or advice about their English and Film Studies course-work.
Having liaised with the relevant teachers to identify their exact requirements, I put together a tailor-made programme for each class: fiction writing, with the emphasis on character creation and development, for Year 7 - although with some non-fiction thrown in for good measure; fiction and non-fiction writing in equal measure for the Year 10 classes; and for Year 12, one session on dramatic story structure, dialogue, characterisation and scriptwriting, followed by an intensive course in non-fiction writing linked to their AS-Level English Language course-work. I also managed to fit in, at short notice, a single session with a Year 13 class, teaching structure and scriptwriting in relation to their A-Level course-work. It was challenging, but highly successful:
“Thank you for the fantastic work you did at Fulford earlier this year ... you are still talked of fondly by teachers and pupils alike ...”
Nicola Towle – teacher, Fulford SchoolMy thanks to Booktrust and Fulford School for allowing me to use the photographs reproduced on this page. They show me working with the effervescent and highly-talented 7RB, some of whose work you can see by clicking here. These short excerpts are the result of our work on creating interesting characters – people like Alexander Pearson, the maniac organ-harvester created by Amber and Kloe, and Anne-Marie, the take-away owner with a very murky past, who was created by Emma. I certainly enjoyed reading them – and I hope you do, too.
