The Dinosaur's Diary

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I grew up in a tall Victorian London house with my parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle, younger sister Mary and cat Geoffrey (who was really a prince in disguise. Mary and I would argue about which of us would marry him). Funnily enough, I find it harder to write not in verse, though I feel I am now getting the hang of it! My novel THE GIANTS AND THE JONESES is going to be made into a film by the same team who made the Harry Potter movies, and I have written three books of stories about the anarchic PRINCESS MIRROR-BELLE who appears from the mirror and disrupts the life of an otherwise ordinary eight-year-old. I have just finished writing a novel for teenagers. Immersive learning has its roots in immersive theatre. This invites the audience to move through a theatrical world as active participants. We found that the children became much more engaged in their learning, enthusiastic about writing stories, and immersed in their work.

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However, she soon makes friends with some local swallows. They show her to a local barn, where it is safe enough for her to lay her eggs and for them to hatch in peace. When her thirteen baby dinosaurs are born she has a job to look after them. When Horace, the smallest and slowest, is captured by the local farmer, Henrietta (the most bullish of her babies) comes up with a plan to save him. This they succeed in doing so, but in their getaway, they steal the farmer’s tractor. They inadvertently drive the tractor into the pond again and end up in the original dinosaur country where they first started. But this time the bigger dinosaurs are scared of the tractor and leave Hypsilophodon and her babies in peace.This book is a brilliant book for young children to transition from picture books to more grown up literature styles. The story is beautifully illustrated, again to keep the childrens' attention and I personally believe to assist the transition. Start planning early. Year 2 teachers developed the dinosaur nest in the summer term over a four-week period. It also linked with our autumn term whole-school topic theme of ‘time’. It fitted into teaching on chronology; getting the children to think about the past which is a key historical skill in KS1. Artefacts in the nest such as the ‘fossilised’ dinosaur teeth also enabled pupils to develop their understanding of historical enquiry, as well as short and long-term timescales.

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In the autumn term we had a surprising visitor to the school. A T-Rex was spotted in the playground during break! It seemed to be looking for something, and moved around the playground until it disappeared as suddenly as it had arrived… When Hypsilophoden discovers her new surroundings she is very timid and scared of this new place. She soon discovers that she doesn't need to be afraid as others are now afraid of her. Hypsilophoden still needs some guidance from her unknown surroundings and finds some friends with local swallows. They help her along her journey and find her a safe and secure place to lay her eggs, although, due to her naivety they have some laughs along the way! I studied Drama and French at Bristol University, where I met Malcolm, a guitar-playing medic to whom I’m now married.I really liked the nervous central character of Hypsilophodon. Not what you’d immediately expect a dinosaur to be like! But the story really conveyed the emotion of Hypsilophodon and her fight to look after her babies and survive herself. A really enjoyable story for a younger reader. The story explores the adventures of H, a dinosaur who finds a magic portal to our world where her children are born. The story is brilliant to explore new experiences, feelings and how important it is to support others. Involve colleagues – once you have devised your immersive learning project, let everyone know what you’re planning. It’s important everyone is engaged and can respond correctly to children’s questions. They become more enthusiastic learners, and it encourages greater participation and breaks down social barriers. Located behind a bookcase which had mysteriously replaced the door to our staff room, small groups of children discovered that it led into a fantastical library crammed with books of all sizes and colours.