Yellow and green book on a desk next to a houseplant.

Very happy to say that Neurodiversity: A Very Short Introduction, written by @suereviews.bsky.social and myself, is out now! It was a lot of fun trying to condense neurodiversity theory, research, practice, and politics into a single, brief book. Available in all the usual places!

Photo realistic painting of a traditional foil wrapped Easter egg tied with yellow satin bow. The foil has been peeled back a little to reveal the chocolate beneath.

Easter egg (and yes, it is a painting)

Artist: Harry Wingfield from First Picture Book, 1971)

Happy Easter

#FridayFive. Album opening tracks.
1. Smells Like Teen Spirit. Nevermind. Nirvana.
2. A Thousand Trees. Word Gets.. Stereophonics.
3. Rock n Roll Star. Def Maybe. Oasis.
4. Cherub Rock. Siamese Dreams. Smashing Pumpkins.
5. Welcome to the Jungle. Appetite for Destruction. Smashing Pumpkins.

Croaky: Danger at Crater Canyon lands on May 7th. Snakes, meteors, and...UFO's!? 🛸

Join Matty Long and learn how to draw characters from Croaky! You’ll design your own hero, and start creating exciting stories. (5+)

www.mklitfest.org/in-person-ev...

#childrensbooks #croaky
@superhappymatty.bsky.social
@oxfordchildrens.bsky.social

#NewIllustrationoftheDay by Yuval Zommer from his picturebook The Whale That Sings in the Deep, which follows a whale's journey from the Arctic to warm waters. The three panels of this colourful & decorative page pan out from a close-up. Oxford Children's Books 5 March. @oxfordchildrens.bsky.social

Monochrome photograph featuring a group of standing Indian women in an outdoor area holding banners

The hand embroidered banners of the UK women's suffrage movement created for/by British Indian suffragettes, 1911. Physician Princess Sophia Alexandra Duleep Singh played a prominent role within the women's cause #WomensArt
#WomensHistoryMonth

Grey pebble with imprint of seashell. Held in a hand. Background is pebble beach.

Tiny fossil seashell imprint on a Brighton beach pebble.

Exhibition to tell story of Punjabi princess and pioneering suffragette Sophia Duleep Singh The Last Princesses of Punjab opens on Thursday at Kensington Palace

Exhibition to tell story of Punjabi princess and pioneering suffragette Sophia Duleep Singh

My photo shows a collection of sixteen ancient Egyptian silver bangles lined up side by side in two rows of eight, one above the other. They are arranged on wooden cylinders inside a wooden box covered in gold sheet. The lower row is partially covered by the side of the wooden box. Each silver bracelet is broad and slightly curved, like a bangle. They are decorated with multi-coloured butterflies with out-stretched wings made from tiny inlaid pieces of semi-precious blue and green turquoise, deep blue lapis lazuli, and reddish-orange carnelian. Each bracelet is decorated with at least four butterflies (not all seen), with each butterfly separated by a circular piece of reddish-orange carnelian stone. Each bracelet decreases in diameter to be worn along the queen’s forearms. When discovered in 1925, there were originally 20 bracelets in the box. An inscription on the lid of the box (not shown in my photo) says 'Mother of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt Hetepheres, box carrying rings (bangles).

Stunning 4,600 year-old silver bracelets with inlaid semi-precious stones in the shape of butterflies! 🦋🦋🦋🦋

They belonged to Egyptian Queen Hetepheres. From her tomb at Giza. Old Kingdom, 4th Dynasty, c. 2613-2494 BC.

Grand Egyptian Museum, Cairo
📷 by me

#Archaeology

The tribes of Britain c. 540 in the time of Gildas.

A huge thank you to all our sponsors ❤️
Your support makes Language World 2026 possible, and we are incredibly grateful to our record number 32 exhibitors!

#LW26
#Sponsors
#LanguageLearning
#ALLCommunity
#mfltwitterati

The winners of 500 Words 2025/26 Watch the winning stories of 500 Words 2025/26 be read aloud by celebrity readers; Jodie Whittaker, Joanna Page, Sara Cox, Bradley and Barney Walsh, Big Zuu and Paterson Joseph.

Last Friday Alex Jones and Roman Kemp of The One Show hosted the 2026 final of the BBC 500 Words writing competition from Windsor Castle.

Congratulations to all six winners! You can listen to their stories read aloud below.

www.bbc.co.uk/teach/500-wo...

The front cover of the ladybird book from the 1960s, showing the princess assisted by the Queen. The princess is rubbing her back and looking disgruntled

Ladybird book in the spotlight.
‘The Princess and the Pea’, 1967
Artist: Eric Winter

A huge swathe of dark pink magnolia flowers clustered across the branches of a tree with clear blue sky behind

A fan of delicate light pink magnolia flowers on a tree with bright blue sky behind

A close-up of dark pink magnolia flowers clustered on the bare branches of a tree with light blue sky behind

White and pink magnolia flowers on a small magnolia tree on a grassy lawn covered with yellow daffodils

Just a shout out to magnolias. Aren't they the most magnificent blooms?

