School, Library and Museum visits and events

I am very experienced in giving author talks and workshops in schools, libraries and at festivals.

What I offer

I offer a package of different options from a simple one hour presentation and signing, to creative writing workshops on character, setting and story-building linked to my books. I am also very open to working to develop something more bespoke.

My talks are suitable for KS2 (Years 4, 5 and 6) and KS3 pupils (Years 7 and 8).

I can also provide virtual visits for schools. A sample of what I offer is available  via my page on the Authors Aloud website or alternatively with Authors Abroad. I also offer thirty minute virtual visits with Virtual School Visits.

Other options include creative writing workshops at museums, working with objects in the museum collection and talks to groups of adults about creative writing and getting published in children’s fiction.

Fees

I charge a fee based on the lower end of Society of Author recommended rates plus travel (and overnight expenses if necessary).

For more information on the types of talks/workshops I offer, please contact me direct  using the contact form at the bottom of this page.

Testimonials

‘Our Year 7s thoroughly enjoyed Ally’s myth making workshop … Her passion for writing is infectious and our pupils have been writing feverishly since her visit. Thank you, Ally, for such a wonderful visit and for engaging so well with our pupils.’ 

Sian Sawbridge – Literacy Lead – Thomas’s Battersea, London

‘The children have not stopped talking about Ally’s visit as part of this year’s Chichester Children’s Book Festival and have taken so much inspiration from the event. We are getting whole novels produced at the moment!’

Emma Bruce – Kingsham Primary School, Chichester

‘There was a lovely buzz about the room and the kids are still raving about Ally’s talks. Thank you again.’

Sally Hodgkins – English lead – St. Edmund’s School, Hindhead, Surrey

‘Ally spent the whole day in the school and ran a series of workshops, presentations and book signings for all our children from Years 3 to 8. The children were fascinated to hear about how Ally became an author and how and where she draws inspiration for her stories … She worked magic in encouraging them to come up with exciting ideas and plots of their own.’

Lou Emmett – Librarian – Barrow Hills School, Godalming

‘Ally pitched her assemblies perfectly to both our KS2 and KS3 pupils.  She had them hooked with tales of her inspiration, how she uses real life characters in her books and how pupils need to be resilient with their writing – a key message which we felt really resonated with the pupils.  They thoroughly enjoyed her workshops and many have taken what they have learned and applied it to writing in their spare time. There was a real buzz in the school all day and pupils really enjoyed chatting with Ally.  There is now a waiting list to take her books out of the school library!’

Laura Mackenzie – Head of English – St. Edward’s Royal Free School – Windsor

‘Ally was not only enthusiastic and enjoyable to listen to, she had fantastic tips for the children to become great writers through developing strong, descriptive and interesting heroes and villains.’

Sarah Baimbridge – Year 6 teacher and English Lead – Bethany Junior School, Bournemouth

‘Ally is the perfect person to enthuse young historians – our students were taken back in time for a lesson!‘

Nicky Cassidy – Reading Lead, George Abbot Secondary School, Guildford

‘The children thoroughly enjoyed their morning. They loved delving in to Ally’s book Black Powder and were excited to read more at home! Ally was extremely engaging and gave all of the pupils a great deal of positive praise. This gave them a sense of pride and spurred them on to write even more during the session.’

Sophie Moran – Talbot Heath School, Bournemouth

‘Ally’s visit proved to be an absolute inspiration to our children and has been the catalyst for some great ‘Hero/Villain’ writing from our Year 6 pupils, who are using the book as their class novel.
Her KS2 assembly in the morning got us off to a great start and her writing workshops in Upper Key Stage Two extended the children’s understanding of character development.  KS2 pupils gained incredibly useful background knowledge regarding the historical context for Black Powder along with learning about Ally’s personal journey as a writer. The importance of research and thorough editing (in addition to the resilience and persistence required to get to publication!) were particularly useful messages for our pupils.’

Rachael Egan – Year 6 teacher and English Leader – Green Lane Primary Academy, Garforth, Leeds

‘Ally’s visit to Edgeborough was a huge success! … One of our children described  Ally’s talk as ‘the best visiting author we have ever had’ and we were delighted that she and a few of our students made front page news in our local newspaper! Thank you, Ally!’

