Nice session at PMT today. Great to see Teva and Oliver back and to welcome three possible new members - Eloise, Issi and Ella (I hope I have spelt those correctly). I understand some of you are away because of Half Term so will hopefully see you at the next session which is Sunday 16th June (yes Dads - your big day) 3 - 4 as usual.
Today we were writing about our dads and the assignment was to take those ideas and put at least some of them into a poem. No prizes for this one - but don't forget, all completed assignments count towards the next Certificate, so still worth having a go. Since the next session actually falls on Father's Day, of course, I know you may not be able to make it, but even if the Young Writers have family commitments, they are still welcome to take part.
One of the things I suggested today was one of the July sessions being held in a local park (weather permitting, naturally), because sometimes, being in the fresh air, in different surroundings, heightens the senses - and to make it a special occasion, we could take drinks and snacks along and have a mini picnic. And once the writing's done, there is always the swings etc to let off steam with. Perhaps 14th July would be a good one because summer holidays will have begun by 28th. And hopefully by the 14th, the weather will have settled down.
Now mums and dads I have been very seriously thinking about the best way to keep the momentum going with this group. I am not prepared to give it up after everything the Young Writers have achieved and one of the possible ways forward would be to compromise on sessions. Since we started doing the Sunday sessions, several new members have come along because they cannot make it during the week. This is encouraging. It means we are reaching even more youngsters than before. But I also know Sundays are, by tradition, family days, with visits to grandparents, or days out planned, which makes it difficult for some of the Young Writers to attend.
I have settled in well enough at my new job to perhaps wrangle it so that one session per month can go back to a weekday afternoon, and the other session each month can stay on a Sunday. I know you are all rather shy and not over keen on being vocal, but it would sooooo help me out if you could come back to me with feedback on this idea ASAP. You can text me, email or phone, or, if you prefer, pop a comment on at the end of this post. Once I have your feedback, I will see what I can do and let you all know. This may be the best way forward - ensuring that those youngsters that have been missing out since the Sunday sessions began, can once again get involved - and also that those youngsters unable to attend midweek because of other after schools activities, can stay with us and continue to develop their skills.
Did not get the chance to chat with Amanda yesterday, by the way, so still cannot confirm about the Guest Speaker but I will get back to you on this, at least, before very much longer.
Still have the prizes for the poetry competition to give out, so please let me know when you'll be there so I can make sure I bring them to the session. And I completely forgot, today, to give back the work I have accumulated over the past few months, so please let me know when you will be around so I can make sure I have got it with me.
Don't forget you can contact me anytime and, in the meantime, Good Writing!
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