4) Slags by Emma Jane Unsworth I loved this one ! A brilliant read about two sisters who take a road trip to celebrate one of their birthdays. Heartwarming , funny and just brilliant!

3) The Wedding People. I didn’t care for this at all. I really tried to persevere with it but I couldn’t finish it . My least favourite book in a while. I know there are lots who loved it but it wasn’t for me.

One of the challenges of reading in secondary schools is the increase in rare, specialist vocabulary pupils encounter. One of the ways to overcome this challenge is to help them recognise patterns in words.⬇️

Help@OutwardBoundUK - State-funded secondary schools are invited to take part in an @EducEndowFound trial of the Adventure and Challenge Programme, a 5-day residential to support resilience, self-regulation, and teamwork.
👉️ Register buff.ly/gon5x8Z

Building a Reading Culture: Starting with Why? How diagnosing the real literacy problem led to a whole-school reading culture at Dixons Croxteth.

Start with why.

Before launching initiatives at Dixons Croxteth, Louise Gregson asked a simple question: why does reading matter so much for our pupils?

This blog explores how that clarity shaped their approach to building a reading culture.

researchschool.org.uk/bradford/new...

The Disadvantage Gap explained - The Sutton Trust We have long called for action to close the attainment gap, but what is it?

💬 "Children from less well-off homes start school already behind their classmates, and gaps in their attainment widen further through primary and secondary school."

We have long pushed for action to close the attainment gap - but what is it?

Our explainer ⬇️

NEW BLOG: 'Halving the disadvantage gap' – the new schools’ white paper

Headlines have focused on the sections related to pupils with SEND, but the 'white paper' also contains a significant commitment to narrowing the disadvantage gap.

READ MORE about why this matters: buff.ly/cPLQvPE

Some solid ( albeit filthy) Saturday miles this morning 💪 #running

2)The Housemaid by Frieda McFadden. Really enjoyed this one -A real page turner with a great twist that I wasn’t expecting.

📚️ NEW BLOG: The path to self-talk: bridging the gap between teacher and learner

It is likely that many pupils will need support to independently use self-talk. This support can be thought of as a path on which we gradually release responsibility from teacher to learner.

READ MORE: buff.ly/01GX9LJ

A brilliant blog from the North London Alliance Research School about harnessing emerging technologies without losing the power of text #literacy share.google/d1237Rkva5UR...

1) When the Cranes Fly South. I really enjoyed this - beautiful story about growing old. I highly recommend this one! #whenthecranesflysouth

2026 reading thread:

Improving Secondary Science Seven recommendations for improving science in secondary schools

Discover the EEF’s Improving Secondary Science guidance

7 evidence-based recommendations to strengthen science teaching at KS3 & KS4. Practical strategies for addressing misconceptions, vocabulary, memory, feedback & more:
educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-ev...

The Opportunity Index - The Sutton Trust An unprecedented insight into the geography of opportunity and social mobility in England.

🚨 Just 8 of the top 50 constituencies providing the best opportunities for disadvantaged young people are outside of London.

The North East and North West are overrepresented in the lowest ranked areas.

See how different areas rank for opportunity ⬇️

www.suttontrust.com/our-research...

Mind the Coastal Gap: Why Opportunity Still Ebbs on the Kent Coast - The Sutton Trust Careers leader, Katy Tibbles, explores how coastal disadvantage shapes young people’s pathways and impacts their future.

✍️ "The Sutton Trust’s Opportunity Index confirms what many in coastal education have witnessed for years."

More on the challenges facing coastal communities and what can be done to support young people from these areas 👇

Making the most of the EEF Teaching and Learning Toolkit Getting beyond the surface of the Education Endowment Foundation Teaching and Learning Toolkit

434,000 users access the @theeef.bsky.social Teaching and Learning and Early Years Toolkits each year.
How can they make the most of it?

researchschool.org.uk/bradford/new...

Before reading a text, teachers must consider which unfamiliar words to pre-teach. Pre-teaching words supports comprehension and reduces cognitive load during reading.

The Reading Map - A Primer YouTube video by Christopher Such

Following a few requests from teachers and school leaders, I've made a short video on the key ideas that I think teachers (and parents/carers) need to know about reading development, based on my reading concept map.

youtu.be/JvtUxB5WM1k?...

Agree. I really thought Linda’s time was up last night but she was given a ‘lifeline’ as result of Minah’s skilled persuasion!

Minah is playing an absolute blinder in this game #traitors

Good morning 👋

Christmas Day 🎄Parkrun in #London 📍

Took this one easy ish but getting out there was good . #christmasrun

Great way to start the day @parkrun

I nearly do each time 😂

Not yet, but I will 😜

Yes, I have tried that too-tasty!

Seasons Greetings. Gotta love Lidl.
These are GREAT post run/workout and taste insane.

5 Key Ideas from Primary Reading Simplified First, let’s cut to the chase: this blog is a thinly disguised advert for my new book, Primary Reading Simplified. I devoted a frankly absurd amount of time and energy to writing the book, an…

A *new* blog - 5 Key ideas from Primary Reading Simplified

primarycolour.home.blog/2024/12/22/5...

Schools Like Yours - Updated with 2024 data - FFT Education Datalab We've added new data to our Schools Like Yours tool. Use it to find similar schools to yours.

NEW: Schools Like Yours – Updated with 2024 data

We've added new data to our Schools Like Yours tool. Use it to find similar schools to yours.

ffteducationdatalab.org.uk/2024/12/scho...

Chips on shoulders I don’t mean a woodchip to knock off someone’s shoulder (apparently the origin of the idiom). I mean a chip from a chippy. And it’s massive. And orange. For those of you not from round these …

*New blog post*

A different one this time.

Chips on shoulders

birminghamteacher.wordpress.com/2024/12/08/c...