Onjali Rauf - Friday 18th March 2022 

On Friday 18th March, our Year 5 children were treated to a very special visitor indeed: Onjali Q. Rauf, author of 'The Boy at the Back of the Class', came to talk to the children about one of her wonderful books, which the children are reading in their English lessons. Onjali was so impressed with the thoughtful questions that the children asked, and she said that visiting Ravenor was one of her favourite schools to visit.

The Year 5 children were taken on a journey through Onjali's life, from her childhood as a girl who loved to read books, to her life as an adult, where she carries out invaluable charity work, with vulnerable women and refugees, as well as juggling another important job - being a children's author. Our children learned so much about the importance of being kind to everyone, and Onjali inspired us all to remember that it can be the smallest thing that makes the biggest difference.

Whilst visiting us, Onjali had the opportunity to look at the World Book Week displays; she was thrilled to see that six of the displays were based on her books: the Year 5 displays were based on 'The Boy at the Back of the Class' and the Year 6 displays were based on 'The Lion Above the Door'. Seeing her books come to life, through the children's learning, made Onjali's heart sing with joy. Well done to the Year 5 and Year 6 staff and children for bringing these important stories to life, through your engaging displays.

Stewart Foster - Thursday 10th February 2022 - Children's Mental Health Week

On Thursday 10th February, during Children's Mental Heath Week, we we delighted to welcome back Stewart Foster, author of 'Checkmates', 'The Perfect Parent Project', 'All the Things that Could go Wrong' and 'The Bubble Boy'. Stewart spent the day with all of our classes in Key Stage 2. Throughout the day, the children were completely captivated by his engaging talks. They asked questions about what inspired him to become an author and who he had met in his life that had influenced the characters in his book. Stewart told them that he really wanted to give the teacher in 'The Perfect Parent Project' a realistic name, so he asked teachers on Twitter who wanted to be in his book. Thousands of teachers replied, including a teacher named Sam McCann. Stewart loved the name so much that he used it in his new book. One of the Year 6 children got the chance to read a few pages from 'The Perfect Parent Project'​ to Stewart and her peers. 

During one of the talks, one child asked why Stewart decided to write about mental health themes; Stewart spoke about mental health and how much it can affect our lives. He asked the children how they cope with stress and shared some of the things he has learnt. Stewart also spoke about disabilities and how important he felt it was to write books that children with disabilities could read because he feels it might help them. Stewart shared his own disability with the children - being partially deaf - and his experiences of coping with that, whilst growing up. All of our children had a wonderful time meeting this highly esteemed author.