We love having authors visit us at Northgate, not only to tell us about their books and give students the opportunity to get their own copies signed, but also to inspire them with the creative workshops they run alongside their presentation.
Our Year 7 students were fortunate enough to have a visit from Matt Oldfield, author of the ‘Ultimate Heroes’ series.
Here, some of the Year 7s give us their insight and perspective on the day:
Archie C:
‘We welcomed Matt Oldfield into Northgate. He writes all types of fun fiction football books about players’ life stories like Messi. We asked him loads of fun questions like, ‘how did you become an author? When writing his books he is assisted by his brother, Tom Oldfield, however he did not come into school. We had the chance to buy his books and get them signed and we went through a football quiz and as a year group we nailed it! The best bit was getting our books signed. I have already read the Suarez book and now have the one about Pogba. I think I will also buy more in the future and would definitely recommend the books to others. It’s interesting to find out about the player’s lives before they were footballers and about their upbringing and how they became footballers.’
Freya N:
‘On 13th January we met Matt Oldfield. Matt Oldfield is an author and he writes many books about famous footballers. He writes fun fictional books for kids our age. He uses many parts of information about these people such as: setbacks, childhood, age, life stories, but other interesting facts about these people as well. Period one all of Year 7 gathered in the hall where we first met Matt. He showed us a presentation including a football quiz. We all had fun taking part, answering questions or even maybe being fascinated by the answers. He explained about being an author and told us how he first got into it. His first ever book, he made with his brother, Tom Oldfield. Together they started off making football books but then they went their own ways and Matt continued making football books for young kids. My class (7 Integrity) did a workshop with Matt and we created our own stories based on setbacks that have happened to us. Throughout the day there was an opportunity to buy one of Matt’s books and even have it signed. Awesome! Overall the experience was amazing, I still can’t believe we got to meet an author.’
Isla P:
‘On 13th January we were visited by an author, who wrote a lot about football. His name was Matt Oldfield. First period, Year 7 were taken into the hall for a talk with him. He spoke a bit about himself, his name and what team he supported etc. He told us about fiction and non-fiction and how he writes a lot of non-fiction books about football players. The facts he uses are things like: Name, nationality, setbacks and much more! He was inspired to create books for children to interest them about reading and writing. Throughout the day, some classes got the opportunity to do his workshop. In his workshop, he taught us how he structured his books and gave us the chance to write about one of our setbacks and how the results turned out good.’
Mrs Gill, Head Librarian said, ‘Year 7 were treated to a fabulous football themed author visit by Matt Oldfield last week. Matt, author of the hugely popular ‘Ultimate Heroes’ series, delighted and enthralled the year group with his engaging presentation highlighting the importance of reading for pleasure, his writing journey and plenty of fun facts about famous footballers. As a new member of staff I was immensely proud and impressed by not only the behaviour of Year 7 towards a visitor but also the maturity of questions asked and unbeatable football knowledge!’
‘During Matt’s creative writing workshops throughout the day students were guided through the steps to produce a short story featuring overcoming a personal setback. I was again astounded to witness so many excited hands thrust into the air with ideas, and eagerness to read and share their stories. The students produced some incredible work which have all been carefully read and enjoyed with winners selected from each class workshop being presented with a book and chocolate.’
Other author events are already planned for this year plus a multitude of other exciting events organised by the library. Keep a look out in the library, in PART lesson and social media for more information.
