Promoting Writing for Pleasure
By Clare Rees Clare was an English teacher for sixteen years- six as Head of Department. She is currently taking a sabbatical from teaching to write more children’s books. @clarerees3…
What are we reading for? A helpful list for students…
When we teach literature, what is it for? Critical reading, analysis, exploration and appreciation of the writer’s craft… In my heart I know that literature is broad and beautiful but,…
Knowledge and Skill Audits: know your team
Getting started in September with Y11 is always a challenge, even if they have been your class in Y10 and they’ve had a really consistent diet. Throw in a global…
Time for a change
n.b. In this post, I will use the terms ‘people of colour’ and ‘BAME’ to describe myself and others. These are terms which I am comfortable with, but not everybody…
‘Hollow’ by Vanessa Kisuule
This astonishing poem was written by Vanessa Kisuule, the Bristol City Poet, in June 2020 in response to the destruction of the statue of Edward Colston, a slaver. His entire…
Language and Power
The brutal murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis on 25th May this year has sparked an outpouring of grief and anger which has reverberated around the world. Racism and the…
Write like a… short story writer
This is a short extract from my new book, Teach Like A Writer. Here, Jacob Ross talks us through his classification system for types of short story. I’ve turned this…
Zero Written Feedback: a trial
FACT: Many schools still have blanket marking and feedback policies which dictate frequency and form of marking, e.g. one mark every four lessons, with a comment on progress and two…
Storming the Citadel: a quest for cultural capital
This blog is based on a talk I gave at ‘Teaching and Learning Leeds 2019’ hosted by the Grammar School at Leeds on Saturday 22nd June. Why is language vital?…