Angela Marie James

About

I deliver engaging and interactive performances and/or workshops to schools, nurseries, colleges, universities, libraries, museums, care homes, clubs (brownies, scouts, holiday/after-school clubs, etc) and at events. Both in person and virtual (via Microsoft Teams, Zoom, etc).

Workshops are themed and encourage age-appropriate discussions, creative writing, performing and a love of reading. Bespoke themes can also be arranged. 

You can book one particular workshop for the whole school or certain year groups, or individual workshops for individual year groups/classes. The choice is yours!  

Please visit the Author Visits page on my website for more details about the workshops I offer, as well as for testimonials and feedback from children.

(www.amjames.co.uk/author-visits)  

WORKSHOPS CURRENTLY ON OFFER ARE:

I DON’T WANT TO

A fun workshop featuring poetry from my upcoming ‘I Don’t Want To’ children’s poetry book series (due out in 2024). Titles include ‘I Don’t Want To Go to Bed’, ‘I Don’t Want To Eat That’ and ‘I Don’t Want To Go to School’. Children will be encouraged to write their own poem and perform the same or for younger children write/perform a class poem.

For: 4 to 11 year olds (EYFS, KS1 & KS2). (Ideal for World Book Day, National Poetry Day, World Poetry Day, National Storytelling Week, etc – where it can be delivered to multiple classes/year groups over 1 – 2 days or even half a day).

Curriculum Links: English/Literacy, Poetry, Creative Writing, Performing. 

POETRY CAN BE ABOUT ANYTHING

A fun and interactive workshop which shows how poetry can be about anything! It can be silly, a riddle, involve actions/props, tell a story, be about history, war, space, maths, PSHE, etc and even be spooky. The children/adults will be encouraged to write their own poem and perform the same or for younger children write/perform a class poem.

For: 4 year olds to Adults (EYFS, KS1, KS2, KS3, KS4 & Adults). (Ideal for World Book Day, National Poetry Day, World Poetry Day, National Storytelling Week, etc – where it can be delivered to multiple classes/year groups over 1 – 2 days or even half a day).

Curriculum Links: English/Literacy, Poetry, Creative Writing, Performing. 

GUESS THE ANIMAL

A fun, silly and interactive workshop featuring poetry and stories from my upcoming ‘Guess the Animal’ book series (due out in 2025). Titles include ‘Guess the Farm Animal’, ‘Guess the Zoo Animal’, ‘Guess the Dinosaur’ and ‘Guess the Minibeast’. Children will get to pretend to be animals themselves and see and hear animals do silly things – with the help of my animal puppet friends. The children will be encouraged to write their own animal riddles (either in groups or as a class). 

For: 3 to 7 year olds (Pre-School, EYFS & KS1).

Curriculum Links: Animals, English/Literacy, Poetry, Creative Writing, Performing.

THE ABANDONED HOUSE

A spooky workshop about ghosts, lonely wolves, abandoned houses and things that go bump in the night, featuring a selection of my spookier poems and stories. The children will be encouraged to write their own spooky poem or story and perform the same or for younger children write/perform a class poem.

For: 6 to 11 year olds (Upper KS1 & KS2).

Curriculum Links: English/Literacy, Poetry, Creative Writing, Performing.

I CAN’T WAIT FOR CHRISTMAS

A fun festive workshop featuring poetry from my upcoming book ‘I Can’t Wait for Christmas’ (the first in the ‘I Can’t Wait’ series, due out in 2024/2025. Future titles in the series include ‘I Can’t Wait for Halloween’, ‘I Can’t Wait for Easter’, ‘I Can’t Wait for my Birthday’ and ‘I Can’t Wait to go on Holiday’). Children will be encouraged to write their own Christmas poem and perform the same or for younger children write/perform a class poem.

For: 4 to 11 year olds (EYFS, KS1 & KS2).

Curriculum Links: English/Literacy, Poetry, Creative Writing, Performing.

I WANT TO BE AN ENGINEER

A fun and interactive workshop that tackles the stereotypes of engineers and encourages all genders to consider/pursue engineering and STEM subjects as a whole. Covering different types of engineer, engineers portrayed in film and television, famous/inspirational engineers and a selection of engineering inventions/innovations during the children’s lifetime. They will be encouraged to write their own personification poem/riddle about engineering inventions/innovations and perform the same.

For: 6 to 11 year olds (Upper KS1 & KS2) (Ideal for STEM week).

Curriculum Links: STEM, Engineering, English/Literacy, Poetry, Creative Writing, Performing.

TITANIC

An interactive workshop on the tragic sinking of The Titanic featuring my own poems and stories. With a particular focus on the reasons for the sinking, the impact of social class and looking at this tragedy from various points of view. The children/adults will be encouraged to write their own titanic poem or story and perform the same.

For: 7 year olds to Adults (KS2, KS3, KS4 & Adults).

Curriculum Links: History, English/Literacy, Poetry, Creative Writing, Performing.

CONFLICT

An interactive workshop featuring age-appropriate conflict poetry from my book ‘Conflict’ (the first in the Conflict Poetry book series). Covering a wide range of internal and external conflicts such as war, environmental issues, inequality, physical illness, mental health and abuse. The children/adults will be encouraged to write their own conflict poem and perform the same.

For: 7 year olds to Adults (KS2, KS3, KS4 & Adults). (Ideal for KS3/KS4 to help with their conflict poetry module in GCSE English).

Curriculum Links: PSHE, English/Literacy, Poetry, Creative Writing, Performing.

LEST WE FORGET

An interactive workshop featuring age-appropriate war poetry from my book ‘Lest We Forget’ (the second in the Conflict Poetry book series, due out in 2024). Covering WW1, WW2, more recent conflicts and the role both men and women have played. The children/adults will be encouraged to write their own war poem and perform the same.

For: 7 year olds to Adults (KS2, KS3, KS4 & Adults). (Ideal for Remembrance Day, WW2 module in KS2, KS3/KS4 to help with their war module in GCSE History, etc).

Curriculum Links: War, History, English/Literacy, Poetry, Creative Writing, Performing. 

DAMAGED EARTH

An interactive workshop featuring age-appropriate environmental poetry from my book ‘Damaged Earth’ (the third in the Conflict Poetry book series, due out in 2025). Covering pollution, climate change, industrialisation and the role humans have played. The children/adults will be encouraged to write their own environmental poem and perform the same.

For: 7 year olds to Adults (KS2, KS3, KS4 & Adults).

Curriculum Links: STEM, Science, PSHE, English/Literacy, Poetry, Creative Writing, Performing. 

STILL UNEQUAL

An interactive workshop featuring age-appropriate inequality poetry from my book ‘Still Unequal’ (the fourth in the Conflict Poetry book series, due out in 2026). Covering different types of inequality such as racial, gender, disability and financial. The children/adults will be encouraged to write their own inequality poem and perform the same.

For: 7 year olds to Adults (KS2, KS3, KS4 & Adults).

Curriculum Links: PSHE, History, English/Literacy, Poetry, Creative Writing, Performing.