A Poetry Teacher's Toolkit
Welcome. This website aims to help teachers with creative writing at Key Stages 1&2.
I'm a teacher, a Writer in Education and a children's poet, with poems in over 120 anthologies. I've also written comedy/drama for children's television, and various educational books, including 'A Poetry Teacher's Toolkit', published by David Fulton.
I was useless at writing when I was young. Yet now, I visit schools to perform my poetry, to show children how to succeed, and to lead INSET days. Strange!
Truth is, primary education today is vastly better than mine was in the 1950's. Then, 'creative' writing meant: 'Write a composition on... whatever' There was no preparation, and the only feedback was red ink. However, my experience means that I understand the fear of the blank page, and I reckon I'm in a good position to enthuse children and to build their confidence. So please explore my website, and I hope that you find it useful.