10 Dec A 'virtual' mystery visitor to Thompson class
Wednesday 9th December started normally enough for the children of Thompson class. However, the children began to wonder what was happening, when Mrs Morrissey asked them to push their desks aside (neatly, of course) and sit on the carpet. Beth recalls thinking “We only sat on the carpet in Year 3 – what’s going on?” The children realised they were going to be part of a Zoom, after the sound check bell pinged.
Dylan remembers everyone falling silent as Tony Bradman, the author of our class reader, Anglo Saxon Boy, appeared on the screen. Leila felt ecstatic! The children spent a whole hour interviewing Tony, asking questions such as “Are you dyslexic, because you write books for children with dyslexia?” to “How much do you earn per book?”; “Are you religious? and “What inspired you to write?”
Tony happily answered each question honestly and in great detail. In addition, he discussed his early life with the children. He told them he came from very humble, if not poor beginnings, with his mother worrying constantly about where the next penny would come from. Tony recalled being a very unhappy child between the ages of five and eight and how this all changed when his primary school teacher, Mr Smith, introduced him to Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’ and a love of books that has lasted ever since.
Tony told the children he was the only person in his class to attend grammar school and the only person in his family to attend university (Cambridge).
His advice to the children: ‘Read, read, read!’ but always for pleasure.