Hello there, My name is Nikki Young and I’m an English tutor and author. I run a writing club called Storymakers, and since 2017, I’ve been helping children aged 7 up to teens improve their English. Some lack confidence in English, others are studying for secondary...
I’m raising my teenage daughters to be Much stronger than me. To know their strengths, hold themselves in esteem, To follow their dreams. To know that happiness comes in many guises, To get out and see the sunrises. To stand up for themselves and each other, To...
The Time School series follows Jess, Nadia, Ash and Tomma as they navigate their way through the first year of Secondary school whilst experiencing what life was like during pivotal moments in history and learning about their ancestry. Ideal for those who love...
2019 saw daily writing rates amongst children and young people drop to the lowest levels since 2010 when the National Literacy Trust first began surveying. That figure was on the rise slightly, just before lockdown, when the 2020 survey took place. Last year, the NLT...
I love stories – I write them and I read them – so I always find it difficult when a child tells me that they hate writing. It’s difficult and it’s sad and as such, it’s always been my mission to help change that mindset. Writing can be fun. In a way that reading a...
I went into last year with hope in my heart, Thinking it would be a new start, But it didn’t work out that way, And we all know why, so let’s just say, No one was expecting that. So, the year took on a different turn, And all of us had much to learn, Including how to...
Trudging up the hill with weary feet,On a treadmill that never ends.The summit is a mirage,I reach out to grab it and itTurns to dust. I’ll keep trudging on, with weary feet,Can’t turn back now, I’ve come so far.One day, I’ll reach the top,I willI will.
In the silence of the dawn, When everything is still. The only thing I hear, Is the beating of my heart, Reminding me I'm alive, Urging me on, To go ahead and seize the day.
Poems in isolation
I think it’s important for children to see that authors are real people. They shouldn’t go around believing that only celebrities write books and that being an author is unobtainable. That’s one of the reasons why I started my writing club in 2017. Another was that I...
As a mum of a reluctant reader, this is not a new challenge for me. I’ve been all around the houses and back again trying to encourage a love of reading in my daughter, but nothing really seems to work. In fact, I’ve even written in defence of the reluctant reader...
“Imagine if these four walls could talk and what they would say about the things they’ve seen and heard over the years.” This is a line from the first Time School book, Time School: We Will Remember Them. It also sums up the premise for these stories and it was this...
Three years ago, in April 2017, my dreams of being a published author were realised when my first book, The Mystery of the Disappearing Underpants, came into the world. At the time, I was a mixture of emotions; I’d been so focused on getting to this point, when I did,...
The Time School series follows four friends as they journey back to different periods of time over the course of their first year at secondary school. Not only do the children embark on the adventure that is their first year at secondary school, but they also get the...
Back in March, when the world seemed to have lost its way, a group of friends – women – mothers – writers – got together over Zoom to provide comfort to one another and to try to make sense of it all. Alice, Chrissie, Maddy, Nikki, Renee and Sophie – talked about...
In honour of the forthcoming launch of the next book in the Time School series, I would like to invite Year 6 students to join me for a special online event. This dedicated event aims to bring the amazing Year 6 students together - virtually - in the classroom or in...
For an author like myself, who's recently had a book published, the lockdown has been a particular blow. It all started out so well. I had a brilliant launch day, on World Book Day, where I gave a whole-school assembly talk, did workshops with the children and signed...
I'm delighted to bring you a guest post today from Laura Hamm. Laura is the founder of Fabled (www.fabledkids.com) which helps kids create and share their stories. She’s a recovering bureaucrat - having worked in 10 Downing Street, The Treasury, and the National...
I’ve made it my goal for this year to get out and meet more of my readers. Whilst this, on the surface, seems perfectly obvious and a natural thing to want to do, I can tell you for sure that, for me, it’s been no easy feat. Though a natural introvert, at one point, I...
Free writing is an important part of the writing process. Being able to write freely, and without judgement, is something that is not often allowed for within the school curriculum. And I’m not having a go at teachers, or the system, about this. I understand how it’s...