Little Star Writing

Hi everyone!

I hope you’re all keeping well during these strange and unprecedented times. I’ve been thinking about the Little Star Writers a lot over the last few weeks and wondering how I might be able to help inspire them / fuel their creativity while they’re learning at home. After being inundated with emails from LSW parents asking whether I can provide some fun creative writing activities for their children, I’ve decided to do just that…

AUTHORFY CLUB AT HOME:
Many of you may remember that I combined LSW and my other company, Authorfy, in January 2020 as running both companies became increasingly difficult. I actually created ‘Authorfy Club’, where I used the same LSW lesson plans and activities to create resources that could be sent in the post for schools to run their own creative writing clubs. In less than a year, more than 200 schools across the UK (and even some in Europe!) have run Authorfy Clubs and the feedback has been overwhelming. Understandably, though, that all came to a halt with the Covid-19 pandemic, and after speaking to numerous teachers, it sounds like a lot of schools will be focusing on core curriculum subjects in the autumn term (i.e. even less time for writing for pleasure), and most have said they are unable to offer after school clubs until 2021. For this reason, I’ve just launched ‘Authorfy Club at Home’ - a way for children to complete fun writing activities and games from home, and continue to write for pleasure despite the changes at school.

ORDERING AN AUTHORFY CLUB AT HOME PACK:
If you would like to order an Authorfy Club at Home pack, you can do so at authorfy.com/club-box. There is also more information on the authorfy.com/club page. They cost £40, including 20% VAT, fully tracked/recorded postage & packaging, a book from one of our ‘Authors of the Term’ worth £6.99, 12 week’s worth of workshop outlines, a booklet full of games, worksheets and activities, a certificate, challenge videos from our ‘Authors of the Term’ (so they feel as though they’re being taught by the authors themselves!), and an extra surprise. Alternatively, if you have two children that would like to take part, we can provide two packs (with x2 of everything listed but only one lesson plan booklet) for £60.

PLEASE NOTE:
The lesson plans are written in a fun and informal way so children aged 9+ can follow along on their own, but some younger children may require some supervision. Some activities are also better-suited to a classroom environment / group work, but these can be easily adapted such as reading work to a parent instead of sharing your work with the class, or bouncing ideas around with a sibling instead of a class discussion. You could also run an Authorfy Club with friends via Zoom so that students get the class interaction element, too.

**THE DEADLINE FOR ORDERS IS 30th JULY AND THE PACKS WILL ARRIVE IN THE POST AROUND 3RD SEPTEMBER**

⭐️ THANK YOU ⭐️

👏🏻 Thank you to all of the students, parents and teachers that have welcomed us into your schools over the last eight years.

🖥 We’re officially closing the door on LSW but there’s lots more creative writing / children’s book / author-ish action on our new website - authorfy.com/masterclasses.

📚 We also have AUTHORFY CLUB, which follows the same template as LSW workshops but we provide all of the resources for teachers to run the club themselves. Do feel free to tag a teacher below that might be interested or direct them to authorfy.com/club for more info. Not only will they be able to boost writing for pleasure and please Ofsted, they could also raise £ for their school at the same time!

🗣 And finally, if you’d like to keep in touch, do feel free to follow Authorfy on Twitter (twitter.com/authorfy) and Instagram (Instagram.com/authorfy)

Lessons Archive - authorfy 1) Scroll through the masterclasses below or use our handy search bar to find the perfect author masterclass for your child / class.

⭐️ LITTLE STAR WRITING IS CLOSING... ⭐️

This post may come as a surprise but I wanted to tell you all as soon as possible… sadly, I’ve decided to close Little Star Writing at the end of the Autumn term (i.e. at Christmas) and not continue the workshops into 2020.

