Hello everyone. What a shame that only three Young Writers turned up at last week's session! I do appreciate that it was the last day of the half term school holiday - a fact I had overlooked when I initally booked it. However because of the ticket money for The Snow Queen being due in that day, I just kind of hoped to see a few more - particularly since so many people had seemed interested in going.
The money had to be collected last week so I could get it over to the Polka by the end of this week to secure the seats and I am not sure now if we will still be able to go. I have asked my contact at the Polka if I could have a bit more time thinking I might still be able to collect the ticket money on 11th November, which is when our next session takes place. I am hoping she agrees but if she doesn't those parents who did hand in their ticket money last Saturday will get it back on that day and we will just have to cancel the trip. It would be a shame but there will be other chances so it won't be the end of the world.
The creative writing subject covered was Sci-Fi which is something we have not looked into before on its own merits, although it has been incorporated into other genre we have covered, such as Fantasy Fiction, Superheros and Fairy Tales. It challenges the imagination at every level because nothing is impossible when talking about future worlds, time travel or space, the final frontier. I suggested a couple of things to get the creative juices flowing - finding an alien lost in the woods, for example, or spotting a flying saucer at the local park. One handy tip when thinking of names for aliens and other worldly beings is to take a word and turn it back to front ie - as demonstrated by Amber - taking the word Comics and coming up with the name Dr Scimoc. Not only does it sound like a space baddie, it looks like the name of a space baddie so well done to Amber. If any of the Young Writers who were not able to attend last Saturday still want to give this a go, it will still count towards their next Certificate.
Anyway, hope to see you back on 11th November, but if I do hear anything from Polka before then, I will let you know.
Wednesday, 1 November 2017
Wednesday, 25 October 2017
Don't Forget Polka Trip ...
Hi everyone. Just a quick reminder that we have another session ths Saturday at the library, 9.30 till 10.30 so looking forward to seeing you all there.
Don't forget to bring in your Polka ticket money this weekend if you and your young writer/s are coming to see The Snow Queen on 16th December. PLEASE NOTE I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO TAKE PAYMENT AFTER THIS DATE as I have to have to get the money to the Polka by the end of next week. I will also need to know the exact number coming so if you could also ensure you complete and return the back page of the letter given out at the session on 7th October, I'd be very grateful.
I will see you on Saturday. Enjoy the rest of your week.
Don't forget to bring in your Polka ticket money this weekend if you and your young writer/s are coming to see The Snow Queen on 16th December. PLEASE NOTE I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO TAKE PAYMENT AFTER THIS DATE as I have to have to get the money to the Polka by the end of next week. I will also need to know the exact number coming so if you could also ensure you complete and return the back page of the letter given out at the session on 7th October, I'd be very grateful.
I will see you on Saturday. Enjoy the rest of your week.
Tuesday, 10 October 2017
WELL DONE SUMMER DIARISTS!
Brilliant Young Writer session on Saturday! Eighteen youngsters turned up including three newbies and two returning newbies. Most of those who had visited the Fire station had filled out their questionnaires and were content to then write their thank you letters and those who weren't were content to sit and write a story I started entitled The Blue Banana. All those who wrote their thank you letters will be pleased to know they are one assignment closer to their next certificate and I will give an update on that at our next session on 28th October.
Congratulations go to all the members who completed their summer diaries/journals. Special award certificates were handed out for these. It was very close. I marked each diary in the areas of presentation, creativity, information included and supporting evidence. Most scored upwards of twenty points but only one scored twenty-six and that was Aleen, who, unfortunately, was unable to attend that day. Her certificate and the novelty 2018 'secret diary' prize were presented to mum who said Aleen would be thrilled. The reason her diary scored highest was because as well as the diary entries and photos, she had included acrostic and tetactrys poems, so well done Aleen, but a big Well Done to everyone who took part.
In all the excitement I forgot to set an assignment but if your youngster wishes to produce a piece of poetry or a story ready to hand in next session, that will still count towards their next certificate. I am giving them a free hand.
Mums and dads thank you for all your support and positive feedback and please ensure you get your sheets in if you want your child to attend the Polka show on Saturday 16th December. It is First Come First Served but if push comes to shove I will try to stretch our party number to accommodate as many as possible. It depends on how popular the show is and what Polka think they can accommodate within the Health & Safety guidelines.
See you all on the 28th then and thank you all for all your hard work.
