Derby County Community Trust and Derby City SSP supported the first-ever National Writing Day earlier this week.
Year 4 pupils from local schools headed to the Riverside Centre to swat up on their writing skills and celebrate National Writing Day on Wednesday.
The aim of the day was to inspire children in their writing, using sport as a stimulus.
Spy Dog author Andy Cope opened the day alongside his pet dog, the real spy pup, Star. Andy certainly inspired pupils, teachers and even staff with the story of his journey to writing the spy dog books, his three top tips to all budding young writers were to read, read and read!
Throughout the day all attending schools took part in three workshops – Premier League Reading Stars, Sports Journalism with Pete Lansley from the University of Derby and Literacy Through Sport with Pobble.
The day provided a great opportunity to showcase the work that the Community Trust and Derby City SSP do to support schools to be more active in their learning.
There was plenty of chance to win great prizes throughout the day with signed copies of Spy Dog being presented to numerous lucky pupils by Andy Cope and Star. Each school who attended were also entered into a prize draw to win a Premier League Primary Stars book box - with St James CofE Junior school the lucky winners.
Miss Graham and Mrs Burnside from Landau Forte Academy said: “The children had an enjoyable day.
“The football journalism session helped to engage some of the children who sometimes may not have the motivation to write.
“The activities were interactive, allowing the children to work with pupils from other schools, and the children enjoyed all three workshops.”
For more information about how the Community Trust can support reading in your school through Premier League Reading Stars, please contact Lauren.Slater@dcct.co.uk.
Alternatively, if you want more details about supporting writing in your schools and Active Learning Festivals through Pobble, please contact Jo.Wilkinson@dcct.co.uk.