ENGLISH
Students Meet WW1 Crime Author
On Wednesday 25 April, Gary Toward, author of the historical crime novel The Magpie, visited The
Avon Valley School and Performing Arts College. During his presentation he took the Year 8
students on a journey through time to solve a series of murders, with the main character, Detective
Constable Frank Bolam.
The Magpie is set accurately in the period of WW1
and Gary explained to the students how he developed
his main character based on his own experiences as a
child in a mining family, and how they could use their
own knowledge and experiences to make their writing
more realistic. The Magpie begins in the north east
and ends in the hell of the trenches. During the
presentation Gary was able to illustrate with pictures
and artefacts how research helps to increase
knowledge and allows the reader to see, hear, feel,
taste and understand the story.
Former Headteacher turned author, Gary Toward, said
“Writing and reading are key skills in life and I want to
inspire youngsters to become the best writers they can
be. I wrote this book for adults, but I deliberately
made it fit the curriculum for English and History as I
wanted youngsters to be aware of the struggles of the
period, whilst also enjoying reading a novel.”
Alison Davies, Headteacher, said, “We are very
grateful to Gary for visiting us to discuss his book with
our students. Reading and writing are both vital skills
which we work hard to encourage and develop with
our students; meeting an author is a wonderful way to
inspire our students.”
Gary, a retired secondary Headteacher, who is
offering his visits free to schools across the UK,
added, “Sometimes it really helps to have a visitor say the same things as the teachers. My
presentation is a little different and I can show the kids that I came from a poor background and
through hard work was able to achieve some dreams. That can only help.”
Miss R Davies
Faculty Leader of English
YEAR 7 PARENTS’ EVENING
Year 7 Parents/Carers are invited to our Parents’ Evening on Thursday 3 rd May from 4.30-7.30pm
We look forward to seeing you. Please remember to book your appointment online at
https://avonvalleyschool.parentseveningsystem.co.uk/