Beloved author Michael Rosen brings us a special assembly

Mr Rosen, whose best-loved works include “We are going on a Bear Hunt” and “Chocolate cake” joined us via a live video link to shrieks of laughter and excitement from the Year 1 to Year 8 pupils gathered in the theatre. To see these wonderful works coming to life in front of us and hear the stories of his life as he transformed ideas into magical pieces of writing was a most inspiring encounter.

When asked what advice he would give to budding, aspiring poets, this is what he had to say ‘First and foremost you must, must, must read loads. You really must. Go to see plays, and films and watch TV dramas. I would say that a good deal of the time you must stop being like ordinary readers. You must start looking at HOW people write. Look at how stories start, how stories are narrated, how stories get exciting, and how some stories fail. Look at how stories let you into the minds of people. How do stories show you 'point of view' – through the narration, the dialogue or both? Look at how stories send you on ‘false trails’ thinking that x was going to happen when really in the end it was y. How did they get you to think that? Also, think about what a story seemed to be saying to you in terms of a message or several messages.

His other advice was to keep a notebook. ‘You must scribble down ideas and things you hear that you think are interesting. If you can draw, draw the ideas. Think of plot lines, play the game of what-if.’