Gallery - School Visits

Are you doing a project on pirates or looking for an author to come and talk about the writing process with your class?

I am currently offering free virtual classroom visits with the purchase of one of my books. There is also a free teacher resource pack that accompanies Ching Shih: The Girl Who Ruled The Sea available to download here. I have over 14 years of experience working in Early Years and love interacting with young people. If you would like to arrange an author visit for your class, please contact me here.

Here's what some of the schools I've visited had to say:

"The school session, planned and delivered by Jess, was incredibly engaging and fun for all pupils. From the beginning, Jess held everyone’s attention by reading her story aloud and using a pirate hat to get herself into character. The session included some games such as ‘Pirate Says’ and ‘Aye or Arrr’. Each of these games provided opportunities for pupils to get involved and they absolutely loved them! The children were excited to reach into a pirate sack and pull out treasure chests, parrots and so much more! Jess’ enthusiasm and careful consideration to the activities, alongside her in-depth knowledge of real pirate stories, meant the session was appropriate for all pupils and provided us with some very interesting facts to take away! The pupils were so excited to come back to class and create their own pirate characters during play which was all inspired by Jess’ engaging book session. Thank you!"

Miss McGee, P1M Kinnaird Primary

"We recently had a very enjoyable virtual 'Meet the Author' which was engaging and interactive. After hearing J.L. Bleakley read 'Ching Shih' the children were able to ask a variety of questions ranging from what impelled her to write about Ching Shih to how the book was finally published. The online session was the perfect opportunity to invite a visitor into our classroom due to the current pandemic. It was inspirational for the class and gave young potential writers encouragement that one day they too could write a book!"

Mrs Parr, P6/7 Teacher

Armagh, Northern Ireland

"I am a Montessori educator at a small, bilingual school in New York. This week, we had the pleasure of a (virtual) visit from author J.L. Bleakley! The children were engaged in her presentation. They enjoyed hearing her story and learning more about the writing and publication process. After listening to Ching Shih, the children learned how to create a character and begin building a story. Their parting challenge was to write a short story about their characters. I highly recommend the virtual visits! This will be something our classroom community will look back on fondly!"

Ms Holli Frazier, Educator

Albany, New York

"It was our pleasure to welcome J.L. Bleakley to our classroom virtually to discover more about her new book Ching Shih: The Girl Who Ruled The Sea. The book captured the children’s attention, and all enjoyed listening to the book read aloud by J.L. Bleakley herself. She not only answered every question asked relating to her book, but had a wealth of knowledge regarding pirate life, and impressively answered pirate-related questions too. More than half of our class ordered a book the following day thus showing how well the book was received by the pupils in our class. Thank you, J.L. Bleakley, for your virtual visit - we would definitely recommend your book!"

Gemma Moore

Principal Teacher

Comely Park Primary School