In the good books: Stoke Newington primary school hosts ‘mini literary festival’

Autograph hunters: Author Sarwat Chadda signs books for young fans. Photograph: Jon Schwartz

A primary school joined forces with Stoke Newington Literary Festival this month for an event that saw speakers including Julia Deering and songwriter Tjinder Singh talk to pupils about reading and writing.

William Patten Primary School is one of the venues for this month’s Stoke Newington Literary Festival, but before the main event started a mini festival for children took place, with pupils at the neighbouring primary schools of Holmleigh, St Mary’s, Jubilee, Grasmere and Thomas Abney all invited to come along.

Authors Ciaran Murtagh, Julia Deering, Sarwat Chadda and Tjinder Singh held workshops for different year groups, giving the pupils an insight into their work and the writing process.

Acting headteacher Karen Law said that meeting and hearing how an author works can only benefit the pupils. She said: “For me it’s about enthusing children about reading and writing, so it’s not just seen as something they only do at school.”

Inviting five other schools to the event was part of a collaborative approach that Law describes as “the way forward for any school”.

She added: “If schools can share resources and expertise then the teachers will benefit and therefore the children will benefit too. You can’t operate in a little bubble.”