Two of the country’s most energetic and entertaining children’s authors were in Pembrokeshire last week delivering a series of reading and writing workshops to some of our county’s schools.

Primary aged pupils from Hubberston, Hakin, Neyland, Milford Haven Juniors, St. Francis, Coastlands, Pennar, Cleddau Reach, Bro Ingli and Mary Immaculate attended the sessions hosted by the ‘Two Steves.’

Former drama school teachers Steve Barlow and Steve Skidmore are no strangers to Pembrokeshire having delivered the workshops over the past 14 years and built up an excellent reputation for their ‘fantastic interactive performances.’

“The ‘Two Steves’ know how to make writing workshops fun; they engage the children from the outset, showing how they can use and exaggerate their experience of life as a starting point for their own writing,” said Pembrokeshire County Council adviser for literacy, Eva John. “They model a range of really effective strategies for story writing which the pupils are able to apply to their own work to great effect.

“Pembrokeshire has a strong working partnership with the ‘Two Steves’ and they have a lasting impact on pupil enthusiasm for reading, with pupils continuing to take their books out of school libraries long after their visits.”

Having written over 200 books between them, the ‘Two Steves’ are well-placed to teach the techniques needed to formulate a story including what hooks to use to draw people in.

“All of their methods are done with humour, but with audience and purpose in mind,” added Eva. “They learn when to use dialogue, how to use foreshadowing to build tension and when to use similes as a method of comparison.

“All of this is done through games and wordplay and modelling.

“It’s a privilege to watch the children develop during the week and I’m grateful to Dragon LNG and Literature Wales for contributing towards the costs of running the event. Everyone finds them of lasting impact.

“Teachers often see an increase in the enthusiasm and confidence of their pupils in their ability to read and write with one child saying ‘I used to hate writing but now I want to do it all the time.’

“That sums the week up in a nutshell!”