TES books editor Geraldine Brennan on the inside literary track
Poet Andy Croft and Fay Murray, English co-ordinator at the Meadows school in Spennymoor, County Durham, were the stars of last year’s TES Writing Together programme(Teacher magazine, October 1, 2004).
Andy, former writer in residence for the Great North Run and author of books for children about football, and poetry anthologies for adults, has been visiting the school for 11 to 16-year-olds with emotional and behavioural difficulties for five years. Now the Writing Together partnership (which includes the Department for Education and Skills, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority and literature organisations) has given Andy and Fay its first annual award for a successful teacher-writer partnership, presented by the Poet Laureate, Andrew Motion, this week. The school gets pound;500, Andy gets pound;500 and we are assured that Fay Murray gets a present.