Nick Butterworth visits St John's Green Primary Colchester

Pupils at St John’s Green Primary in Abbey Field were treated to an exclusive look into the world of award-winning author Nick Butterworth.

The 77-year-old invited the children and teachers into his Colchester home for the first time as part of their learning.

In total, three Year Six and three Year Five pupils went to his house for the workshop as part of the school's One Square Mile project.

Encouraging - Nick helping the youngsters with their work (Image: Newsquest)

During the day he sat with the eager-to-learn children, he helped them mix colours together and gave them guidance as they drew their own characters.

One child said “it was so much fun and I’d love to do it again” while another added “it was amazing, there were lots of different pieces of art and sketches".

The invite came after Mr Butterworth visited the early-year’s foundation stage children in January to read and speak with them as part of their half-term learning on Mr Butterworth and his books.

He then spent another day with pupils as part of the school's One Square Mile project, where they are learning about Colchester’s history.

Caring - Mr Butterworth enjoys teaching the children (Image: Newsquest)

When speaking to the Gazette, Mr Butterworth said: “This is the first time I’ve invited the children back to my home studio.

“It has been a really lovely day teaching about drawing and painting and showing them some of my work.”

The One Square Mile website will soon be in action online, featuring the illustrations and characters made by the children.

Creative - the children loved the day with Mr Butterworth (Image: Newsquest)

The project, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, is set to take place over two years, with each year group researching different parts of history.

Educating - Nick Butterworth sat with the children (Image: Newsquest)

Assistant Headteacher, Clare Skinner, shared how excited children were to visit Nick’s home and also how grateful staff were to be able to learn a lot from him themselves.

She said: “Six children had the pleasure of visiting author and illustrator, Nick Butterworth's art studio.

“The children were learning the skills needed to draw and paint their own characters, to become 'guides' for the school's One Square Mile website.

“They were able to work in his studio and bring those skills back to school to work with writers, to develop characterisation.”