NUBIANA MEDIA
Park House English School,
Doha, Qatar - September 2024
We were absolutely delighted to have Samantha visit our school! From the moment she stepped into the room, her passion for poetry was contagious, and she brought a vibrant energy that captivated our students. Her ability to weave humour and lively rhymes into her poems had the children laughing and fully engaged throughout her session.
What stood out most was how inclusive and thoughtful Samantha was in her approach. She ensured that each child felt part of the experience, tailoring her delivery to suit the different age groups across three assemblies. When a last-minute request came in for a resilience-focused assembly for Year 7, she delivered it seamlessly, sharing her own personal challenges and experiences in a way that resonated deeply with the students. Her message about perseverance, self-belief, and embracing future aspirations left an indelible mark on all who attended.
The children absolutely loved asking questions about her books, and she responded with warmth and generosity. Her dynamic and engaging storytelling made this visit a memorable and inspiring experience for all.
Thank you Samantha, for providing our students with such a wonderful opportunity to meet an author who is not only talented but also genuinely cares about inspiring the next generation of readers and writers.
Natasha Hilton
Headteacher
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Wood Farm Primary School,
Oxford, UK - July 2024
'It was wonderful having Samantha in our school. She was enthusiastic, approachable and well-prepared and the pupils really enjoyed her visit. Pupils were fully engaged in the stories she told and were very keen to contribute their ideas. Samantha inspired our pupils and she was a great role model for them: the knowledge that she attended their school when she was a child made the visit really exciting for them. Thank you Samantha for going out of your way to visit our school and fit us into your busy schedule!'
Anna Neal
Assistant Headteacher
Trinitas International School,
Nairobi, Kenya - June 2024
'The children thoroughly enjoyed listening to Samantha's poems and stories. They were fully engaged and loved having the opportunity to ask questions about her wonderful books.'
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Olive Tree Montessori School,
Nairobi, Kenya - June 2024
'Samantha was amazing and engaged the children with her endearing personality and bags of energy. her visit was interactive and th children enjoyed joining in with the actions and sounds of her storytelling. A fantastic and inspirational author visit.'
Jacque Wasswa
Managing Director
The Phillipine School,
Dubai, UAE - February 2024
It was an enriching day for some of our Grades 3 & 4 students as they had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Samantha Rodgers, a talented author, poet, and teacher!
Ms. Rodgers shared her passion for poetry, igniting a spark of creativity in our young learners and fostering a deeper appreciation for the beauty of language and expression.
Ms. Juliet
Elementary Vice Principal
Hampden Vale Primary Academy.
Peterborough - October 2023
Samantha held an assembly for all of the children where she certainly captured their imagination and inspired them with her love of writing, particularly poetry. It was such a treat to see the children so engaged and enthusiastic about her books and asking so many questions. Samantha also was able to hold workshops for some classes to explore this further and we have had a flurry of children bringing in poems that they have completed at home as a result of being so inspired.
Thank you so much to Samantha for coming into HVPA and filling the children with hope, enthusiasm and showing them that you can achieve anything!
Cleo Tarie Mutwinga
Statkraft UK Ltd.
London - October 2023
“Samantha gave a fantastic performance at our corporate Black History Month event. Her poems were fantastic, thought provoking and inspiring. The powerful, rich undertones of the poetry basked in history and experience left everyone in awe. On a personal level, Samantha was a pleasure to work with, she was very professional and friendly and made an effort to network and make staff feel at ease”.
Joanne Munis
Wood Green Children's Library
Haringey, London - June 2023
Samantha recently did a total of 3 author visits at Wood Green Children's Library. She was punctual and well prepared for a large audience comprising of about 90 children, aged 4-9 years old for each session. She engaged with the children very well and always captured their attention. She shared her inspirational story of her writing journey, entertained the children with a presentation of her literature and answered lots of burning questions they had for her. The schools who were fortunate enough to attend, gave a lot of positive feedback and scored her a 4.5/5-star rating. Thank you Samantha for blessing us with your presence, giving the children such a fantastic opportunity to meet you and encouraging them to pursue their dreams of being a successful author just like you.
Luciya Mian Rahman
Community Librarian
Oxfordshire African Caribbean Multicultural Association
Blackbird Leys, Oxford- May 2023
It was an absolute pleasure watching Samantha during her Creative Writing workshops. She was very relatable and shared her writing journey in order to show that there is a writer within all of us. Her activities were very engaging; they captured the attendees interest resulting in successful outcomes in their writing. Samantha created a relaxed and inviting environment for all participants. This ensured that they felt safe and comfortable to contribute in group discussions and share their writing. The workshops were valuable and informative.
We are looking forward to working with Samantha again in the future.
Natasha Summer
Events Coordinator
Bay Primary School
Barbados- March 2023
Samantha’s visit to our school was an absolute delight! From the moment she arrived, she sparked excitement among the children with her lively delivery of poems and stories. Her engaging and inclusive assemblies kept the children captivated, and they loved asking her questions about her books. It was a fantastic opportunity for the students to meet an author from the UK, and Samantha’s passion for poetry and her inspiring writing journey truly resonated with them. She also generously gifted and signed books for the children who asked the best questions. A wonderful author visit that left everyone feeling inspired and energised!
