John Barrowman visits St Katherine's

Everyone at St

Katherine's School in Ham Green were thrilled to welcome star of stage and

screen John Barrowman and his sister Carole to promote their new book " Bone Quill" .

The reason that St. Katherine's

had been chosen is thanks to their enthusiastic Librarian Lucy Edwards who has

an excellent working relationship with Waterstone's, the book sellers, and

secured the visit - an amazing coup for the school!

 

Mrs Edwards explained

"It all happened very quickly, I had some preliminary conversations with Waterstone's

and then before we knew it, the event had become a reality, all within just 10

days! There was such a buzz of excitement around school, from all the teachers

as well as the students! Everyone has had a fantastic day."

 

John is known for

his portrayal of Captain Jack in the BBC's Doctor Who and Torchwood, as well as

being a celebrated West End Star.  John's

sister, Carole E. Barrowman, is a journalist and English professor in Wisconsin.

As a writing team, they collaborated on John's Sunday Times bestselling

autobiography "Anything Goes" and

follow-up, "I Am What I Am."  "Hollow

Earth", their first book for children, earned excellent critical praise, "Bone Quill" continues the story begun in

"Hollow Earth" about twins Matt and

Em Calder. They are Animare - which means they can bring their drawings to life

– and they will need all their powers to stop mysterious forces bent on

releasing an army of beasts from Hollow Earth.

 

The audience of over

300 was made up of St Katherine's Year 8, plus students from various reading

groups throughout the school.  Year 5 and

6 children from Crockerne C of E Primary and Year 5  from Avonmouth Primary were also invited to

attend and enjoyed meeting with John and Carole when they had their books

signed. Both John and Carole gave a fascinating and amusing talk about their

how their love of art inspired them to write these stories. They challenged the

audience with some tricky questions that received some excellent answers! There

were also some great questions asked in the Q & A session after too!

 

Headteacher, Chris

Sammons, added  "This has been an

excellent day for St Katherine's, we have had a number of famous authors visit

us over the past few years, but John is the biggest name from the world of TV

and Film we have ever welcomed.  Our school

is all about making the most of new and exciting opportunities and I'm sure our

students will remember this for the rest of their lives!

 

After John and

Carole's  visit to St Katherine's he took

part in an interview with Richard Bacon on Radio 5 Live and then went onto Waterstone's

at The Mall in Cribbs Causeway where large crowds had gathered to greet him.