On Tuesday 3rd March, ahead of World Book Day celebrations taking place across schools nationwide, Leighton Park School welcomed back our Patron of Reading, Lisa Williamson, for another inspiring Meet the Author event with nearly 250 Year 5 pupils and their teachers from six local primary and preparatory schools.
Now in her second year as our Patron of Reading, Lisa returned to LP to share her experiences as an author with visiting students from Emmer Green Primary, Farley Hill Primary, St Piran’s, Eton End, St Teresa’s Catholic Academy and Dolphin School. The event provided a fantastic opportunity for young readers and aspiring writers to hear first-hand about Lisa’s journey to becoming a published author and to discover how stories and ideas can grow into books.
Lisa Williamson is the author of several popular books for young people and is known for creating relatable characters and stories that reflect real-life experiences. During the event, she spoke about her lifelong love of storytelling, explaining how she began writing stories as a child and how those early creative ideas eventually developed into her career as an author. Lisa also spoke about how her own experiences at school continue to influence her writing today.
Throughout the session, Lisa encouraged the audience to embrace their imagination and reminded students that everyone has stories worth telling — we are all writers. Her engaging presentation and warm, cheerful demeanour kept the audience captivated, something echoed by Luissa Gallaso, Head of English and Drama at St Piran’s, who described it as ‘wonderful to listen to the passion of a writer and their work,’ adding that ‘all the children were engaged and interested, listening with open ears and open minds.’
The talk concluded with a lively Q&A session, where pupils eagerly asked about Lisa’s books, her writing process and what first inspired her to become an author. For many, the highlight was the opportunity to meet a published writer in person. Amy from Emmer Green Primary said she loved that she “got to meet a real author,” while her classmate Henry described the event as ‘fabulous’ and ‘really interesting’ because, in his own words, he loves reading.
Others left feeling inspired to begin their own creative journeys, including Freya from Emmer Green, who shared that meeting Lisa Williamson ‘inspired me to write my own stories.’ Meanwhile pupils from Dolphin School enjoyed learning more about the craft of writing, with Marly saying she ‘liked to hear why Lisa Williamson wrote the books’ and Dilly commenting that it was good to learn ‘about how to write a book.’ For Lizzie from Farley Hill, the highlight was that Lisa ‘shared her story with everyone,’ while her classmate Scarlet particularly enjoyed the Q&A session.
Meet the Author events form an important part of Leighton Park School’s commitment to promoting reading and creativity. By welcoming authors into the school community, students are able to connect with the people behind the books they love and gain inspiration for their own reading and writing journeys.
View more photographs from the event here.
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