Heather Holder – English and the library – Edgeborough School, Farnham, Surrey

‘We were absolutely delighted with the event. The way Ally engaged the students with tales of Egyptian mummies and the horrors of Tudor times was wonderful. Thank you so much for coming to visit us!‘

Sarah Calvert, Careers Lead – St. Peter’s Catholic School, Guildford

‘The children loved listening to Ally and most certainly got a lot out of it!  It was clear from their responses in the assembly that they had listened carefully and were interested in the subject matter … It was also really inspiring to hear of Ally’s background and her own inspirations as a writer … A brilliant visit, and really well pitched to the age groups involved.’

Ruth Oliver – Class Teacher & Humanities Subject Leader, Sunnyhill Primary School, Streatham

‘Dear Ally, a massive ‘thank you’ for yesterday. Everyone had a great day and the book sales were the most popular we’ve had for quite a while! I’m sure we’ll be in touch again!’

Liz Underhill – Deputy Headteacher – Heatherside Junior School, Fleet

‘It was a pleasure to welcome past pupil, Ally Sherrick to Grand Avenue. She led a perfectly pitched and paced talk for our year 5 and 6 children. Our pupils thoroughly enjoyed the presentation and were eager to find out more about being an author. Ally used some great resources to bring her talk to life. She has inspired our children to read and read and read!’

Anna McKenna – Deputy Headteacher, Grand Avenue Primary and Nursery School, Surbiton

‘Looking around the room, you could see that the students were interested and engaged and if we had more time, I’m sure the Q&A would have gone on for some time!

We are going to promote Ally’s book as much as possible and I already have an idea to use it for our next book club.’

Christine Joseph – Learning Resources Officer, Sydenham Road Secondary School, London

‘We had such an interesting and informative morning with Ally; she engaged and enthused the children who were enthralled with her presentation and were inspired to create their own stories about the Gunpowder Plot. They especially loved all the gory details about what happened to Guy Fawkes after he was captured. There has been so much lovely feedback from the children and parents about the visit and lots of children are enjoying reading Black Powder.’

Jo Clarke, Library Manager, Whitchurch C of E Primary School, Hants

‘I thought it was mind blowing  meeting Ally and enjoyed it when she was talking about her inspiration for Black Powder. I found all the historical facts really interesting especially all the gory moments.’

Edie and Freya C. – Eagles Class – Whitchurch C of E Primary

‘Ally is very adventurous with her writing and inspired lots of us to get writing ourselves. During the morning , year 5/6 took part in an assembly where she talked about her amazing book … Year 5/6 had a wonderful time with Ally and really enjoyed reading her book.’

Amelie and Eva – Kingfisher Class – Whitchurch C of E Primary

‘We very much enjoyed working with Ally to put together a creative writing workshop for children. The historical focus of Ally’s books was a perfect fit with the Museum’s collections and the workshop was a great success.’

Emma Sutcliffe – Assistant Curator, Museum of Farnham, Surrey

‘The children at Chalk Ridge School were so excited to have Ally come and work with them. They were enthusiastic and engaged during the session and thrilled to get their books signed by a real live author. We have a waiting list in our library to borrow the brilliant Black Powder! Author visits are vital to help generate a buzz around reading for pleasure.’

Jo Cummins – English Manager – Chalke Ridge Primary School, Basingstoke

‘Ally’s visit was a huge success! Our boys were captivated by her historical knowledge. A graduate of Medieval History and a stickler for historical accuracy in her stories, Ally explained the meanings of such terms as ‘a prigger of prancers’ and a ‘ruffler’ as well as guiding the boys on a mission to ‘Build a spy’. Thank you Ally!’

Miranda Milsom – Head of English – Shrewsbury House School, Surbiton

Contact Form

If you are a school or a library and you want to get in touch with me about doing an event/for further information you can contact me using the form below.

Please note: By using this form you are giving your consent to share your contact details with Ally Sherrick for the purpose of arranging future author engagements. Please click here for our full Privacy Statement.

IMPORTANT – If you are under the age of 16, please ensure that you have the approval of your legal guardian before using this form.