THREE classes at The Cotswold School enjoyed a visit from an awardwinning author thanks to a forward-thinking student.

Eleven-year-old Alex Hope took her homework to the next level after English teacher Laura Sewell set her and her fellow students a research homework task while studying Feather Boy.

Little did she expect that the Year 7 student would contact author Nicky Singer directly wanting to know if there were any autobiographical facts in the book.

“I thought I’d see if she replied,” she said. “I didn’t expect she would.”

But the author did and offered to come in and talk to the youngster and her classmates and even gave them signed copies of The Flask and Feather Boy.

Miss Sewell, who invited Alex to meet the author before her class, said: “She was a little star struck. 

"Alex proved that if you do have initiative you can take a task as far as you want to.”