Moving from the eco-anxiety of #dirtybusiness to eco-empathy to eco-ACTION. What might we learn from rivers about community, resilience and regeneration? Follow our project and reach out to get involved!

blogs.uwe.ac.uk/education/wh...

If we could train this model on a national sample of English GCSE mock papers, the sanity of English teachers across the country may actually be spared this time of year.

This is an absolute banger. Sharing with mentors and trainees today! THANK YOU.

Love this! Students and exhausted teacher friendly. Thanks for sharing.

Great points here about oracy and SEND - have shared with trainees and mentors. Thanks Chris! We just had a session on queer lit and the importance of managing talk well about, around and with marginalised groups. Such an important topic.

*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...

Year 8 recommended reading list for children aged 12-13 Year 8 reading books - a selection of exciting easy reads and challenging titles, suitable for Year 8 pupils in secondary schools aged 12-13.

Year 8 KS3 recommended reading list for school pupils aged 12-13. Our list includes books by Anne Fine, Elizabeth Laird, Adeline Yen Mah, Jamila Gavin and Meg Rosoff schoolreadinglist.co.uk/reading-list... #YAlit #ukedchat

The best piece I have read on the topic of AI use and writing pedagogy.
Just brilliant!

Cambridge to make all IGCSE English literature exams open book Students already had the possibility of consulting drama texts in the exam but, in future, all Cambridge IGCSE literature in English papers will be open book, including prose

Critical thinking skills and more judicious use of the text is prioritised IF you are privately educated.

www.tes.com/magazine/ana...

Step 1: defund the resources, social capital and opportunities that close attainment, employment and public health gaps between middle and working classes
Step 2: blame immigrants

Britain's youth clubs have been quietly decimated. What's most revealing is that few seem to care | John Harris These vital spaces have been the first targets of cuts in a nation that favours age over youth – despite being the remedy for blights such as social division, polarisation and loneliness, says Guardia...

‘Youth clubs, Warren points out “can protect against divide-and-rule, offering deep, long-lasting and protective relationships and training in togetherness”’

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Found this rare and out of season deadly fibrecap yesterday and very glad I did a spore print to ID it! Could be mistaken for a tasty field mushroom…
#fungi #mushrooms

The impact of training bursaries on teacher recruitment and retention This research provides evidence on the long-term effectiveness of bursaries for improving teacher recruitment and retention and their cost effectiveness compared to other policy options.

'The additional teachers are also more likely to teach in... schools serving disadvantaged communities. Bursaries are therefore an effective policy tool for addressing national teacher shortages and the associated staffing challenges in the most affected schools.'
www.nfer.ac.uk/publications...

Yes, apparently I need to start training Latin teachers instead of English ones. Jobs for the future!

Joe Wicks: Licensed to Kill review – TV so vile you’ll never touch a protein bar again ​The lockdown star pulls a Jamie Oliver and gets political, creating a ‘killer’ snack bar that’s as harmful as possible ... to show up how hellish some of those on the market are. It’s frightening vie...

As extended metaphors for the manosphere go, this one looks 10/10.

www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

Halloween books for children and teens Children's, young adult and teen books about Halloween, trick or treating, ghosts, unexplained events, and dark spooky nights. 

schoolreadinglist.co.uk/genres/hallo...

🎃😱🕷️👻🐺🥀🦇🧟👿☠️ Halloween-themed children's & teen books by Oliver Jeffers, Julia Donaldson, Harriet Muncaster, John Kane, Rainbow Rowell, R.L Stine, Padraig Kenny, Lisa Richardson, Rob Biddulph & more. 👻👹👽👺🍭🤡😨🧛🎃

  #kidlit 🐈‍⬛

A second booklet of modern fiction extracts for students to explore www.douglaswise.co.uk/blog/literar... 📚

Nice examples & modelling of how to engage students with Eng Lang P1 Qu 4 from @thecockerill.bsky.social

Analysing film openings of King's IT is also a good way to discuss structural techniques, then compare back to the text.

This Cultural Life - Jackie Kay - BBC Sounds Poet, writer and former Makar Jackie Kay reveals her formative creative influences.

A fabulous listen to poet Jackie Kay ❤️🙌🏼
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

I worked as a state school teacher for 10 years, spent loads of money in local businesses, paid my taxes, looked after my health so rarely used the NHS, was educated in Canada so the UK never paid for my schooling. Most immigrants are similar, but it’s rare to see this description.

It’s not just that citizenship is expensive, it’s that IRL on its own was enough of a gouge at about £2k for commonwealth immigrants like me, and the HO makes up to 800% profit on visa / citizenship applications - many from the most vulnerable AND tax paying people here.

Sure, send me your email and I’ll send some Primary contacts. I work at UWE, mainly in Secondary, but have several colleagues doing anti-racism research / work with local primaries.

Weston Town Council scraps sanctuary plans for asylum seekers More than 100 people protested outside a town council meeting on Monday night.

Aka @teamlabouruk.bsky.social once again undermining basic measures to help the most vulnerable and pandering to an ignorant and hateful movement.

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Car tyres shed a quarter of all microplastics in the environment – urgent action is needed Tiny flakes of plastic, generated by the wear and tear of normal driving, eventually accumulate in the soil, in rivers and lakes, and even in our food.

Every year, billions of vehicles worldwide shed an estimated 6 million tonnes of tire fragments. These tiny flakes of plastic, generated by normal driving, account for 28% of microplastics entering the environment globally.

Heavy vehicles eg SUVs/EVs especially.

Via @us.theconversation.com

So this is pretty awesome! Super funny and really delves into the tricky masculinity stuff that teenage boys have to navigate at school. Required reading for boys and teachers I reckon.

Israeli arms manufacturer closes UK facility targeted by Palestine Action Exclusive: Elbit Systems UK Bristol site was subject of protest days before direct action group was proscribed

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

My colleague brought his kids into work yesterday, and as one glanced at our bookshelves, he asked, ‘What’s Teach Like A Grandpa?’

Not far off, kid! 😆

Yep, my female Muslim students regularly had men shouting racist and sexually violent stuff at them as they walked to and from school. Always white men in cars (so they could speed away, without consequence). Consistent from 7/7 to 2020, no doubt still going strong.

Sloes are ready early this year. Whisky (with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves), vodka and gin. Christmas should be merry 😆