Drama, Literature & Creative Writing

 

Based in Huddersfield, I offer a variety of workshops to primary and secondary schools. My 'Dave Days' (coined by Doncaster librarians) offer your chosen mix of reading, writing and drama activity. I've worked right across the age range from Y1 to Y13 and draw on 16 years of teaching experience alongside my passions for reading and writing. I also offer INSET and conference seminars + workshops.

Two Types of Day are very popular:

 

Creative Writing Day ~ Pupils use picture prompts, planning sheets and specific prose techniques to create characters, a plot and the opening sections of a story.

 

Drama & Literature Day ~ Pupils explore anything from five to twenty fiction titles through a mixture of talk, drama and sometimes writing.

 

Book promotion days so far: The Doncaster Book Award; The Carnegie Medal; The Greenaway Medal, The Southwark Book Award, The Bolton Book Award, The Northern Ireland Book Award, Dorset's New Horizons Book Award; The Salford Children's Book Award, Booked Up.


 

Areas where I've worked include:  Blackburn, Bradford, Bury, Calderdale, Derby, Doncaster, Dorset, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Kirklees, Leicestershire, Northern Ireland, Nottingham, Oldham, Peterborough, Salford, Sheffield, St Helens, Southwark, Surrey, Wakefield.

As a writer, I continue to work on prose fiction aimed at 9-12 year-olds whilst also writing plays and poetry.  My unpublished children's novel 'The Seven Ages of Jack' was shortlisted for the Fidler Award. My youth play 'Our House' was performed in The Crucible Theatre, Sheffield.   Guardian Online has published over 50 of my haikus. Longer poems and a short story have been published in anthologies.

 

With your selected mix of drama, books & writing, your day can be tailored entirely to your needs, working across several classes or intensively with one group for the whole day. Weekend workshops are an option.


Description

Price

Notes

Full day workshop  

£240

+ expenses

3-hour workshop  

£160

Available within 90 mins travel. Away from home, I can still do short workshops, but will charge full day rate

2-hour workshop 

£125

·     I will normally need accommodation the night before a workshop if my travel is going to be more than 90 mins from Huddersfield. A Travelodge is fine ( £19 to £60 depending on how advanced the booking is) Some areas, eg Derby / Nottingham have proven difficult to get to within 90 mins, so I generally stay over. If you're within striking distance of Keswick (lucky you) then I won't need accommodation as we have a flat there (lucky us). I'm used to organising accommodation, so this will save you some time.

·     I add 15p per mile for petrol costs

·     When away from home I add £20 per day additional expenses - if it's going to take me half a day to travel to you, that's another £10