As line manager for English this year, I asked Jenny if she would kindly consider delivering a full day’s CPD with a focus on developing creative, academic and transactional writing skills. (…) The whole English department had the opportunity to come off timetable and spend the day with Jenny – a published author, blogger, Twitter enthusiast and primarily, and outstanding teacher – to work on Teaching and Learning strategies with the overall objective of improving writing outcomes.
Needless to say, the day was a huge success. Jenny’s infections enthusiasm for her subject left department members inspired and motivated to make the necessary changes to their day-to-day classroom practice. We asked fort specific workshops on engaging both higher and lower prior attaining students, as well as exploring ideas on how to use the literature texts as a writing stimulus, and Jenny was more than happy to tailor the sessions to our individual needs. She talked enthusiastically and unapologetically about raising the bar and shared some impressive writing exemplars from a variety of ages and abilityes. Throught the day, Jenny was happy to discuss any concerns we had and shared countless tried-and-tested strategies to engage all learners in different types of writing. In the short-term, the day has inevitably changed the day-to-day practice of our English department, with the implementation of many ideas, from the creation of a character biography for creative writing purposes to the use of ‘swiss army knife quotations’ for Macbeth, in the classroom. In the long term, Jenny’s advice and guidance has encouraged us to explore more challenging options for our revamped Key Stage Three curriculum for 2021-22.
Thank you, Jenny. Your input has been invaluable.
