Working with Children

• Writer with Write On! Writing Squads for young people in Hereford, 2010-13. Selected as one of four lead poets for the West Midlands region in the National Shake the Dust  project – slam poetry with teenagers. My group won the regional final and appeared at the national final in July 2012. Resident poet at Windale Community Primary School, Oxford; a Creative Partnerships project combining science, bushcraft and poetry, 2011. Poet with Well Versed, working with a trainee poet and two trainee teachers, in the West Midlands, 2011. Writer / researcher for Cheltenham Literature Festival Children of Gloucestershire project, 2010. Writer / researcher with Cheltenham Music Festival Sing East, Sing West  project, May-June 2009; working with children to develop linking script. Writer in East Park school, Wolverhampton, autumn 2008 – spring 2009, specialising in journalistic writing. • Slam workshops and grand slam with young people in Dorset, August 2008. • Writer with Cheltenham Music Festival Reasons for Singing project, May-June 2008; working with children to develop linking script. • Writer in residence with St Martins Primary School, Reading; creative writing for Gifted and Talented pupils, spring 2008. • Writer (rap workshops) with Cheltenham Music Festival Amerisong project, May-June 2007, and with Amerisong project, Swindon, October 2007. • Ran school writing club and wrote educational material about school writing clubs for BBC Everybody Writes website, March 2007. • Writer with Write On! project, in association with Birmingham Book Festivals, 2006 – present., working with school pupils of all ages (9 school residencies to date). • Resident poet in local schools as part of Stroud Diversity Festival, May-June 2003. • Writer with Magic Garden cross-disciplinary project run by Reading Arts for year 3 pupils at four schools; working with composer and drama practitioner; November 2006. • Writer in residence for Age Concern intergenerational project, May – October 2005, culminating in a performance at Cheltenham Literature Festival. This included older people, and two groups of younger people, aged 10-11 and 14-15. • Practitioner for play-in-a-day project with John Masefield School, Ledbury; 2005. • Poet in schools with Poetry in Motion project for The Courtyard Arts Centre, Hereford, January 2006. • Writer in Residence for Dorset, October 2005 – June 2006. This included running 6 full days of creative writing workshops for children and young people. • Poet with intergenerational projects, Tewkesbury museums / schools, 2004-5. • Writer for NESA JustArt combined arts project, working with young offenders, February – June 2004. • Writer / project co-ordinator for Reading Arts’ Young Reviewers Project, January-July, 2004 (continued to Phase 2, October 2004 – June 2006), working with teenagers.
• Writer / animateur for schools’ songs project with the Brodsky String Quartet, autumn 2002 – spring 2003. • Followed up Bath Festival workshop by mentoring a young poet over three months. • Many creative writing, songwriting, poetry and performance workshops for Key stage 1, 2, 3 and 4 children, including schools in Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Herefordshire, Berkshire, Birmingham, and in Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum (2002, 2003), and the Elgar Museum (2004)