Learning that celebrates children’s self-expression, builds their confidence and encourages self-reflection. Oh… and it’s fun.

Residential creative writing retreats, taking place in sites of outstanding natural beauty. These visits can bring together children from different schools, to form a new and transformative community of poets.

I run this project mostly with children aged 9-11, and their teachers. Children can be selected for pastoral as well as academic reasons - the project gives children a creative and safe space in which to relate differently with each other. All children contribute towards an anthology, which I publish after the visit.

This project has been running with the schools of the New Vision Trust in East London since 2016. In this retreat, which brings five schools together, I collaborate with Adisa the Verbalizer.

I also run a lively variant of this project each year with Glade Primary School, inviting children from Years 3 - 6.

A five-session project focused on developing and challenging more able writers, aged 9-11. This project also works well by bringing together a small group of children from a number of different local schools, to create a new writing community.

At the heart of the Writers’ Lab is the fundamental belief that all children have something to say, and it is our role to help them to carve out the space in which to say it.

Sessions explore poetry, essay-writing, fiction and creative non-fiction. All children contribute to an anthology of writing, which they receive once the project is completed.

Each year, I work with four to six schools in the London Borough of Redbridge, bringing together a community of 60 young writers and their teachers. These sessions are hosted at Glade Primary School.

A festival of creative learning, centred on a collborative retelling of the story of the Trojan War. Supporting children’s learning about Ancient Greece, this project introduces Greek mythology and Homer’s Iliad. Children act, sing, perform, reflect and philosophise across five sessions.

This project not only deepens children’s literacy, but in an inclusive and rigorous manner, supports children to find their voice, speak up and develop their confidence. This project works well for children aged 8-10.

I lead the Iliad Project every year at Elmhurst Primary, Nelson Primary, Vicarage Primary, Gallions Primary, Downshall Primary and Glade Primary.

I have also threaded this project into my work each year in India, teaching the students at Shiv Nadar School in Noida, Delhi-NCR.

The Iliad also forms a part of my new ‘Mythology and Storytelling Retreats’ which are take place worldwide: New York State, USA (Apr 2024), Montana, USA (Aug 2025) and Heraklion, Greece (Oct 2025).

I run a range of one-off poetry workshops, and try wherever possible to get the children outside in nature. The focus is on creative participation and a blended approach to reading, writing, talk and performance. I aim for all children to leave my workshops feeling they understand poetry a little more, and that they feel that they have something that they can contribute to it.

These workshops include a very lively session of nonsense poetry focused on the Jabberwocky, which is great for ages 5-8. This session lets children explore their school grounds, retelling a weird tale of bravery with lots of music and drama.

With slightly older children aged 8-11, I can put together a more bespoke offering - sessions I have led have related to family poetry, performance poetry and poetry as a way to explore our feelings, emotions and experiences.

In this one-day workshop, I lead two immersive workshops with the children, designed to raise their excitement levels, deepen their mythological knowledge and guide them to create some Olympus-inspired poetry.

In the first session, we explore what myths are and then dive into an Ancient Greek foundation myth. Using drama, roleplay, music and group storytelling, we retell a version of Hesiod’s Theogony, outline the birth of the gods and the natural world.

In the second session, we explore the beautiful connection between mythology and poetry, and how both survive by putting voice to story and feelings. Using my Collins Big Cat Poetry book Heroes and Quests, I work with the children to create some Greek myth-inspired poetry. Children have an opportunity to pose questions in an ‘Author Ask Me Anything’ session.

I am a specialist teacher of mythology, poetry and creative writing, and my pedagogy is about elevating children’s voice, harnessing the power of chat, and protecting a space for fun and laughter in our education system.

I’m not a clown - though I respect the artform - and before my freelancing, I’ve been a primary classroom teacher, subject leader for the humanities, and an Assistant Headteacher.

I enjoy chatting with teachers and school leaders, coming up with some new plans together, and rolling up my sleeves to help lead something new and bespoke.

I am especially keen to create new units and projects with schools that focus on the creative multimodal use of picturebooks (especially in KS2) and ambitious new units and projects that deepen the teaching of History and Geography.