A teacher testimonial:
My class are enjoying The Goldseekers, in fact they were miffed when I left
the book at home one day and couldn't have our daily read!
There are many issues raised and we have had some really good discussion
about racism and bullying for instance. In this respect your book has covered
many aspects of the Personal Health & Development Curric re bullying
and racism.
Also, as a teacher your book has offered some great opportunities for development
of children's vocabulary. As we are sharing the book as a whole class I have
tended to discuss unfamiliar words and concepts as they arise but there is
real scope for individual readers to look into some of the terms.
I am about to get the children to build profiles of the main character so
far and then to build on these as we progress.
It would be wonderful if you were able to pay us a visit.
I had looked at other novels about the goldfields but yours seemed to be
more accessible to the age group - a narrative that seems to engage them.
Look forward to hearing from you.
-
Wentworth Falls Public School
Author visits to schools can take a variety of shapes and sizes depending on
the requirements of the group and the length of the visit.
My customary school presentation begins with a talk about the value of writing
and literature using my own writing experiences as a reference.
From there we can take a number of different approaches:
- a writing workshop focusing on an aspect of creative writing such as character
building, dialogue writing,
descriptive writing, narrational point of view,
etc.
- a reading from my latest book and discussion of the issues raised.
- a formal or informal Q & A session
Fees for school visits are generally in line with ASA guidelines. Please contact
me for a list.