Chelsea Young Writers Club coming to Marylebone

If you have a child in Year 1 and above, this is great news! The wonderful Chelsea Young Writers club are expanding into Marylebone, bringing their brilliant writing club for local kids to enjoy. They have kindly sent over some information for those of you who haven't heard abut what they do:

Chelsea Young Writers is aimed at children between the ages of 6 and 12. We run creative writing courses for schools, private groups, and mixed groups in locations throughout schools and other community locations in London. The types of classes we run depends on the age range we are targeting, from 'My First Story' (years one and two) to 'Master Your Creative Writing' (year 5+). 

In term time we run 10 week or 8 week courses which build upon each other. In the more advanced classes, the aim is to allow children the opportunity to write two complete, well fleshed out stories based on the term's theme (previously we've focused on space, ancient myths, kings and queens...). The 'My First Story' term-time course uses a different story or fable each week to inspire the writers to create their own version, and in Editing Club the writers analyse and proofread 'classic' children's tales (Dickens, Kipling etc) to gain skills which allow them to write and revise their own short stories. In 11+ sessions, children spend time in a small group with an experienced 11+ tutor alternating between creative writing exercises, comprehension and exam technique sessions, often doing so under timed conditions so the 11+ exam experience becomes far more friendly and familiar before the big day itself. We also offer holiday clubs in every school break including half terms for 'My First Story', 11+, 'The Whole Story' (five days of writing a detailed story from start to finish), and a number of themed one-day workshops.  

The Marylebone Saturday Club is part of an expansion of the number of Saturday Clubs we are running. Our current Saturday Club in Notting Hill has been hugely successful over the past few years and we are looking forwards to attracting more children from other areas in London. In addition to the Marylebone club, we're also opening Saturday Clubs in Richmond, Chelsea and Swiss Cottage from September. At the Marylebone Branch, we are running term-time 'My First Story' classes at 9.15-10.45am (10 week course) and 11+ coaching at 11am-1pm (8 week course). The club is being held at St Marylebone's CE School on Marylebone High Street (behind St Marylebone Church). We are not affiliated with St Marylebone's in any way beside using at as venue, and naturally we welcome children from any (or no) faith. We are exceptionally proud of the fact that our young writers reflect the diverse nature of London, and are always open to discussing access requirements for students with additional needs. 

Group sizes are small (limited to 8 children at the Marylebone branch), and we find that keeping them this size allows writers and course leaders to develop a mentoring-type relationship. A key aspect of CYW is that our students not only develop the flair and enthusiasm for writing for fun, but also learn to give and receive criticism/feedback positively and usefully.

The autumn term courses start on the 23rd of September and there is a week's hiatus for October half term (21st Oct). My First Story finishes on 9th of December (total of 15 hours) and costs £270 for the term. 11+ finishes on 25th of November (total of 16 hours) and costs £370.

You may like to take a look at our Saturday Club page here: https://www.chelseayoungwriters.co.uk/creative-writing/term-time-courses/saturday-club. You'll find a link to the Marylebone branch information here, too.

As you can see, the club sounds like a wonderful opportunity for children to explore their creativity as well as develop their vocabulary and story-writing skills. Along with being fun, it is also of course a great skill to develop for when we have to start thinking about honing skill needed to make the next educational step to Prep or Secondary school.