Tag Archives: the school magazine

Publication News – The School Magazine October 2024

Posted on September 30, 2024 | Leave a comment

A little earlier this year I announced that my short story, A Shoebox of Changes, had been sold to The School Magazine.

This week my contributor copies arrived, and I was eager to see the story in print, and who the illustrator was. Alen Timofeyev has produced these beautiful and whimisical characters to support the story.

The New South Wales Department of Education releases 10 issues a year to public school students, catering for all reading levels through different titles aimed at stages.

A Shoebox of Changes is the story of Alannah and her best friend Diya, who find out they won’t be attending the same high school in the new year. The extended metaphor running through the story is the shoebox of silkworms Alannah is taking care of, from their hatching through to their growth, spinning silk coccoons and their metamorphosis into moths, as representative of the changes we go through in life.

There is a scope and sequence HERE.

Lesson Sequence for Figurative Language HERE.

Lesson Sequence for Extended Metaphor HERE.

Thanks to my friend, Benjamin Dodds for sending me photos of my work in the wilds of the primary school staffroom
This is my favourite image from the story.
Illustrated by Alen Timofeyev

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Short Story Publication: The Diving Tower – The School Magazine

Posted on November 12, 2022 | Leave a comment

Earlier this year I sold a story to The School Magazine. The New South Wales Department of Education releases 10 issues a year to public school students, catering for all reading levels through different titles aimed at stages.

My story, The Diving Tower, was released in Touchdown. It is an appropriate story as we come into the summer season in Australia as it is about a young boy, Zeke, who wants to conquer his fear of the diving tower at his local pool. I will say Zeke is a braver boy than I ever was.

It is beautifully illustrated by Australian artist, David Legge.

You can read a digital copy of the story HERE.

If you are a primary school teacher, there are a range of resources you can access to accompany the story created by The School Magazine. For specific activities to accompany The Diving Tower, click HERE.

A teacher friend of mine sent me a picture of the magazine at his school, and I was very chuffed to see kids still draw all over the cover of magazines.

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Posted in Short Stories, The Writer's Life

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