Poet-in Schools

Angela Topping performs with John Foster, Oxford, March 2011

I became a poet in schools back in the 1980s after my first book was published. I did several placements for The Poetry Society, who back then had funding from W H Smith. I did both primary and secondary school visits. One that stands out was in Wigan where I had the job of inspiring pupils from year 7-9 who were members of the school writing club. Amongst other workshops in the 2 day residency, I devised a drama on the Sinking of the Titanic, which resulted in some wonderful poems in the voices of actual real life people who were on the ship. I also toured many schools with The Bees Knees, as the co-operative performed together and sold books at many events up and down the country.

I enjoyed this work so much, I eventually went into secondary school English teaching. Most authors in schools seem to be teachers first. Trust me to do it the other way round.

Now after 16 years as a secondary teacher, and a few besides in FE, I returned to the freelance life in 2009, with all the benefit of that experience behind me. I have carried out placements for Able Writers (with Authors Abroad), The Windows Project, Artscape and freelance. Many schools also book me directly. I have also done A level masterclasses and lectures for literature and creative writing.
These days I prefer to work freelance. I have an annually updated DBS and two teaching qualifications, one in FE and one in Secondary.

My usual rate is £350 per day not including expenses. That is for a full day of workshops. I can also offer half days, assembly and other readings. I offer discounts for schools fairly local to me, often waiving travel expenses.  Workshops can also be arranged on GCSE and A level English Literature, particularly poetry. I am a co-author of GCSE textbooks and I also write A level Literature critical books.

I am happy to work with any age, but prefer keystage 2 upwards.

BOOKINGS: Contact me via this blog or on my work email anji.topping@gmail.com

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