Author calls for pupils to be taught to express themselves through creativity

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The Queen invited the charity and its supporters to Clarence House for a reception, where 16-year-old Daniella Koranteng impressed the guests with a reading of a poem she penned during writing sessions with First Story author Ashley Hickson-Lovence, at her school Skinner’s Academy in Hackney, east London. Chevalier said: “There are so few resources in schools now to teach anything real, it’s all about exams the curriculum and to actually step outside the curriculum, which is what a lot of students really need, they need some way to express themselves.” She joined one of writer-in-residence Ashley Hickson-Lovence’s sessions at Skinner’s Academy and was impressed by his work with the young people. The author said: “He just pulled out of them incredible poetry, incredible prose about their lives, about what they feel and I just thought that was wonderful and I want to support a charity that does this.” Commenting on Girl With A Pearl Earring, which was made into a film starring Scarlett Johansson, Colin Firth and Cillian Murphy, she said she was still “astonished” by the reaction almost 25 years since the book was published. Mr Hickson-Lovence started working at Skinner’s Academy in September 2021 and did 16 sessions over the course of the school year, and said ultimately, he aimed to give “students a bit of love and warmth through creative writing”.