Teacher feedback prompts Authorfy shift

An updated version of Authorfy, the online platform connecting children’s authors and schools, will launch next week.

Founder Melanie Taylor-Bessent said she has made changes to align the platform with the national curriculum.

“Teacher focus groups at the start of 2018 taught us very quickly that teachers have ‘no time for creativity’,” she told The Bookseller. “After the fourth of fifth time of hearing this sentence (my heart dropped every time), I realised that I needed to adapt the platform to suit the needs of teachers.

“We've tweaked the Authorfy model so that every author masterclass is linked the the curriculum - we work with the brilliant Shapes for Schools to create cross-curricular schemes of work with links to comprehension, composition, creative writing and cross-curricular objectives - and we've also adapted the author videos so they're packed with advice, tips and explanations on unique approaches to writing, instead of creating author videos purely for entertainment/inspiration.”

Taylor-Bessent launched Authorfy last year to connect schools who may not be able to pay for school visits with authors. Schools that sign up for the service can go onto the website to watch authors talk about their books and give tips on writing. Teachers can then access six-week cross-curricular schemes of work based on the book.

The site features videos of authors such as Abi Elphinstone, Ross Welford, Ross Montgomery, Maz Evans, Kwame Alexander, Angela McAllister, Robin Stevens and Guy Bass, and Taylor-Bessent works with publishers including  Simon & Schuster, Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Usborne, Faber, Barrington Stoke and Chicken House.

Over the past two school terms, Authorfy has registered more than 400 subscribers, meaning the platform reaches almost 10,000 children, said Taylor-Bessent.

“As much as I didn't want to provide yet another curriculum resource (I'm a huge advocate for creativity in the classroom), it became obvious that teachers' hands are tied, and as much as they'd like to run creativity classes, too, there just isn't time for it in the school day,” she said. “We hope that the new website will provide the perfect balance between curriculum-linked resources and creative content.”