Author Visit Inspires Students

RISE Up and Shine

St Benet Biscop were delighted to welcome award-winning local author Dan Smith into school this week. Dan is widely known for his children and Young Adult’s fiction such as The Crooked Oak series and The Winter Moor Lights. His work has received high praise, with The Times describing one of his books as “Stephen King for children.”

Dan delivered an engaging talk to the whole of Year 7, sharing insights into his journey as a writer and where he finds inspiration.

Following his talk, Dan then led a writing workshop for our high-scoring Sparx Reader students in Years 8 and 9. During the session, students had the opportunity to develop their own ideas under his guidance and learn first-hand how to build tension and atmosphere in their writing.

The feedback from students was overwhelmingly positive. One student simply summed it up as: “The author was cool!”