Thanks for sharing the Oxford Children's BBC 500 Words Language Report! It's fascinating insight into what 5-11 year olds choose to write about and the language they use... we all need more capybaras in our lives! #BBC500Words

capybara, wikimedia commons, Karoly Lorenty, CC BY 2.0

Children are writing about capybaras more than ever, according to Oxford University Press. The annual Children's Language report is compiled from 500-word stories sent into the BBC. 'Book', 'comic' and 'novel' all appear more than in 2015, while 'Kindle' is down 77%.

corp.oup.com/feature/oxfo...

My photo shows a museum display with colourful Minoan pottery cups arranged on three clear shelves, one above the other. These cups, known as Kamares Ware, are from Phaistos, Crete. They were made in palace workshops, c. 1800-1700 BC. The cups range in shape and size from conic and cylindrical cups (top and middle shelves) to hemispherical and carinated shaped cups (bottom shelf). They are decorated with multi-coloured geometric motifs; with spirals and swirls painted in red and white pigment on black.

Sipping my coffee ☕️ and thinking about these marvellous Minoan cups!

They look so modern it’s incredible to think they were made during the Bronze Age some 3,800 years ago!

Heraklion Archaeological Museum, Crete. 📷 by me

#Archaeology

Today I want to talk about Jess’ Rule and Martha’s Rule, two new initiatives across NHS England that I think are really important and you should know about.
Tl;dr: if your symptoms are not improving or getting worse, at home or in hospital, you have the right and Drs the responsibility to review.

#FridayFive are albums you don't think get enough love.
1. The Sun is Often Out. The Longpigs.
2. Baby I'm Bored. Evan Dando.
3. On. Echobelly.
4. Penguin Eggs. Nic Jones.
5. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. Neutral Milk Hotel.

This #WorldBookDay, take a look at Tony Weston’s blog on reading across the MFL curriculum. A thoughtful reminder of how rich—and demanding—our subject is, with lots of practical classroom ideas. Highly recommended! @westontony.bsky.social @oupsecondary.bsky.social

shorturl.at/SFPab

New From Oxford University Press and BBC: 500 #Words Children's #Language Report 2025 global.oup.com/education/pr... #AI #writing #libraries #books @oxfordunipress.bsky.social

A-Z List of Children’s Poets Working in the UK This is an A-Z list of children’s poets from the UK! US poets tag coming soon. If you are a published children’s poet working in schools and would like to be considered for inclusion, p…

Are you a teacher enjoying a visit from an author on this World Book Day? There are lots of working poets in the UK listed on my website. And if you are a working children's poet with a published book, get in touch if you aren't on the list! poetryroundabout.com/a-z-list-of-...

This is an interesting look at the words children choose in the BBC 500 Words stories.

Which topical words do you think were the most popular?

fdslive.oup.com/www.oup.com...

AI mentions in children's stories up by 50 per cent - Educate magazine New research by Oxford University Press (OUP) of children’s creative writing highlights a shift in how young people are writing about AI.

New research by Oxford University Press of over 46,500 children’s stories submitted to the BBC 500 Words competition highlights a shift in how young people are writing about AI with mentions up 50% on the previous year. #BBC500Words @oxunipress.bsky.social
www.educatemagazine.com/ai-mentions-...

@oxfordchildrens.bsky.social @literacy-trust.bsky.social @headteacherchat.bsky.social @librariesconnected.bsky.social @nationalbooktokens.bsky.social @publishersassoc.bsky.social @readingagency.bsky.social @worldbookdayuk.bsky.social

Text says BBC 500 Words Oxford Children's Language Report 2025 on a blue background. The cover of the OUP report analysing over 43,500 stories submitted to the competition by children age 5-11 in the UK in autumn 2025.

OUP analysed 46,500 stories submitted to the BBC 500 Words competition in 2025 by children aged 5-11 in the UK. This research offers fascinating insights into the themes children write about and the language they use. #BBC500Words Oxford Children's Language Report: fdslive.oup.com/www.oup.com/...

The new AQA GCSE MFL Foundation Writing has 5 tasks – students need to know exactly what to do to succeed. Use the Oxford Revise videos to guide them (and yourself!) through every part of the paper. Full video + all papers explained here:
url-shortener.me/DNGA

A black - white cartoon explaining the different ways sites get buried

It's really fabulous to wake up to 9k followers 😮🥳. Diolch yn Fawr / thank you everyone 🙏

As a thank you - here is my 1994 Toby the Trowel explainer: 'How Sites Get Buried' 🤔

Surely the most common question ever asked of an archaeologist in a trench..🧐🏺

📷 My own, from younger days

Want to show your students what the new AQA MFL GCSE exams look like but short on time—or just need a refresher? I’ve got you covered! Check out these helpful videos from the Oxford Revise team.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-bK...