Congratulations go to all the members who completed their summer diaries/journals. Special award certificates were handed out for these. It was very close. I marked each diary in the areas of presentation, creativity, information included and supporting evidence. Most scored upwards of twenty points but only one scored twenty-six and that was Aleen, who, unfortunately, was unable to attend that day. Her certificate and the novelty 2018 'secret diary' prize were presented to mum who said Aleen would be thrilled. The reason her diary scored highest was because as well as the diary entries and photos, she had included acrostic and tetactrys poems, so well done Aleen, but a big Well Done to everyone who took part.
In all the excitement I forgot to set an assignment but if your youngster wishes to produce a piece of poetry or a story ready to hand in next session, that will still count towards their next certificate. I am giving them a free hand.
Mums and dads thank you for all your support and positive feedback and please ensure you get your sheets in if you want your child to attend the Polka show on Saturday 16th December. It is First Come First Served but if push comes to shove I will try to stretch our party number to accommodate as many as possible. It depends on how popular the show is and what Polka think they can accommodate within the Health & Safety guidelines.
See you all on the 28th then and thank you all for all your hard work.
Saturday, 23 September 2017
SPARKLING VISIT TO WOODSIDE FIRE STATION!!
What a truly magnificent vist the Young Writers had to Woodside Fire Station today! We were made very welcome by the firefighters who showed the children the control room, sounded the alarm and introduced them to their resident fire engine. Over half of the youngsters got to explore within the engine itself, but then the crew got called out on a real emergency so the rest missed out as these brave ladies and gentlemen raced off to perform their duties. Still it was forty five minutes well-spent and the team answered a number of questions from both children and parents and lots of photos were taken. Even after the fire engine had gone, the lovely Hannah allowed the children to try on a bright yellow helmet and witness her slide down the famous pole, as well as have their photos taken beside and in front of the command unit vehicle which had remained on site.
Despite the fact the visit was somewhat incomplete, I think it is fair to say that everyone had a crackling good time there and the children were each given white LFB wristbands and a leaflet about staying safe on Guy Fawkes night, before we all trailed back to the library. Everyone was then given a questionnaire to take home and complete about the visit and when we meet up on 7th October for our next session, we'll be writing thank you letters.
Massive thanks to Craig, Hannah and the team for making the visit so worthwhile and yes, we will definitely be back some time to finish our visit! Huge thanks also to the mums and dads that came along to help supervise and to the Young Writers themselves for being so well-behaved. You all did me proud!
Despite the fact the visit was somewhat incomplete, I think it is fair to say that everyone had a crackling good time there and the children were each given white LFB wristbands and a leaflet about staying safe on Guy Fawkes night, before we all trailed back to the library. Everyone was then given a questionnaire to take home and complete about the visit and when we meet up on 7th October for our next session, we'll be writing thank you letters.
Massive thanks to Craig, Hannah and the team for making the visit so worthwhile and yes, we will definitely be back some time to finish our visit! Huge thanks also to the mums and dads that came along to help supervise and to the Young Writers themselves for being so well-behaved. You all did me proud!
Monday, 11 September 2017
FIRST SESSION BACK - HUGE SUCCESS
Brilliant return on Saturday; sixteen youngsters turned up, including seven newbies! I think that is the best ever post summer holiday 1st session the group has ever had and I am so grateful to you all for coming along; it was lovely to see you all.
I had around eight holiday journals/diaries handed in so a massive well done to all those members who took this year's summer challenge and delivered the completed project on time! I now have the pleasure of going through them. I will be marking them points out of ten for content, presentation and sheer creativity and the one with the highest points at the end will be our winner. There can only be one main winner but everybody who took part will receive a special certificate so there are no actual losers. It is important that everyone's hard work is acknowledged and it will be! So very well done to all those who took part.
Our first session back was mainly to get back into the swing of things so we started gently with a poem about autumn. I will be reading those handed in but I will not be marking them so they will not count towards your Young Writer's next certificate. The assignments will start again on 7th October.
Thank you to everyone who responded to news of our Fire Station trip on 23rd September. The list is now FULL so if you have missed out on it this time, don't worry too much. I am sure we can arrange a similar trip some time in the future. On that day (23rd) we will not meet at the library until 10.30 since we are unable to access the fire station until after that time. I will put a Young Writers sticker on all members attending and then we will walk round in a group where we will be met by Chrief Fire Officer that day Craig Abbott. It should be a good visit and a new experience for most of us.
As per our newsletter, we do have the opportunity to attend a show at the Polka Theatre in Wimbledon on Saturday 16th December in the afternoon (times TBC) and the show is The Snow Queen. Tickets will be in the region of £16 and the show is suitable for 6 to 11 year olds. There will be a talk after the show and I am hoping to arrange a trip back stage as well, but I will have to let you know about that nearer the time. Right now it is about numbers so please let me know ASAP if you and your child would like to attend, so that I can make all the final arrangements with the Polka staff.