LSW has had the most incredible 8 years - we've seen students win awards for their stories, receive prizes from the likes of Cressida Cowell ('How To Train Your Dragon' author), make the final 25 of the BBC 500 Words Competition (out of 80,000 entries), and just this weekend I watched a musical that was written and performed by a Little Star Writer. We've hosted two LSW Festivals, arranged more than 150 author events for schools and taken children into publishing houses for the day. Above all of that, though, it's been a privilege to work with such creative, passionate, confident, funny and caring children, and I've loved watching them discover the enjoyment of writing.

A DIFFICULT DECISION:

As many of you know, I launched another business (authorfy.com) two years ago and it’s gained a lot of momentum throughout 2019 in particular. As a result, running both companies has become very tricky and the last thing I want to see is the quality of the workshops slip as a result.

As Authorfy continues to grow, the time I can dedicate to LSW is decreasing and so I think it’s only fair to tutors, students, parents and schools that I close Little Star Writing whilst we still have an outstanding reputation and we can end LSW on a high.

BUT WE HAVEN'T GONE FOREVER:

I have been contemplating the future of LSW for the last 18 months or so, and it was only in May this year that I had an idea to take the LSW format (the same lesson plans / worksheets / prizes / author videos, etc) and put them in a box that could be sent to schools so teachers can run their own creative writing club. I combined this with the growing Authorfy audience and called it 'Authorfy Club Boxes' and already more than 100 schools around the UK are running an Authorfy Club.

The best bit about 'Authorfy Club' is that schools can charge much less for the club than we do (they won't have all of the overheads LSW has) and they can raise money for their school at the same time. Charging parents just £2 per session, for example (compared to LSW's £8 per session) will cover the cost of the resources and raise an extra £1000 for the school in a year. It's a win/win situation for everyone involved and I'm hopeful that lots of LSW schools will order an Authorfy Club Box so students can still attend a creative writing club. It's the exact same format as LSW and I have sent details to the schools, but more information (if you would like to pass it on) can be found at authorfy.com/club.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

- All workshops will continue as normal until Christmas (a full list of dates and times can be found at https://littlestarwriting.com/dates-and-times).

- Our Halloween Writing Retreats will be the last half term workshops we run (there are a few spaces left for the afternoon workshop if you'd like to enrol your child: https://littlestarwriting.com/enrol-here/half-term-writing-retreats).

Mel
Little Star Writing / Authorfy Director

Authorfy Club - authorfy how doeS authorfy club work? Teachers all over the UK and in International British Schools are ordering Authorfy Club Boxes so they can run creative writing clubs in their schools. One box has enough resources for 20 students for an entire term and they arrive in the post with everything pre-prep....

LIMITED SPACES REMAINING FOR OUR CREATIVE WRITING AFTER SCHOOL CLUBS THIS TERM!

Reserve your child’s space at www.littlestarwriting.com ⭐️

⭐️ PLEASE TAG ANY PARENTS THAT MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN AN AFTER SCHOOL CREATIVE WRITING CLUB! ⭐️

Hi everyone! We could not be more excited for the next term of Little Star Writing After School Workshops. We’ve got new student activity packs, writing challenge videos from our ‘Authors of the Term’, and everyone’s favourite Halloween and Christmas workshops.

There are a FEW SPACES REMAINING at the following schools and we’d love to fill them, so if you can tag any parents you know who have children at the following schools, we’d be really grateful! Do feel free to share the below image in any other school groups / newsletters / WhatsApp groups you have.

📚 RESERVE YOUR CHILD’S SPACE HERE: https://littlestarwriting.com/enrol-here/after-school-workshops-1

📆 DATES AND TIMES HERE: https://littlestarwriting.com/dates-and-times

⭐️ We’re sending out our new information pack tomorrow! ⭐️

If you’re a TEACHER, LIBRARIAN or ENGLISH COORDINATOR & would be interested in launching an after school club in your school, get in touch & we’ll email you first thing tomorrow ✍🏻📚

Feel free to tag any parents, teachers or schools you know!

ENROLMENTS ARE OPEN FOR OUR APRIL-JULY AFTER SCHOOL WORKSHOPS! Go to www.littlestarwriting.com to secure your child’s space ⭐️✍🏻📒