How are we all doing with NANOWRIMO? Me? Could be better. Let’s just say, I’m a few words behind my target. If I include twice weekly blogs in my overall count up – it gets a bit better. But I am inspired. And that’s the main thing. Inspiration must fire up imagination. So we could…

My last week’s blog focused on learning as fun! If we are to encourage school children of all ages and abilities to take learning further independently – we must change the way we do it. Yes – we want children to master learning – but HOW? This is what I would say to a clever…

Is my self-belief as an aspiring fiction writer real – or is it fiction too? How important is it to set goals? It’s the first of November – NANOWRIMO month. Last year I wrote the first draft of a YA novel: it’s still waiting to be edited and submitted somewhere. I WILL get back to…

But it’s not, is it? Why are so many children bored in school – especially at secondary? My recent blogs have featured mastery as a form of deeper learning – especially in the basic skills of language/ communication, literacy and maths. Given that these skills are our basic tools, then surely, mastering these areas must…

How do we make our characters live and breathe on the page? Talking about characters. Guess where I went today? I went to hear a talk by one of my favourite writers of children’s fiction – Jacqueline Wilson, at Manchester’s Central Library. After her talk, during the few minutes of question time, do you know…