Royal Hospital School (RHS) in Holbrook, Suffolk, recently held its second annual Literary Festival where they hosted Year 5 pupils from two local schools (Littlegarth and Holbrook Primary). 

Pupils spent a fun-filled and inspiring day enjoying workshops, led by Joe Craig, a well-known children's author who wrote the award-winning Jimmy Coates action-adventure series.

Four workshops ran throughout the day, on the theme of 'School for Spies', with a focus on problem-solving. 

·        In RHS' Library, Joe Craig ran a creative writing workshop, assisted by RHS librarian Nicole Burns assisted by their Year 12 English pupils.   

·        In RHS' Modern Foreign Languages department, pupils solved codebreaking activities that tested their French and Spanish skills.

·        In RHS' Sports Hall pupils enjoyed taking part in an obstacle course, as part of their 'spy training! 

·        Additionally, an exciting scavenger hunt took place, where pupils had to use a map and series of clues to find eight different words located at eight different sites across school. 

A bookmark competition was also held before the event, with the winning entry created by Sophie P from Holbrook Primary School. A printed copy of the winning bookmark was given out to all those who attended, as a memento of the day.   

Mr Sam Cocker, teacher of English at RHS, led the day alongside RHS' librarian Mrs Nicole Burns.

Mr Cocker said: "It was wonderful to see so many pupils so engaged in the variety of activities our outstanding staff had organised. We were delighted to welcome Joe Craig to the school, who really captured the imagination of the pupils and shared insights into the process of becoming a successful writer.

"I am also grateful to our Year 12 helpers who were excellent ambassadors for the School. We received lots of lovely comments from Littlegarth and Holbrook Primary. My thanks to Ms Stone and Mrs Scatola for organising the event and to everyone involved in a hugely successful day."