Being a 'morning person' is tricky. It means that all my energy is at its peak in those first hours of the day. If I want to get anything done, it has to be in the morning. If i want to achieve any housework or gardening? Morning. Exercise? Morning. Writing? Morning. The downside? I also work full time as a teacher. Morning. To get to work, I need to be leaving home at 7:30 ish, and before that I am usually trying to motivate my non-morning person type husband and son i

Not so long ago, I was teaching a literature study focusing on Roald Dahl with my (then) Year 1/2 class when I became fascinated by the writing rooms of well known authors. Roald Dahl, I discovered, would retire to a shed at the end of his garden and sit in a large comfy chair with a plank of wood across the arms to lean on while he wrote. Photos of his work space intrigued me, because it was so unlike my own, and I started searching for photos and descriptions of where peop

Once, a long time ago now, I stood on the platform of the high diving board at the swimming pool that had just been built in the park near my school. I remember looking down at the water, far, far below me, sparkling in the afternoon sun. I could hear the splashing of children playing and their voices echoing off the vast glass walls that kept the English weather at bay, and I could feel my heart battering against my chest in terror. I was terrified. I can still feel my skin