Clare Balding Thrills LVS Ascot Students With Inspirational Visit
02 Nov 2017
World famous presenter and children’s author Clare Balding thrilled LVS Ascot students on Friday 6th October with tales of sporting heroism and her own writing tips. Students from years 5 and above enjoyed entertaining theatre sessions in which Clare encouraged them to chase their dreams and use their own experiences as the basis of creative writing. Some pupils at the independent all-ability school were even invited up on stage to tell Clare – and the audience – their story ideas so she could give them advice on how to expand the stories.
Clare, who has just released The Racehorse Who Disappeared as the sequel to her debut children’s novel The Racehorse Who Wouldn’t Gallop, recounted inspirational stories of top sportspeople such as Victoria Pendleton and the Brownlee brothers who had defied the odds to succeed. She told LVS Ascot students: “There will have been people in your life that have said to you ‘you can’t do that’. I say to you that if you want to do it, find a way of doing it because you can – it is in your head. You are the authors of your own life”.
A further session took place which included students from visiting schools including Papplewick and Easthampstead Park with Clare continuing to offer tips of how students can enhance their interest in reading and skills in writing. Two LVS Ascot students, Amy Harrington-Cook and Maya Mignot, were able to interview Clare and find out more about her books and what motivated her to become an author. You can see some of their questions and Clare’s answers here. Maya said: “Clare Balding’s visit was really interesting as she got so many pupils involved up on the stage and it was interesting to hear what inspired her – it made us want to read more and be more creative with our own writing”.
After the theatre sessions, Clare chatted to her young fans and signed books in the LVS Ascot Learning Resources Centre, writing personalised messages into copies of both of her books.
LVS Ascot Principal Christine Cunniffe said: “We were delighted to welcome Clare Balding to LVS Ascot and give our students an insight into both her writing and the stories of sporting heroism she has collected as a sports presenter, which were very inspirational. Our students really took these on board and will hopefully use them to really flourish in areas in which they excel”
Picture: Clare Balding discusses story ideas and how to expand on them with young LVS Ascot writers