Author whose book was turned into Hollywood blockbuster opens reading room at Sunderland school
A best-selling author paid a visit to a Sunderland school to help encourage a love of reading and writing.
Regional writer Dan Smith also opened The Reading Room, a new learning space, when he visited Venerable Bede CE Academy in Ryhope.
Dan, who writes thrillers for adults and adventure stories for young people, talked to the pupils about his life and how his love of reading turned into a full-time role as a novelist.
Although born in Stockton-on-Tees, Dan spent some of his childhood in Washington and Durham, before settling in Newcastle with his family.
He had a wide variety of jobs, including dish washing and detecting social security fraud before his first book was published in 2012.
Since then, he has written a series of popular books for children and adults, including the Crooked Oak Mysteries trilogy and Big Game, which was made into a Hollywood movie starring Samuel L. Jackson.
The latest in his popular series of Night House books was released earlier this year.
Dan said he enjoyed writing for children and adults equally, but he particularly enjoyed his interactions with young people when visiting schools. On his visit to Venerable Bede, he answered pupils’ questions as well as signing copies of his books.
“I hope to inspire young people to read, both through my books and through my life story. Reading isn’t just good for you; it opens up new worlds and new ideas and it’s so important that young people don’t just see books as a means of study. If me being here today inspires just one person, then that would be a lovely thought.” he said.
He added that he was impressed with the school’s new Reading Room.
“It’s a great environment in which young people can catch the reading bug,” he said.
Venerable Bede is part of Northern Lights Learning Trust, which is made up of seven primary schools and three secondary schools, including Benedict Biscop CE Academy, Dame Dorothy Primary and Holley Park Academy.
The Trust’s Teaching and Learning Lead, Zoe Thompson, worked with Venerable Bede’s Tracey Burgess on the design of The Reading Room.
Speaking at it launch, Zoe said: “We wanted to give our pupils a real experience when using The Reading Room – we wanted to create a learning space that they enjoyed being in, somewhere with the Wow factor. Judging by the reaction of the students so far, we’ve succeeded.”
Tracey added: “It’s important to create the right learning environment and we wanted to inspire our pupils to further their reading. The Reading Room is perfect, it’s a learning space, but doesn’t feel like a classroom.”