Organising an Author Event
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The Scottish
Book Trust are delighted to receive applications from individual schools but
acknowledge that in working with the Education Resource Service, North Ayrshire
schools are able to complete a well-thought-out application for Live Literature Scotland funding.
Therefore they would like to encourage schools to get in touch with us for a
joint approach and to use our experience as appropriate.
If you would like to plan an event for your own school
read the information below and complete the
author application form and we will be in touch with you as soon as
possible.
Considering an Event
The ERS have been successful in organising large scale author events for schools over the last few years. Such events have a wider impact on all individuals within the school. A whole school events allows all sorts of other book-related activities to take place and for everyone to be involved - certainly a day for all pupils and staff to remember. However it does involve a lot of planning and does require one or two people to be the main organiser(s) to co-ordinate events. The Primary Education Resource Co-ordinators have devised these web pages to act as 'checklist' for organising an event and are happy to advise school staff and arrange, if necessary the authors, but it is the ultimate responsibility of the school.
However, there is always the opportunity for more intensive events to take place where one or two classes participate in the author sessions. These events could incorporate writer's workshops for a particular group of pupils with particular needs.
The decision is yours!
Setting a Date
Many authors are booked months in advance and as soon as you have a date in mind the authors should be approached.
Your event could tie in with a
national event, e.g.
World Book Day, Children's Book Week (these dates
as particularly busy with authors), or it could be in
conjunction with the opening of a new library.
Listed below are the national events in the coming session:
National Book/Reading Events 2008
| 2008 | ||
| 2nd April | International Children’s Book Day | |
| May | The Enid Blyton Day | |
| 6th-12th October | National Children's Book Week | |
When selecting an author you need to bear in mind the
age group of the pupils you wish to target as authors obviously write for
different stages. Also, some authors are prepared to speak to more than one
class at the one time. Please consult the table below which will give
details of authors who have visited North Ayrshire
recently. Other information can be found at the
Scottish Book
Trust's Website.
All authors will charge
£150 per hour session, plus
travelling expenses, therefore when planning your event please allow for
these costs to be considered in case you are unsuccessful with your
funding application.
Most authors have their own transport, but some will be required to be collected
from a local railway station (usually Kilwinning station). Please also
arrange any necessary catering requirements for the authors and any other
visitors to your school on the day of your event.
All authors will require different
accommodation and materials on the day, again the table below will advise
of this.
Authors used in North Ayrshire
Authors with
websites are happy to be contacted by e-mail, however get in touch with the ERS
for contact details of Jill Dow and Aileen Paterson.
The following files require Adobe Acrobat: download it here
| Author | Age Group | Activity |
Materials |
Keith Brumpton*
|
P4 and P5 Maximum One Class |
Draws characters from Kung Fu Pigs series and asks pupils to draw their own pigs. | Flip-chart, clip-boards and pens and pencils. |
Keith Charters*
|
P6 and P7 No maximum! |
Talks about his Lee series of books – lots of humour! | Large hall with small table to display books. |
|
Jill Dow
|
P1 and P2 Maximum One Class |
Jill reads Windy Edge Farm stories and asks the pupils to draw animals. | Classroom with access to paper and pens and pencils. |
|
Franzeska Ewart* flyer.pdf http://www.alchemywebsite.com/franzeskaewart/ |
P4 and P5 Maximum One Class |
Talks about getting started in writing and about Bryony Bell series of books as well as magic tricks. | Classroom/library with table to display books. |
|
Matthew Fitt A3 flyer.pdf http://www.itchy-coo.com/ |
P3 - P7 Maximum One Class |
Talk about the Scots language and the words for the parts of the body and animals. May read from poetry books, 'King of the Midden' and 'Blethertoun Braes' | Classroom/library with access to paper and pens and pencils and small table to display books |
|
Julie Hegarty* www.juliehegarty.com |
Nursery-P2 Maximum One Class |
Lots of seaside props but a serious anti-bullying message in 'Michelle in Crabbit comes to stay'. | Open area with table and plenty of room for deckchair, parasol and other seaside props. |
| Stuart McHardy |
P6-P7 No maximum |
Scots language storyteller who is keen to tie in visits with Scots history i.e. Jacobites | Hall/open area with table to display books. |
| Aileen Paterson* |
P3 and P4 Maximum three classes |
Talks about her Maisie series of books and draws characters. |
Large hall with flip-chart and pens. |
Linda Strachan*
|
P2 and P3 Maximum One Class |
Reads from Hamish McHaggis series of books, asks pupils to draw their own character. | Classroom/library with access to paper and pens and pencils and table to display books. |
Andrew Wolffe
|
Nursery and P1 Maximum One Class
|
Andrew reads his Rory stories and colour-in | Classroom with access to paper and pens and pencils. |
*These authors travel by public transport and may need collected from Kilwinning station.
*These authors can bring books to sell on the day.
It is important that before the author event that the pupils are familiar with the works of the author. Most of the authors have boxes from the Roar about Books project and can be loaned to schools beforehand. It may be in the school's interest to buy some of these books for future use. Our main supplier for these books is Waterstone's in Ayr. They can also offer to come to the school on the day and sell books by the visiting authors as the usual book fair suppliers cannot supply these books.
The following files require Adobe Acrobat: download it here
boy bookplates 1.pdf boy bookplates 2.pdf girl book plates 1.pdf girl bookplates2.pdf
infant bookplates1.pdf infant bookplates2.pdf (Book plates courtesy of Book Plates at My Home Library)
For other ideas see Promoting Reading in your School Library.
Storytelling Sessions
The children's department of the public library service are experienced storytellers and are happy to work with nursery up to P2 pupils for free. Their session would normally be 20-30 minutes for a story and related craft activity. They are happy to fit in with a particular theme if necessary and usually bring all the materials they need.
It is a good opportunity to 'show-off' your school and to invite your Quality Improvement Officers on the day. Should you require official representation from North Ayrshire Council and or the local press, please contact Anne Clarke, Communications Officer on 01294 324141.
All schools issue newsletters to parents, but it would also be useful to send an additional letter/leaflet outlining the plans for the event, the opportunity to donate second-hand books, the opportunity to buy books, participate in some events, e.g. face-painting and, of course, to attend the event on the day.
It would be an excellent way of forging links with the local library allowing public library and local history displays on the day as well as inviting key staff members from the local library. After the event the local library could display some pictures of the event in order to let the wider community know about it. The Perc assigned to your school will usually try to be there to support and take photos for the ERS website.
For
more information