author visits
I love visiting schools and meeting readers. Here are some of the talks and workshops that I offer, but I’m always happy to adapt these, based on what works best for you, your organisation or school.
Every session is interactive and tailored to the age and size of the group.
I am Empathy Lab trained and all my visits draw on the amazing power of stories to build empathy.
Contact me to book a visit. Looking forward to hearing from you!
Extra-ordinary stories
Audience
Years 6-8 (upper KS2 and lower KS3). Ideal for a whole year-group assembly.
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Content
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Intro and interactive top tips on turning ‘ordinary’ real-life stories into something extra-ordinary.
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Reading from Nothing Ever Happens Here, Proud of Me, Just Like Everyone Else. or The Fights That Make Us.
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My author journey and Q&A.
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Whole class activity to create a unique, extra-ordinary story.
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Length
60 minutes (including time for book signing)
"Our Year 7 students loved Sarah's visit, it was engaging, funny, and thought-provoking.
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Sarah does a fantastic job at getting students excited about her work and reading for pleasure in general."
Lucas Maxwell, school librarian
From Prejudice to Pride
Audience
Years 6-8 (upper KS2 and lower KS3). Ideal for a whole year-group assembly.
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Content
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Intro and LGBTQ+ history quiz.
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Reading from Nothing Ever Happens Here, Proud of Me. The Fights That Make Us or Just Like Everyone Else.
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My author journey and Q&A, including why I focus on LGBTQ+ characters.
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Whole class activity to create a unique story.
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Length
60 minutes (including time for book signing)
LGBTQ+ group session
Audience
Years 7-13 who are part of a school LGBTQ+, Pride or Diversity group.
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Content
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Informal chat and Q&A about writing, LGBTQ+ books and characters.
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Reading from Nothing Ever Happens Here, Proud of Me, The Fights That Make Us or Just Like Everyone Else.
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LGBTQ+ book recommendations to take away.
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Length
30-45 minutes
"Sarah's visit was a joy!
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She led four sessions: two full year group talks with Years 7 and 8, a creative writing session and a PSHE session with Year 9.
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The pupils loved the interactive sessions and having their books signed at the end."
Elizabeth Bratt, school librarian
Author Q&A
Audience
Years 3-8 (KS2 and KS3).
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Content
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Short intro and reading from Nothing Ever Happens Here, Proud of Me, The Fights That Make Us or Just Like Everyone Else.
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Open Q&A on writing, reading, the issues raised in my books, or anything you like!
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Length
30 minutes
Workplace staff networks
Audience
LGBTQ+ and/or parents and carers and/or faith workplace networks.
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Content
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Intro and my personal and author journey.
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(Depending on focus of networks) reading and discussion based on Living It Out, Pride & Joy, or any of the fiction titles.
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Open Q&A.
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Signposting and reading recommendations.
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Length
45-60 minutes
“We were lucky enough to have Sarah talk with our employees about the importance of representation as part of our Pride week celebration. Sarah was so engaging, flexible and approachable.
She provided lots of useful book recommendations and answered all our on-the-spot questions.”
Emma Allen, Diversity and Inclusion lead
Creative writing workshop
Audience
Years 6-8 (upper KS2 and lower KS3). Maximum group size: 30 students.
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Content
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Quickfire writing exercises to build confidence, have fun and come up with new ideas.
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Focus on creating characters that come to life.
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Opportunity for students to develop and share individual pieces of writing, with feedback from me and from the group.
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Open Q&A.
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Length
Half day (2 x 60 minute sessions) but could also be run as a whole off-timetable day activity, or a shorter version over one hour.
Time-travelling workshop
Audience
Years 3-6. Ideal for an assembly or a classroom session.
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Content
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Readings from Hideaway Hotel books.
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Fun, creative, imaginative activities based on time travel and local history.
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The Hideaway Hotel books link to dinosaurs, sport, diverse families and World War Two, depending on your interest, one of these themes can be explored in more detail.
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My author journey and Q&A.
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Length
45-60 minutes
“Sarah's session was informative, well paced and really inspiring. It was great to hear about how all of our families are unique and seeing a diverse range of characters is so important within books!
"The young people came up with lots of brilliant questions at the end of the talk.”
Elizabeth McDonald, Librarian
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An author visit is great for LGBTQ+ HIstory Month (February), World Book Day (March), Pride Month (June) or Empathy Day (June), but also for any time of year!
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If you are planning an author visit, why not get together with another local school and share travel costs?
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All hour-long sessions for schools cost £100 (virtual) or £150 plus travel expenses from London (in-person).
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All 30-minute sessions for schools cost £50 (virtual or in-person). However, these shorter sessions are only available in-person if you also book at least one hour-long session.
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A whole day for schools (up to the equivalent of four hour-long sessions) is £450 plus travel expenses from London.
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A half-day for schools (up to the equivalent of two hour-long sessions) is £275 plus travel expenses from London.
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For workplaces, churches, festivals or other organisations, contact me to discuss the fee.
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I’m always happy to sign books. If you don’t already have a link with a local bookshop, your local Usborne partner should be happy to help you to get hold of books for students to pre-order or to sell on the day.