Yorkshire to Devon in one week... phewwww!!!

Well it's been a couple of weeks since my last blog... the main reason being is that SAT's sort of gave me a bit of a breather from my primary school visits, so I took some valuable time to concentrate on writing the fourth Bradley Baker adventure story... the Gullfather of New York.

 

The plotlines are progressing well and the book is on schedule to be released later this year. However, the school visits didn't stop for too long... I was busy again this week with five more author presentations at both ends of the country, when I travelled to Rotherham and Plymouth!

 

 

Four schools within the Clifton Partnership played host to my showcase events; on Monday I presented to the year 7 students at Clifton Community School... then onto St Ann's Junior; then on Tuesday to Herringthorpe Juniors and finally St Mary's RC Primary. A long drive back to Devon on Thursday and a wonderful visit to Dunstone Primary near Plymouth. WOW... what a hectic week but well worth the effort, as I accumulated thousands of new BB fans!!! and boy did they love the books with huge queues for signed copies at all five schools :)

Here are some of the letters from children at Dunstone Primary, thanking me for visiting their school;

I'm really looking forward to returning to Cockington School in Torquay in July to complete their book publication project. Sixty children in year 4 have been taking part in my creative workshops and the half term break this week will afford me an opportunity to work on the book in readiness for my next visit.

I'm also excited about my visit to Buckfastleigh too... I'll be meeting with the lovely peeps at Families For Children and talking about how I can help to advocate the charities great work within the region.
Check out this link to find out more information about adopting a child in the Devon and Cornwall area... http://www.familiesforchildren.org.uk/

Catch up again next week and thanks for popping by folks!
Best wishes DLJ

First visit to Plymouth a great success...

This week I attended a primary school in Plymouth and what a reception I received from over 250 enthusiastic KS2 pupils eager to learn all about my Bradley Baker adventures and my life as an author. My visit to Salisbury Road proved to be a great start to a tour of Plymouth schools, which will eventually take me across the city to meet thousands of students. I returned to Salisbury Road the following day to yet another rapturous welcome with hundreds of new Bradley fans queuing to buy their books and have them signed.

It was great to read about my recent visit to Cockwood Primary near Dawlish on the schools website... here's an extract and some pics; "The children enjoyed a wonderful session working with the author David Lawrence-Jones. David wowed the children with his tales and demonstrated how to write an exciting story."

 

I was then lucky enough to be given the honour of opening the new library. The school also celebrated the success of two of their children who have both read 1 million words on the accelerated reader programme. Big thank you to the head teacher Lorraine Curry, all the parents, governors and the Mayoress Pauline Bloomfield for attending this super event.

 

Midweek I returned to Galmpton Primary School in Brixham to help them complete the publication of a school book of short stories. The children in year 6 wrote about disasters, including monsters, creatures and even ninjas... here's a copy of the front cover, which is now available to buy online;

 

Next week sees the start of SATs for KS2 so I'm taking a short break from school visits to concentrate of writing a few words for the fourth Bradley adventure; The Gullfather of New York. The short break will also enable me to catch up on some planning for events over the next few months with two weekly tours already secured in Rotherham plus a week in Swindon and four weeks in Plymouth. I've also been invited to present in Kent after the summer break so looking forward to a busy schedule during the next academic year already.

 

I'll be picking up the baton again and visiting Queensway Primary in Torquay next Friday for a showcase presentation then I will return as guest of honour to the school's summer fete on Saturday... so I'll catch up with you all after and let you know how successful the events are!!! :) DLJ 

 

 

Another week in Devon...

Another week entertaining KS2 students in Devon and it was nice to be nearer to home, whilst visiting three more primary schools in the area. Monday got off to a great start at Starcross and a big thank you to Tim Rolinson for organising the showcase and book signing event. My second author visit of the week was to St Joseph's in Newton Abbot, where Katie Rose prepared the students for another showcase extravaganza. The third school event of the week was held at Wilcombe Primary in Tiverton and a massive thank you to Alice Reeves and the children for making my visit a great success.

The week also produced a couple of welcome surprises too, with invites to attend two very special events as guest of honour and guest speaker. The first engagement will be held at Plymouth University later this month, where I will execute my duties as Vice Chancellor of the Children's University by awarding certificates to the Torbay graduates. Then in July I will attend a special lunch at Tower House School in Paignton to celebrate speech day... it will be great to return to the school as guest of honour following my recent author visit.

I'll be heading into Plymouth for the first time next week to start my tour of local schools and I'm looking forward to meeting everyone at Salisbury Road Primary. Also I'll be able to complete yet another school book publication project when I visit Galmpton Primary in Brixham... more details of both visits next week.

Bye for now and thanks for joining my weekly BlogSpot. DLJ