So; lots going on! Don't forget to contact me if you have any questions or comments. See you on 23rd.
I had around eight holiday journals/diaries handed in so a massive well done to all those members who took this year's summer challenge and delivered the completed project on time! I now have the pleasure of going through them. I will be marking them points out of ten for content, presentation and sheer creativity and the one with the highest points at the end will be our winner. There can only be one main winner but everybody who took part will receive a special certificate so there are no actual losers. It is important that everyone's hard work is acknowledged and it will be! So very well done to all those who took part.
Our first session back was mainly to get back into the swing of things so we started gently with a poem about autumn. I will be reading those handed in but I will not be marking them so they will not count towards your Young Writer's next certificate. The assignments will start again on 7th October.
Thank you to everyone who responded to news of our Fire Station trip on 23rd September. The list is now FULL so if you have missed out on it this time, don't worry too much. I am sure we can arrange a similar trip some time in the future. On that day (23rd) we will not meet at the library until 10.30 since we are unable to access the fire station until after that time. I will put a Young Writers sticker on all members attending and then we will walk round in a group where we will be met by Chrief Fire Officer that day Craig Abbott. It should be a good visit and a new experience for most of us.
As per our newsletter, we do have the opportunity to attend a show at the Polka Theatre in Wimbledon on Saturday 16th December in the afternoon (times TBC) and the show is The Snow Queen. Tickets will be in the region of £16 and the show is suitable for 6 to 11 year olds. There will be a talk after the show and I am hoping to arrange a trip back stage as well, but I will have to let you know about that nearer the time. Right now it is about numbers so please let me know ASAP if you and your child would like to attend, so that I can make all the final arrangements with the Polka staff.
So; lots going on! Don't forget to contact me if you have any questions or comments. See you on 23rd.
Wednesday, 6 September 2017
So Chuffed!!!
Hi everyone! Just a quick reminder that the Young Writer sessions start up again this Saturday and I am sooo looking forward to seeing you all. Don't forget it is at Ashburton Library from 9.30 until 10.30 and I am expecting quite a few newbies so we could have quite a group!
I have finished writing the new look newsletter and I am absolutely chuffed with it! It still has the same title as the originial - AYW - OK - and I think you'll like it. At the moment it is mostly a catch-up but I am hoping to eventually introduce a column to showcase members' work. But we'll see how it goes.
So that is it really at this point in time. See you Saturday xxx
I have finished writing the new look newsletter and I am absolutely chuffed with it! It still has the same title as the originial - AYW - OK - and I think you'll like it. At the moment it is mostly a catch-up but I am hoping to eventually introduce a column to showcase members' work. But we'll see how it goes.
So that is it really at this point in time. See you Saturday xxx
Wednesday, 9 August 2017
Getting Ready for 2017/2018 Sessions.
As incredible as it sounds, it is now just a few weeks until the Young Writer sessions resume on September 9th and I am getting some sound ideas on what we can do in the run-up to Christmas. There will be some old ideas revitalised and some new ideas to inspire, including at least one special event - but I will give you more info a bit later.
I hope your summer is going as well as mine and that your talented wordsmiths have tried their hand at the Summer Journal/Diary challenge set at the concluding session of the old school year. I have had a number of enquiries from interested parents who think their children would enjoy being a member, so there are likely to be some new faces during the first couple of sessions - which is brilliant for the group!
Here is a list of future sessions up to Christmas. It might be an idea to print this off or copy it down so you will always know when a session is on the horizon.
9th September
23rd September
7th October
28th October
11th November
25th November
9th December
16th December (Special Event)
The first session back after Christmas will be 13th January but I will remind everyone about it much nearer the time.
I will put together a newsletter to give out on the 9th but if anyone has any questions or ideas, please get in touch.
Best wishes,
Jilly
I hope your summer is going as well as mine and that your talented wordsmiths have tried their hand at the Summer Journal/Diary challenge set at the concluding session of the old school year. I have had a number of enquiries from interested parents who think their children would enjoy being a member, so there are likely to be some new faces during the first couple of sessions - which is brilliant for the group!
Here is a list of future sessions up to Christmas. It might be an idea to print this off or copy it down so you will always know when a session is on the horizon.
9th September
23rd September
7th October
28th October
11th November
25th November
9th December
16th December (Special Event)
The first session back after Christmas will be 13th January but I will remind everyone about it much nearer the time.
I will put together a newsletter to give out on the 9th but if anyone has any questions or ideas, please get in touch.
Best wishes,
Jilly
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