CREATIVE chatter filled Stonar School as Years 7-9 enjoyed being off timetable for the day to create their own, carefully crafted stories in a day led by Fleur Hitchcock, author of Bus Stop Baby, Dear Scarlett and Saving Sophia.

She started with an inspiring presentation which focused on her dyslexia and her initial difficulties with the written word. Fleur then encouraged pupils to dive in to their memories and imaginations to draw out ideas and stories. Perceptive questions and comments from the pupils highlighted the fact that we all have the capacity to create stories in a wide variety of forms.

Fleur then set a creative challenge to use two suggested scenarios as starting/ending points for pupils’ own writing, which was more than met as they worked independently and co-operated in groups to create stories. The final part of the session saw pupils from each year group read their pieces aloud to everyone.

Many pupils spoke in glowing terms about the opportunity to write for a sustained period of time where characters and situations could be developed.

Fleur was impressed by the creativity and autonomy of the Atworth school pupils.

"I go into lots of schools and it's very rare that pupils work so productively without very close supervision. They were not afraid to take risks. It was a real pleasure coming here today," she said.

Although the day was about much more than individual winners or prizes, Fleur was keen to acknowledge the innovative contribution of Year 7 pupil Francesca Frost, who won her choice of Fleur’s novels.