Children’s Author, Julia Jarman, Visits The Beacon

16 Jan 2023

Popular children’s author, Julia Jarman, recently visited The Beacon School in Amersham, Buckinghamshire to inspire and educate the boys about her fantastic books.

Julia Jarman, who has written over 100 books for children of all ages, spent time visiting The Beacon boys in December 2022. Julia has long been involved with the school due to her classic rites-of-passage novel, ‘Hangman’, which is part of the Year 7 English curriculum at The Beacon.

Nikki Olhausen, Lead Director of Studies says, “the book ‘Hangman’ was introduced to the curriculum at The Beacon 8 years ago as it is based on a true story addressing key themes such as prejudice, bullying, friendship and peer pressure. These are all important topics that we strive to raise awareness of and discuss in lessons with our boys. In particular, we are keen to explore the consequences of prejudice, bullying and peer pressure and the role of a bystander in these areas”.

Throughout the day, Julia spent time with the Year 7 Beacon boys talking about her real-life inspiration for the novel, her writing process and the challenge of writing for a completely different audience – adults – in her new novel. The boys, in turn, had some searching questions about the characters and were particularly interested in what might happen in a sequel, 23 years since the novel was first published. It certainly gave Julia some creative food for thought, so watch this space!

Julia’s books for younger readers are a familiar sight on many bookshelves, so Julia also treated the Nursery, Reception and Pre-Prep boys to excellent workshops on family favourites ‘The Big Red Bath’, inspired by her own red bath at home, ‘Class Two At The Zoo’ and ‘Class Three All At Sea’. She donned a pirate’s hat, got everyone on their feet to chant a fearsome pirate ditty and spent some considerable time signing books!

Susannah Howard, The Beacon School Librarian says, “I think it’s always useful for the boys to meet the people who write the books they read. They learn that bestselling authors get writers’ block too, that books don’t just magic themselves out of thin air, but that there is a lot of hard graft involved and that simple life experiences make great stories (which is what came from the Hangman workshops). Inspiration comes from many different sources. Julia Jarman also answered some interesting questions on the mechanics of the publishing industry, showing how the £7.99 price tag is distributed among a host of different stakeholders.”

The Beacon welcomes many authors to the school to inspire their students, provide insightful engagement as well as building a love for books and reading.

 

Another successful and exciting event at The Beacon!

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