Essential Courses

Unlocking Your Child's Creative Writing Brilliance

Bright to Brilliant™️

Ignite your children’s natural creativity and storytelling potential. Instil boundless confidence, free from limiting beliefs and enjoy academic success, for a bright and brilliant future.

What Makes Bright to Brilliant Different?

Bright to Brilliant™ isn't just another Creative Writing programme that gives your child yet more tools, tips and tricks to improve. Bright to Brilliant™ is a powerful child-centred method that creates lasting transformation. Your child will develop and internalise a can-do attitude towards challenges, confidence in themselves and their unique ideas. As well as developing their writer's voice and a lifelong appreciation for books and reading.

What's involved in Bright to Brilliant™️?

Sparking Natural Curiosity

Unleash your child’s creative spark in a relaxed environment, freely experimenting with their unique ideas so that your child: Experiences the joy of forming their own amazing ideas, without overwhelm. Discovers story openers that resonate with them and recognise their own writing style. Takes pride and OWNS their UNIQUE ideas so they VALUE their work. Discovers a positive emotional connection to their learning. Creates a stage for a lifelong love of writing, no more hiding their ideas.

Reinforcing Creative Confidence

Enhance your child's language skills and understand a character’s journey to help create a compelling story. Create a powerful reading habit so that your child: Develops their critical thinking skills and can confidently find inventive solutions to their story endings. Share stories they write with you with a spring in their step! No more heavy sighs and slumped shoulders. Feels more self-assured, happy and confident speaking in their school English lessons. Expresses their unique personality with teachers and other adults with an unstoppable confidence. Develops the power of intrinsic motivation in their learning, with less reliance on external rewards for validation. Has a lifelong appreciation for the joys of reading and the wisdom books can bring to a growing young mind.

Risk-taking and Resilience

Cultivate unique ideas so that your child feels empowered to think outside the box and take risks with experimenting with their unique ideas in writing. Embrace happy, little mistakes as a pathway to individual success and develop resilience as they navigate the challenges of experimentation so that your child: Expresses themselves authentically and takes ownership of the creative writing process. Experiences the joy and rewards of celebrating the ‘small wins’ as they develop their own unique style of writing. Has the inner resources to ‘bounce back’ from future challenges that life will throw at them. Experiences the joy of creative, intellectual and emotional growth. Has the desire and confidence to ask questions, making for a richer learning experience.

Courage to Shine

Empower your child to feel both comfortable and excited about using ambitious vocabulary and sophisticated literary devices so that your child can: Unlock their own world of self-expression. Use more sophisticated language in their daily conversations. Lay the groundwork for more advanced writing skills in secondary school. Feel better equipped to tackle more nuanced writing tasks in secondary school and beyond. Experience the joys of connecting with literature on a deeper level. Recognise literary techniques in the works of their favourite authors.

Empowering Exam Success

Master the art of using their ‘bold writer’s voice’, responding to challenging creative writing questions and learning mindset tools so that you and your child can: Feel confident about acing timed exam pieces with ease and gusto. Can have a good night’s sleep before their exams. Feel calm, in control and raring to go and ready to smash it on exam day, despite a few natural nerves! Experience an immense sense of personal satisfaction and pride at how far they’ve come on their lifelong journey of creative discovery.

Reviews from parents

(4 reviews)

Thank you so much for the update on his progress - it's amazing to hear how well he's doing! I'm especially happy to hear he is enjoying the "show don't tell" and is getting so inquisitive about words.Your insights about his approach to writing are really helpful, and I appreciate the analogy of learning as a “to do” list. It makes perfect sense. I'm sure that, as you say, his writing will become more natural and fluid with time and practice. I'm also learning as we go along so it's great to have your experience to guide us.

1:1 Bright to Brilliant - Year 5 parent

Rated 5 out of 5
What was your child's favourite aspect of course? Mainly creating that space for him to do what he enjoys the most by allowing him to learn more about creative writing while receiving very quickly nurturing and professional feedback, which allow him to grow and learn. It increased his confidence, which is helping him so much not only in terms of creative writing but at a personal level in other areas of his day to day life. I just think that Clare has set up an extremely well thought through structure for this sessions. For my son a plus was having other kids attending the session as encouraged him to be more active within the group.

Parent

Rated 5 out of 5
She liked the tiger picture to give her an idea where to start and because it was an interesting idea. She says her writing is more fun and easier now that she knows where her stories are going. She learned to have a plan which she has used again. She's also learned that it’s ok (and actually even good) to cross things out in her stories. Encouraged to edit. Given lots of positive encouragement and feedback.

Parent

Rated 5 out of 5
My daughter thoroughly enjoyed Claire's story writing workshop, which provided a safe and inviting space and story prompts to inspire creativity. My daughter loved writing her story and learnt to craft her story (beginning to end) in a structured and thoughtful way.

Parent

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Bright to Brilliant™️ for my child?

The programme is not just about writing; it's about instilling a commitment to growth. I welcome young writers who are open to exploring their potential and ready to embrace the power of feedback to grow and flourish! The small group is perfect for those in Year 4-5. A Year 3 group will be available from September 2024. 1:1 tuition is available for children aged 8-11 years and I occasionally teach children in Year 7.

What's included in the small group ?

The small group (3-4 children) format includes: An initial 60-minute private tutorial. 16 x live, online creative writing lessons. 16 x live, online extra drop-in sessions when you need to finish drafting, writing or editing your work. Personalised verbal feedback, via video for work submissions. Lifetime access to my helpful creative writing planning templates and bitesized video tutorials and book recommendations. An optional, exclusive monthly membership pass after the programme ends. Investment: £1,500

Do you offer payment plans?

Yes! I offer payment plans so you can spread the investment over 3 or 4 months.

Do you offer a private 1:1 service?

Yes! I offer 1:1 Bright to Brilliant. Please enquire.

Resources to help you

Resources

11-Plus English: How to ace your Exam

Does my child need a tutor?  Whether you decide to prepare your child for the 11+ or engage a tutor is a personal choice. Smart parents decide what they want to do early on and commit to their chosen process.  

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Resources

11+ English Sample Papers

Here's a list of 11+ English papers, FREE for you to download.

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Get in touch

Let’s empower children to develop a creative voice!

Contact me