Today, some of our Key Stage 3 pupils had an opportunity to work with a local author to help develop their writing skills and see what it takes to write a good story. Matthew Drzymala, author of The Bumpkinton Tales, delivered a workshop that involved readings from his popular book, followed by interactive activities that explored the characterisation of the characters.
Pupils also looked at the power of the opening sentence of a story, and got the opportunity to create their own opening line to a story that would grab the reader’s attention. The winning opening lines were:
“I woke up in a different place than where I fell asleep”
Lucy, Year 8
“I am in big trouble!”
Sophie, Year 8
“It was the day the sun disappeared”
Charley, Year 9
Author Matthew commented: “I had a fantastic day at Savio Salesian College, and this was down to all of the staff and students for making me feel so welcome”.
“The workshops were a great success, with the students getting involved in the exercises and asking me lots of questions about writing and being an author”.
Matthew continued: “Looking at their work, there are a number of talented writers in the schools and I hope that I managed to ignite a spark in them to continue writing”.
For more information about Matthew and his book The Bumpkinton Tales, you can visit his website www.matthewdrzymala.com
