School Visits

I’m currently taking bookings for both in-person and virtual school visits from September 2024 onwards. Please note that I work part-time, so my school visits days are Thursday and Friday. I am currently based in Essex, but am happy to travel.

Take a look at the options below and get in touch with me via the form on the Contact me form. You can also arrange school visits with me via the Usborne Author Events Brochure pages 23-24. My events are suitable for Key Stage 2, from Y3-6.

Please note that all of these options can be adapted to suit school’s individual needs.

In-person
Option 1: Building Your Own Villain talk and collaborative activity in-class/ or assembly (can be adapted for 40-60 minutes)

  • This session will be interactive and I’ll ask lots of questions and provide discussion opportunities.

  • I’ll introduce myself and my book - inspiration, themes etc. - as well as a reading.

  • I’ll then lead a creative writing activity on villains. Discussing villains in books and films, I’ll talk about why it’s important to not lean into stereotypes and use examples from my books, The Wanderdays and the Bastien Bonlivre Adventures to look at the different shades of villainy. I will also supply schools with my own villain worksheet.

  • Q&A to finish (15 mins)
    Fee: £150 + travel

  • In-person
    Option 2: Writing a Mystery talk and workshop in-class/ or assembly (can be adapted for 40-60 minutes)

    • This session will be interactive and I’ll ask lots of questions and provide discussion opportunities.

    • I’ll introduce myself and my book - inspiration, themes etc. - as well as a reading.

    • I’ll then lead a creative writing activity all about the essential elements of creating a mystery. We’ll discuss inspiration, creating characters, building setting, as well how to plan and plot a mystery story. I’ll use examples from my books, The Wanderdays and the Bastien Bonlivre Adventures to look at the different types of mysteries you can create. I will also supply schools with my own mystery writing worksheets.

    • Q&A to finish (15 mins)
      Fee: £200 + travel

      Technical requirements
      For both options, I’ll need the ability to show a PowerPoint, whiteboard and pen/ or the ability to stick up a large worksheet poster
      Pupils will need paper and pens/pencils and I will provide the worksheets.

I can offer half or full days (with a mix of assemblies and writing workshops) so do drop me a line to discuss anything else.

Virtual

Option 1: Building Your Own Villain (60 minutes)
Content is the same as the physical event
Fee: £100

Option 2: Q&A (30 mins)
It would be useful if the children had a few questions planned in advance, but I’m happy to answer any and all sorts of questions during the event itself - from writing inspiration to my most favourite French food or my favourite footballer!
Fee: £50

Technical requirements:
I’ll need PowerPoint sharing functionality and am happy with Zoom, MS Teams, Google Meet etc.
A tech rehearsal is appreciate, but might not always be necessary if you don’t have time as I have plenty of experience running events.

 

SCHOOL VISIT TESTIMONIALS

Clare did a fabulous workshop on Villains with our pupils in Year 3-6. She started with a presentation on her journey to becoming a writer, which the children found really interesting. We used the villains the children created in the workshop to plan a piece of writing on Villains using the ‘Planning Sheet’ created by Clare. Our pupils loved the workshop and enjoyed the process involved in developing their villains. We look forward to having Clare back at Ashford School.

Leeann Royle - Librarian and SEN Teacher at Ashford Prep School

Park Way welcomed Clare Povey to our school on the 2nd of March 2022 and we were so excited to meet her! She worked across our KS2 classes, sharing her amazing books and hosting workshops with our pupils where they created their own villains for their stories! All the children were fully engaged and both pupils and adults raved about how interesting and fun the workshops were. It was a lovely experience and we look forward to inviting Clare back again soon.

Charlotte Beamish, KS1 Leader and Literacy Coordinator at Park Way Primary School Maidstone

Clare came to Ivanhoe Primary Academy in November 2022 in order to put a bit of zest into the characterisation of our written narratives. We had been reading The Unexpected Tale of Bastien Bonlivre as a class story and the children had really enjoyed the manner in which the characters were delineated, and were very keen to pick her brains about how to do something similar themselves. The workshop really engaged the children, who had the opportunity to find out about Clare's writing journey as well as picking up tips about how to build-a-villain. We had a fantastic time and look forward to seeing Clare again in the future.

Joe Brian, Headteacher at Ivanhoe Academy

OTHER EVENTS

I am also available for festival appearances, as well as any other writing events. I have six years of experience as an in-person and online event host for Writers & Artists and am also very happy to chair events with other brilliant children’s fiction writers. Drop me a message on the Contact page to discuss any event requests you might have.

Testimonials

“Clare is a great organiser and chair. Her events are always well communicated in advance and she’s quick and helpful with any questions, before and after. As a chair, she is warm and welcoming, putting everyone instantly at ease. I find her events run to time, cover a lot of ground, and balance speaker content and audience questions well. Unlike some chairs, she never lets her own ego or agenda take over, striking the perfect balance between keeping the conversation flowing but staying out of the way to let the speakers shine.

“Also, an extra thank you for her consistent use of ’they/their’ when referring to people’s questions. It was beautifully done and really appreciated. When you stop and think about it - which her modelling it made me (and I hope others) do - why would you gender people in a public event, based solely on their names?!”