Teach Primary Issue 18.2

Meet the author WE SET SAIL WITH PIRATE ENTHUSIAST JUSTIN SOMPER What was primary school like for you? I was blissfully happy. My school, The Ryde, opened in 1972 and I guess I started there in 1974, so it was really new. Classes were small. I have lifelong friends from that class – my pal Suzanne recently came out to Australia with her husband to visit us and we were able to celebrate 52 years of friendship! We had a wonderful head teacher in Hywel Watkins and some truly inspiring teachers, including Claire Tilby (Year 4) and Sue Cranston (Year 6). I was strongly encouraged to write throughout my time there. Along with support from my parents, this really got me started. I’ve been back to the school a few times to deliver author events and it was just lovely being back – everything smelled just the same, in a good way! When did you write your very first pirate story? My default answer to this used to be ‘the early 2000s, when I started my VAMPIRATES series’. But just recently I was sorting through some old English books frommy days at The Ryde and, to my great surprise, I found a story about a pirate ship. I must have written it when I was seven or eight. I had totally forgotten about it, so it was a slightly spooky but pleasing discovery! How would you like teachers to use the Pirate Academy books in the classroom? I’d love them to invite children to create their own Pirate Academy – starting with deciding what lessons they would put on the timetable and which legendary pirate captains would be teaching them. They could also create backstories for members of the class, including who their pirate parents are and what the family’s ship is called. I hope teachers might also be interested in exploring some of the emotional storylines: the ways the young protagonists deal with fear and anxiety, and pull together as a team. Pirate Academy is out now. www.teachwire.net | 53 The Observologist byGiselle Clarkson (£16.99, Gecko Press) Are you, or could you be, an observologist? This engaging hardback wants readers to look closely at the smaller wonders of the natural world and encourages them with quirky asides and visual details just waiting to be spotted on every spread. An introductory chapter on method and organisation equips children for fieldwork, and subsequent chapters explore a range of everyday habitats: A Damp Corner or Behind the Curtains , for example, both of which are full of possibilities. Packed with intriguing drawings, this cheerful book respects its audience and provides plenty of practical information in a kindly and informal way. It will please keen naturalists and bookworms across a wide age range, but less enthusiastic readers and those who know little about the natural world will also be charmed. New Kid on Deck by JustinSomper, illus. Teo Skaffa (£7.99, UCLan Publishing) In the far-distant future, sea levels have risen and a golden age of piracy has dawned. The top families in the Pirate Federation send their children to Pirate Academy, where they learn everything from ocean science to swordplay. The Federation’s authority is being challenged, though, and when a rebel group kidnaps two students, the rest of Barracuda Class find themselves fighting for real to save their friends. But the League of True Pirates doesn’t follow the rules, and who knows how many traitors have infiltrated the school? Black and white line illustrations evoke a swashbuckling pirate world in this imaginative and action-packed novel with a warm heart. It will appeal to independent readers in Years 4 to 6, and would make an absorbing whole-class read-aloud. KS2 KS2 RESOURCES RECOMMENDED EXPLORE OLIVER TWIST IN UKS2 Part of Plazoom’s powerful Unlocking Inference collection, this resource pack includes a fully annotated extract, with close vocabulary work as well as questions designed to elicit sophisticated, evidenced inferences from all pupils. A complete course of video training explains the layered reading approach that will ensure deep understanding of the text for the whole class – try it today, at bit.ly/PlzOliver