On January 10th we were delighted to welcome the author Phil Earle to school.  Phil is the author of Being Billy, a gripping story about a fourteen year old boy who has been in care for eight years and who is desperate to keep his family together.

The event was attended by nearly fifty Year 8 students, some from our HAHS cohort.  Phil kicked off the session by reading the first half of his book’s prologue and then set the students a challenge – to write their own ending.   We learned how important a good prologue is.  Not only does it help to set the scene, but it makes you want to read on.  “It needs to be a page turner” said Phil.

At the end of the workshop, several students read their work aloud.  As Phil acknowledged it takes a great deal of courage to stand up in front of an audience and share your work.  So thank you to Mina, Kyra, Felan, Helena and Betty for being so brave!  Phil was extremely impressed with all our students who worked really well and produced some exciting work.  “It was great to see how everyone created something different” said Phil, “and it just goes to show that writing can take you anywhere”.   Students can learn more about Phil by visiting his website at www.philearle.com. He also invited any budding authors who would like their work to be read by a wider audience to send their creative writing to him, so that he can post it up on his blog.

 Being Billy is an excellent read. We have copies of the book available for loan in the library as well as signed copies priced at £6.99 for students to buy.