1. Love and Death by Ebo Taylor
2. Telegram Sam by Bauhaus
3. Pull Up by Special Request/Tim Reaper/ODF
4. Hamas Rule by Shackleton
5. Soil by System of a Down
#FridayFive

Why Curriculum Fails Why students fail to make progress when curriculum lacks specificity, systematicity and subject sensitivity

Coverage is not progress.

Students struggle for 3 curricular reasons: lack of specificity, lack of systematicity, and lack of subject sensitivity.

open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...

"Orthographic Skeletons”: Can children start learning how a word is spelled before they've seen it in print? Why oral vocabulary predicts reading ability.

Orthographic Skeletons: Can Children Start Learning How Words Are Spelled Before They’ve Seen It In Print?

“. . . is not formed by ambient exposure; it is formed by the interaction of specific oral knowledge with specific phoneme-grapheme knowledge.” 👏🏼

open.substack.com/pub/carlhend...

Banger!

1. Dialect by Christian Scott Atunde Adjuah
2. I'm a Cider Drinker by The Wurzels
3. 450 by Bad Boy Chiller Crew
4. Ain't no Doubt by Jimmy Nail
5. Only You by Steve Monite
#FridayFive

Does your school have a group of weak readers whose progress you can’t seem to shift? Talk to us: we are experts in solving what has previously seemed insoluble. We can provide data to prove the impact our program has had for other schools. Email via link: https://www.thinkingreading.com/contact/

Really excited to get my hands on a copy of Fail Better. Publication day on Wednesday!

1. Mr E's Beautiful Blues by The Eels
2 Blossom by Nick Drake
3. Memory of a Free Festival by David Bowie
4. Spring by Kruder and Dorfmeister
5. Sunny Ti De Ariya by King Sunny Ade
#FridayFive

Selecting vocabulary to teach I have spent more than a decade writing about vocabulary and working with a range of teachers across primary, secondary and colleges. Over that time, I've come to think differently about one of the mo...

*** NEW POST ***

‘Selecting vocabulary to teach’

“The challenge is obvious. Teachers simply do not have time to teach every unfamiliar word students encounter or find tricky.”

alexquigley.co.uk/selecting-vo...

Efficiency is an educational vice How ‘efficiency’ derailed education

Fantastic read for a Saturday morning:
by @bernardandrews.bsky.social

substack.com/inbox/post/1...

There's a sweet acoustic version of 2. Great song

1. Pride and Joy by Stevie Ray Vaughan
2.Albatross by Corrosion of Conformity
3. Chameleon by Herbie Hancock
4. Cissy Strut by The Meters
5. My Sharona by The Knack
#FridayFive

1. Fire of Love by The Gun Club
2. Memories of the Future by Kode 9
3. Mutilator Defeated At Last by Osees
4. Mandrill Is by Mandrill
5. Esengo by London Afrobeat Collective
#FridayFive

1. Like a Pen by The Knife
2. Dead People's Things by Deathprod
3. Slaughter of The Soul by At The Gates
4. Slow Learner by Viagra Boys
5. Liberation Frequency by Refused
#FridayFive

1. Plague Rages by Napalm Death
2. Sick by Ceremony
3. A Year in Suffering by Cough
4. Dying by Surgeon
5. Symptom of Terminal Illness by The Dillinger Escape Plan
(Double points for 3 and 4)
#FridayFive

1. Halcyon by Orbital
2. Back in The Dayz by Mungo's Hifi ft. Gardna and Catching Cairo
3. Past Time Paradise by Stevie Wonder
4. Tezeta (Nostalgia) by Mulatu Astatke
5. Nostalgia Death by Hak Baker and Baxter Dury
#FridayFive

No.5! Class

1. Shakespeare by Akala
2. Odyssey by Kyuss
3. Literary Mind by SPRINTS
4. Books by The Teardrop Explodes
5. Chapter 3 by Joe Gibbs and The Professionals
#FridayFive

Lots of great ideas about analysing dialogue here. Well worth a read

Ha! This is the second Live category you've done...I fancied a sideways take.

They've all got 'live' in the title!

1. Sliver by Nirvana
2. Oliver's Army by Elvis Costello and The Attractions
3. Deliverance by Opeth
4. Better Way to Live by Kneecap
5. Alive by Pearl Jam
#FridayFive

1. Under the Boardwalk by The Drifters
2. Freeze by LFO
3. Chiller by The Dumb Punts
4. Black Ice by Goodie Mob and Outkast
5. Ice Cold Daydream by Shuggie Otis
#FridayFive

1. Kiss me Again by Dinosaur
2. Enjoy Your Life by Oby Onyioha
3. Gyae Su by Pat Thomas and the Kwashibu Area Band
4. Yes Sir I Can Boogie by Baccara
5. Asew Watchman by Wilson Boateng
#FridayFive

*NEW* for AQA English Language Paper 1 from June 2026 onwards:

✅ The Woman in Black

Specimen paper and accompanying PPT slide deck with resources, scaffolds and model responses, like so 👇

Help yourself 😊

www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/qu9to...

*NEW* for AQA Lang P1 from June 2026 onwards:

✅ The Day of the Triffids

Specimen paper and a PPT slide deck with resources, scaffolds and model answers, like so 👇

Repost and help yourself 😊

www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/bd6qg...

That whole album! Sooo good

1. AWOL by Aphrodite, Mickey Finn and MC GQ
2. Gone Forever by Radioactive Man
3. Disappearer by Sonic Youth
4. Lost Ones by Lauryn Hill
5. Absent Friend by Bark Psychosis
#FridayFive

New on my Substack: Will the Machine Ever Learn How to Teach? (I'm afraid it's a little on the long side...)

substack.com/home/post/p-...

1. Waiting Room by Fugazi
2. Permafrost by Magazine
3. Highlife Time by George Darko
4. Night Light by Cold Cave
5. Reward by The Teardrop Explodes
#FridayFive