" You know a speaker in a school is good, when the students want him to do ‘more’ in their break time! Ian has the students (and the staff) eating out of the palms of his hands with his humorous verse and obvious awareness of school life. With all his audience participation, everyone forgets that they are attending a poetry workshop. An annual ‘must’ for our Bookweek! "
Lorna Brentnall, Librarian, Abraham Darby Academy, Telford, January 2012.
" What a super day! Through Ian’s assembly and workshops, poetry became exciting, enjoyable and achievable – such a success for our pupils. Staff and pupils were enthused and many parents were keen to purchase signed books at the end of the day to encourage a further love of poetry in their pupils. Already booked for next Year! "
Stacy McHale, Assistant Headteacher, Northwood Park Primary School, Wolverhampton, January 2012.
" I really enjoyed the assembly in the morning as did the children. He pitched it at a very good level for our children. Would definitely like to have him back again! "
Yr3 Teacher , Assistant Headteacher, Northwood Park Primary School, Wolverhampton, January 2012.
" A wonderful performance in the morning - children really enthused. Great to see some of the less able children performing in front of the school. He was good fun in the staff room at lunchtime too!!!! "
Yr4 Teacher ,Northwood Park Primary School, Wolverhampton, January 2012.
" I thought he was excellent. He had lots of energy and I felt his enthusiasm communicated itself to the children; in the workshop the children were very keen to produce poems. "
Yr5 Teacher ,Northwood Park Primary School, Wolverhampton, January 2012.
" I thought he was very good with the children and made poetry (which I know a lot of the children in my MA group struggled with for the poetry competition) fun and easily accessible. All children enjoyed the workshop but it would have been good to have more time with him as we did not have time for him to input once they had started writing and had to finish poems in class. Very fun and enjoyable day! "
Yr6 Teacher ,Northwood Park Primary School, Wolverhampton, January 2012.
" Ian’s poems and poetry workshops are in a different league! "
Steve Bower BBC Match of the Day presenter/commentator.
" Ian had our children captivated right from the moment he started his assembly. His poetry so enthralled the children, they were laughing out loud throughout (as were the staff!). The rest of the day sailed by with every class thoroughly enjoying Ian´s enthusiastic and inspiring workshops. The celebration assembly at the end of the day showcased the fabulous poems the children had written and gave the parents an opportunity to see what had been done during the sessions. We will most certainly be inviting Ian back to our school, a wonderful day was had by all. "
Helen Sullivan, Deputy Head- St Peter’s RC Primary School, Newchurch, Lancs.
Born way back in 1970 in Rochdale near Manchester I first started my professional life on the fruit and veg stall at Tesco’s! After various jobs including frozen food delivery driver, flower salesman and glass collector I eventually qualified as a primary school teacher in 1992. Eight long, exhausting but wonderful years later I decided to quit the classroom and have a go at writing children’s poetry and suddenly I realised that life would never be the same again!
Since October 2000 I have worked as a professional children’s poet and performer and have visited literally hundreds of schools, libraries and festivals both here in the UK and all over the world.
I have work published by Macmillan, Scholastic, AC Black, Oxford University Press and Hands Up Books to name just a few. My work was recently featured on BBC1’s Match of the Day and I have performed many times on regional and national radio most notably winning a poetry competition on BBC Radio 5 Live back in 2006.
I’m married to Kathryn and have 2 beautiful twins James and Madeleine aged 5. We live in Crawshawbooth in Rossendale, Lancashire where the scenery is truly beautiful and while we love the rain and all it does for our garden we long for just a little bit more sunshine!
Very recently I was lucky enough to have my work featured on BBC1’s Match of the Day. My work as the official poet-in-residence at Wigan Athletic Football Club requires me to work with all the primary schools in Wigan and the surrounding areas on their excellent Latics for Literacy scheme.
This FA and Premier League funded initiative combines literacy skills and football coaching to encourage the children to improve their skills both in and out of the classroom.
On a cold November afternoon in Chorley the Match of the Day team came along to St Bernadette’s RC Primary School to see the sorts of work we were doing.
The five minute feature was eventually broadcast on Match of the Day on BBC1 in November 2011.
Click on the link below to see us in action!
The orginal can be found here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/match_of_the_day/9268262.stm
Over the last twelve years I must have visited well over a thousand schools, libraries and festivals to perform my work and lead fun and exciting poetry writing workshops for children from Reception up to Year 6.
I have twice been observed by OFSTED inspectors and on both occasions my work was deemed to be “Challenging and exciting for primary aged children”
I also come highly recommended by the Education and Cultural Services Directorate at Lancashire LEA who describe me as “A five star performer and leader of workshops! ”
On a typical day in school I often begin with a performance of my work. My performances are packed with rhyme, rhythm, fun and interaction with the children and teachers. Listening and interacting with my work first thing in the morning acts as a great inspiration to the children and gives them some idea of the type of poetry I would like them to attempt later in the day.
After the assembly I move onto my writing workshops. The whole idea of my workshops is to give the children an opportunity to plan, write, edit and perform their own unique piece of poetry. Children in KS1 often work in groups and partners to produce their work, however with KS2 I strive for the children to write more ambitious poetry in a variety of styles also with partners but ultimately individually.
At the end of the day I like to lead a final celebration assembly where we choose a small group of children from each workshop to perform their work for the rest of the school. Many schools invite parents to this part of the day and as all the children are very excited and the workshops are all different, this always proves to be one of the great highlights of the day.
Some schools like to focus upon certain classes or Key Stages within a day giving an hours’ session to different individual classes. However very often schools want to give every class an opportunity to work with me and this can lead to problems with timetabling.
To help timetable a day I don’t mind if I work with two or even three classes at a time. Larger sessions like this often take place in the hall where I like to make use of the school laptop, projector and flipchart.
With very large schools, working with every class in one day can be difficult. For schools such as this I recommend two or even three days to give the children the maximum opportunity to produce their very best work.
After school I often lead a book sale, usually in the hall, to give the children an opportunity to buy one of my poetry books. Please feel free to contact the local/ National press/TV to come into school to cover the event. In my experience they are often keen to run the story and this is free and positive publicity both for me and your school.
I hope they inspire you to write your own!
You can contact me Ian Bland by any of the following methods
Prices vary depending upon the time of year, please call for details
Evening Performance/Workshops...................£TBA
Please note that prices do not include travelling expenses.
I have a fully up to date and enhanced CRB check.
Since 2009 I have been the official poet in residence at Wigan Athletic FC and was recently nominated for a prize at the MBNA North West Football Awards 2011 featured on SKY TV.
With funding from the Barclays Premier League and the English FA I am able to promote poetry and creativity to all the schools in Wigan and the surrounding areas.
Writing and performing high quality poetry is a real and valuable skill well within reach of all children in our primary schools. Inviting a professional children’s poet to work in school can be a fantastic opportunity for children and teachers alike to experience new ideas and techniques empowering them with the confidence and knowledge to produce their own worthwhile work.