My second batch of comics from kids in my Comic Art Masterclasses already this month, which I was thinking of as a quiet one for schools, and already I've been to Edinburgh, London, and Pontypridd.
Fairley House School is virtually in the grounds of Lambeth Palace, right by the Thames in London, it could hardly be more central. And the main thing I knew about it before I went was that it's an independent school. I'd been told something about special educational needs, but thanks to the teacher who'd booked me delegating me to a second teacher who was then on maternity leave so I was dealt with by others, no one quite went over with me the details of the class and the pupils. So we breeze ahead with my usual class, with Year 8s who were lovely. But when it came to coming up with a title for the group comic, I did notice a lot of them had rather shakey spelling. I didn't dwell on it, but we did end up choosing one title which was deemed funny because it hadn't come out like they'd intended. The pupil had been wanting to write Biscuit and the Incredible Dragon, and had ended up writing Biskie & the Inkie Dragid. Which everyone found hilarious.
It was only when I got home and looked up the details of the school that I saw, right in the first line of the school's description, that it's the leading school in London... for dyslexic pupils! None of the teachers seemed bothered that I seemed to be encouraging teasing someone for their spelling, but it made me feel quite bad afterwards.
This spring season is shaping up to be one when I'll be doing an inordinate amount of travelling. My own stupid fault, I agree to do these things. But I could really make them more cost effective if I tried. All I can say is I'm glad these classes, at Craigmillar and Oxgangs libraries in Edinburgh, weren't on a doorsplit. Because it turns out a Saturday morning in January is not the best time for getting kids to a class. At Craigmillar in the morning I ended up teaching two people, one of whom was a Mum who'd brought in their toddler for a storytelling class, which was also a bit quiet as it happens. The second class, in Oxgangs, was a sellout, and they bought books too, which was nice.
But if I subtract the cost of the plane, the airport parking, the overnight hotel, and a couple of trams and busses, from my usual fee (yes, I charged the same as if I'd been going to Swindon) I don't come away with as much as I do at most classes. But, hey, I got to see Edinburgh for the first time in a year, which was nice.
Half a day working with kids in a special school in Pontypridd rounded off the month's classes, and was a treat.
The celebrities these five groups chose to appear in my demonstration strips were Mr Beast (twice), David Attenborough, Dwayne The Rock Johnson, and Chase Stokes (an actor, I'm told).
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