John Dougherty

                           Author, poet, songwriter

Whole-school visits

John will visit every class or year-group from Nursery to Year 6, and spend up to an hour with each group depending on age (no more than half-an-hour is recommended for the very youngest classes). During this time he will:

• read from his stories (published and in-progress) and poetry

• talk with the children, answering their questions about writing

• sing some of his own songs

This format is John's preferred one, and the most popular on offer; choosing a whole-school visit ensures that every child in the school gets to meet a real, live, published author and make the connection between the books they read and the people who write them.

Because these sessions are driven in part by the children's questions, there are no absolute guarantees about exactly what will come up, but the following are usually covered at some point:

• how much fun reading is!

• why John writes

• where he gets his ideas from

• writing tips

• about the author

Questions from teachers are, of course, also welcome at these sessions, so if there's something you'd particularly like John to cover, do feel free to ask him yourself!

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