Blossom House Upper School
Motspur Park, London - March 2023
Samantha visited our Year 7, 8 and 9 year groups to talk about her love of poetry and writing. The pupils were able to ask questions and reflect on their own writing experiences. The pupils then engaged in a poetry writing activity based on their heroes.
Clare Sheahan
Upper Phase English Lead
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St Francis and St Martin COE Junior School
Lincoln, UK - February 2023
The children really enjoyed the workshop and were really engaged. They particularly liked exploring and listening to the poems about teachers and school. They were really entertained by the author's performance of one of her poems as she added emphasis on words and actions. The children were really interested in learning about what inspired the author to write her books and how she created ideas for characters. She also spoke about how when she was younger, there weren't many books with characters that looked like her, hence why she includes characters of black ethnicity in her work. She spoke about the process of becoming an author and encouraged the children to be creative and to pick up a pen and write. She concluded that if you have a dream, never give up on it, as anything could be possible. A super visit!
Martin Kyle
Headteacher
St Antony's Primary School
Forest Gate, London - October 2022
When Samantha visited St Antony’s, she had the entire school body hooked. Both the children and staff were thoroughly engaged. Her stories reflected and represented many of the children’s backgrounds, and they resonated with not only her stories, but with Samantha as an individual. She catered to both KS1 and KS2, and all of the children were drawn to her. They loved taking part in her storytelling. It was such a great experience and after her presentation, Samantha really made time to speak to some children on a 1:1 basis. She left both the staff and children feeling inspired, and that they too are writers!
Lisa Opoku
History Lead
Henry Maynard Primary School,
London, UK - October 2022
A massive thank you to Samantha for sharing her inspiring stories with pupils across the school. The writing and illustrations are really engaging and Samantha brought them to life. Her manner with the children was excellent and she tailored her assemblies to the different age groups she was presenting to. Samantha connected her stories to inspirational figures and moments from history that left the pupils inspired and motivated.
Duncan Kilty
Assistant Headteacher
Trinity Primary Academy
Wood Green, London - October 2022
The children thoroughly enjoyed Samantha’s visit and were very excited to meet a real life author. They were inspired by her books and were able to see themselves in her stories. Her books were representative of the children in Trinity and therefore, they could identify with her and her stories.
Samantha’s visit was engaging, informative and accessible to all children and her presence was energetic and enthusiastic. The children enjoyed and were involved in all aspects of her presentation. She instilled her love of writing in them and encouraged them to believe that they too could become authors.
Dominique Harkin
Librarian
Deira International School
Dubai, United Arab Emirates - May 2022
We were delighted to welcome Samantha Rodgers into our school! She’s such a bubbly, knowledgeable and inspirational person.
It was such an informative session that allowed children to ask questions, listen to a writer’s journey and see that dreams really do come true!
It’s always wonderful for children to have real life experiences and to see what they’re taught in school actually put into practice.
Thanks Samantha for this wonderful experience,
Naomi Jones
St Frideswide Primary School
Cowley, Oxford - October 2021
Samantha was our first visitor post-Covid restrictions and we were really looking forward to working with her. She did not disappoint. Samantha was dynamic and organised, differentiating her offer seamlessly across the different Key stages. However, Samantha’s true strength was in her ability to capture and inspire. She drew the children into her narrative world and they were so motivated by her visit, that several children in the younger years used their free time to practise their writing.
Samantha’s visit to our school encouraged the children to be reflective and it provoked some interesting and insightful discussion about inclusion and diversity, what it means and what it should look like.
We look forward to welcoming Samantha back to our school in the future.
Amanda Edwards-Day
SENCO
Firs Farm Primary School
London - October 2021
' We have thoroughly enjoyed Samantha's visit to our school- her colourful books, her lively presentation, her charisma- all have helped fire the imagination of our children right across the school! And the staff loved her, too!
We can't wait to have you back, Samantha!'
Andreea Suciu
English Phase Leader
Gorringe Park Primary School
Mitchum, London - October 2021
It was great to have Samantha to visit our school and showcase her work to the children. They loved hearing about why she decided to become an author, what inspires her to write her stories and why she focuses on making her books more diverse and inclusive. We can't wait to have her back again to do more workshops with the children!
Archana Mani
Sara Village School
Saudi Arabia - October 2021
Our students at Sara Village School were excited to meet Samantha. Samantha brightened up our very long virtual learning experience. All the classes had such a great time listening to Samantha read her wonderful poems, and enjoyed participating in all her creative child-friendly workshops.
The reception students really enjoyed listening to Samantha read the beautiful illustrated book, Hashiki's Headwrap. The students were very engaged and particularly enjoyed participating in learning how to wrap their heads with a piece of fabric.
We look forward to having further workshops with you in the near future.
Raqiya Guled
The Ecole
New York, USA - February 2021
' The students were engaged, actively listening, and asked Samantha tons of questions. Her poetry reading was a great addition to the 4th grade's Black
History Month activities.'