Schools

Ever fancied having a real-life author come to your school? Good news! You can!

As you can see from the photos, I love doing school visits! In fact, the best thing about being a children’s author is meeting young readers.

I am available for inspiring & engaging, in-person & virtual school visits for P3-P7 (Scotland), KS2 years 3-6 (England & Wales).

I can also offer workshops and talks at secondary level, including visits to ASN/SEN/ASL departments. Please ask for details.

**Book early, especially for World Book Day events or Book Week Scotland**

Sample visits:

Jelly-tastic Jellyfish! 

For ages 9+  

In this visit we’ll learn how & why I became a children’s author and how story-telling has always been part of my life. Then we’ll dip into the jelly-tastic world of my new book, Firebloom, and look at the inspiration for this story and discover some of the research I undertook to write it. After a reading from the book we’ll use the power of fortune telling to create a setting, characters and plot for a new story – in under ten minutes! There will also be time for the all-important Q&A!

   

Monsters, mysteries & mayhem!

For ages 7+

In this visit we’ll learn how & why I became a children’s author and then delve into my author’s toolkit. We’ll also find out why writing funny stories is the best job in the world. I’ll read from one – or maybe even both – of my hilarious monster stories and answer your questions in a Q&A. There’ll also be time for an interactive game of ‘Monster Top Trumps’ or perhaps a wild ‘Werewolf Howl-Off’!

I also offer classroom-based workshops, either in addition to one of the above talks as part of a longer school visit, or as a stand-alone session. Examples of a workshop could include looking at creating characters, or building story settings.

If there are particular parts of the curriculum that you would like my visit to focus on to link in with your class activities (history, geography, poetry etc) then please just ask.

  • A typical school visit lasts for an hour.
  • Book sales and signings can also be arranged.
  • Please contact me for details of my competitively-priced fees
  • Discount available for multiple-session bookings!

Virtual School Visits 

My virtual school visits are extremely popular. In fact, they enable me to visit schools anywhere in the UK and beyond! A virtual visit can be as long or as short as you like. They are also an affordable way to bring a real-life children’s author into your classroom! 

  • My virtual visits offer excellent value for money!
  • I can offer a variety of sessions for different year groups.
  • I have Zoom Pro – no cutting sessions short after 40 minutes!
  • Contact me to discuss details.

Pre-recorded school visit

For a very reasonable fee, I can make available a 60 minute, pre-recorded video of one of my Haarville classroom workshops (suitable for ages 9+). This includes: a quick quiz about seaweed; an insight into my author’s journey; a create-a-plot challenge; a reading; and a chance for everyone to create their own seaside cafe menu inspired by the weird and wonderful food in Haarville! Use the contact link above for more details.

                          

For Scottish Schools: I am on the Scottish Book Trust Live Literature database; if you have access to their Live Literature funding, please book me via their website: http://scottishbooktrust.com/live-literature

What they’re saying about me!

‘Justin visited our Integrated Support department today and enthralled pupils and staff with tales of seaweed foraging,  limpets and fantastic settings from his latest novel.  A fantastic author to inspire pupils to think creatively.’ ASN teacher, Queen Anne High School, Dunfermline. 

‘I would highly recommend Justin to any school. When Justin visited our school in March 2023, our children responded enthusiastically to him, he was able to maintain the interest of our whole school from P1 to P7 for a whole school assembly, no mean feat! Our P5 children loved the way he used humour in his writing workshop and even our reluctant writers were energised to produce fantastic results. Communication with Justin was so easy and he was very responsive to the needs of our children. Our children are already asking when we can arrange for him to visit again!’ Depute headteacher, Birkhill PS, Angus.

‘Justin really engaged the pupils. There were lots of laughs and he really sparked their imagination to read.’ Teacher, Lawhead PS, St Andrews.

‘What a super opportunity for the children to meet such an engaging author. Fostering a love of books early in a child’s life is such an important thing and Justin really hit the mark today.’ Teacher, Lawhead PS, St Andrews.

‘It was fun and amazing, he’s really inspired me to be a writer and to make books at home.‘ Pupil, Lundin Mill PS, Fife.

‘I enjoyed the visit because Justin was nice and told us things about writing that I didn’t know. The story was really good.’ Pupil, Lundin mill PS, Fife.

‘You have inspired me to be an author when I am older. Since you visited our school I have
been reading twice a day!‘ Isla, Year 4, Gorseybrigg Primary School, Derbyshire.

‘Since you visited our school, you have inspired me to become an author when I am older. I am now reading twice every day.‘ Finley, Year 4, Gorseybrigg Primary School, Derbyshire.

And here’s a fabulous book review from a pupil at St George’s School, Edinburgh: