In our Year 12 English class the other day I produced a copy of the Velveteen Rabbit, an old picture book that addresses the issue of nursery magic and discusses how toys become real. One hulking lad, upon seeing the picture book, spontaneously sat on the floor, just as he had done when he was at primary school. Magic happened in our classroom.

Everyone sat down on the floor in a semi circle while I sat on the chair reading the much loved story. We laughed a lot and remembered the last time we had sat like this. Who was next to you? Who was the teacher? What was she wearing? What did you have for lunch that day? What was the best story? Do you remember show and tell? Which toy did you really love?

Write it down I insisted! Write it all down! Catch those memories before they disappear. Katie remembered how Shannon sooked in Grade 1 and we all fell about laughing as Shannon protested. We looked at the pictures of the rabbit and sighed when he became real.

Then everyone returned to their tables and spilled out memories on to the page.

Anyone who tries to tell you that you cannot learn how to write has not seen the magic which happens when people have something to write about.