John Dougherty, award winning author, visited Marlborough St Mary’s Primary School on Tuesday June 14 and spent the day working with children in every year group in the school. Author of ‘Stinkbomb and Ketchup’, ‘There’s a Pig Up My Nose’, ‘Dinosaurs and Dinner-ladies’ and many more, John is keen to help schools develop and maintain a culture of reading for pleasure.
John brought his guitar along and many of the sessions were introduced with a theme song based on one of his books. Year 6 teacher, Jenny Swankie, said, “I cried with laughter at one of his songs. I will definitely be buying some of his books for my son.”
Katie Kuryszko, English Leader, said, “John captivated the children in such a magical way. All the children and staff were amazed at how engaging John was. I think everyone expected him to read a story and answer some questions but the minute he got out his guitar, we realised we were in for a real treat.
Throughout the day, you could hear John reading his stories, singing songs, playing his guitar and most importantly the sound of children (and adults) laughing.
John told the children how he was once a teacher and he used experiences from the classroom in his stories and that was how he started his new career as an author
Lots of children purchased copies of his books and took them along to a special book signing session where they got to meet John and get their books signed with a personal message
The visit was originally due to be part of World Book Day to promote and inspire a love of reading. Unfortunately, due to a COVID breakout we had to postpone and reorganise the visit for this week. It was certainly worth waiting for.”
Marlborough Open Studios 2022 – every weekend in July
