Hampshire students solve riddles with renowned children's writer

Students at the Forres Sandle Manor School (FSM) in Fordingbridge met Sarah Rubin, the author of the Alice Jones series of novels for children and tried to solve riddles using maths, exactly as Alice does in the novels.

On February 1 Sarah gave the children in Years 4 to 6 and some in Year 3 and 7 a talk about her life as a writer and challenged them with the riddle of the elevator theft and a famous detective guessing game.

The author was said to be impressed with the questions that children posed.

Groups of children were finally invited onto the stage where one of them dressed up as a detective and other pupils had to explain their character’s strengths, weaknesses and special skills.

Mark Hartley, headmaster of FSM, said: “It was a fantastic morning at school and for many of the children the highlight was getting their books signed; we thank Ellen at Waterstones Bookshop in Salisbury for organising this part of the morning”.

The event comes after the school celebrated maths.

William Peak, head of English and drama at FSM said: “Last week was Maths Week at FSM but with the Fordingbridge Fiction competition winners being announced, FSM’s very own Creative Writing Masterclasses taking pace, the children starting to plan their BBC 500 Words entries and a visit from Sarah Rubin, I think it is safe to say that this week is Literacy Week!”