40% of people in the UK haven’t read a book the past year, according to a YouGov poll. Pretty grim. At a time when it feels like reading and literacy has never been more important in my adult life.
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/m...
‘Why should we read aloud in class?’
“The teacher reading aloud and expertly modelling fluency (pace, expression, volume etc.) is likely a better bet than selecting underpractised pupils to read.”
alexquigley.co.uk/who-should-r...
If you are looking for a new novel to teach Year 7 I cannot recommend ‘Safiyyah’s War’ enough. It’s rich for analysis, hopeful and based on real historical events that deserve attention. A real tonic for a dark world for students and adults. I’m half way through with my classes and they love it.
Live near Reading? Come and work with me and join the River Academy team as we move into Year 2. You’ll be joining a fabtastic founding team, teach brilliant students alongside supportive SLT. You really can just focus on teaching! Please share! mynewterm.com/jobs/150728/...
Reflecting on a great year of books ✨📚
Particularly loved:
- Good Material by Dolly Alderton
- Road Ends by Mary Lawson
- Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfield
- Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
- Safiyyah’s War by Hiba Noor Khan
Here’s to another year of tackling my tbr pile.
Coming to the end of our class novel with my tutor group and I am not emotionally prepared!
If your students struggle with GCSE English Language because they don't have the wider reading experience and the mental library to draw on, you need to bring that wide reading INTO CLASS in KS3.
Breadth over depth at KS3. Shared experience of texts that everyone can draw on. 1/
A picture of a stage with a large glass slipper in the middle and the word Cinderella.
Survived (and enjoyed) taking 184 Year 7s to the panto for some festive fun ✨
Survived (and enjoyed) taking 184 Year 7s to the panto for some festive fun ✨
Tutor Group Think. TGT. Daily slide to broaden the horizons of tutees, introduce cultural capital and stimulate low states discussion that has no right answers.
bit.ly/TutorGroupThink 👇
This afternoon, I found out I’ve achieved a Distinction in my MSc in Learning and Teaching from the University of Oxford and I’m feeling pretty proud of myself. 🎓
Going to school is starting to feel a bit like working in a Petri dish.
My first blog post - all feedback welcome (but be gentle to a first timer 😉)
On curriculum and teams… my thinking heavily influenced by @samgibbs.bsky.social @saysmiss.bsky.social @samcrome.bsky.social and @lekhasharma.bsky.social
leadingfromthefrontoftheclass.blog/2024/11/23/i...
This is a brilliant blog by @teresacremin.bsky.social If you followed the debate this week on volitional reading/reading for pleasure, do read this. For KS3 the bit on verse novels is great, with reasons why they can switch on readers + fab recommendations. childrenspoetrysummit.com/2024/11/21/t...
Sounds dreamy.
State schools have closed the gap with private schools in GCSE results, once we adjust for socioeconomic differences in their intakes.
New findings in our paper published today in Cambridge Review of Education: https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2024.2420611
Hello, new BlueSky followers. In April, I was proud to be asked to chair the Oracy Education Commission.
You can read our final report ('We Need to Talk') here: tinyurl.com/yr9pp9af
And there are dozens of podcast conversations exploring #oracy in its many forms: open.spotify.com/show/5UwEJKk...
Interesting insight into the depressing decline of students taking English Lit at A-Level. It’s a complex issue, but I like Daisy’s suggestion that we need to ‘position the humanities, and their difficult texts, as valuable because they are difficult.’
Harewood’s descriptions of his first responses to Shakespeare in school illustrate why we shouldn’t be denying students to the beauty of the bard’s language because of our own biases and preconceptions. A great read for any English teacher.
There’s been lots of chat on *the other place* about what we teach in English. I recently listened to David Harewood’d brave and insightful book about mental health and race. But this book is also a pertinent reminder that ALL children deserve to learn hard stuff.
Fantastic day talking all things assessment in English at @engmediacentre.bsky.social. Oh, and can we have a moment of appreciation for this children’s library of dreams?
The Nat Literacy Trust survey on Reading for Pleasure shows a big dip! 4 recommendations (my paraphrase):
1. Prioritise reading not as a means of evaluation
2.Include texts that resonate with children
3. Make time for independent reading
4. Make reading a 'social' not just an individual thing. 1/
Never forget: READING FOR PLEASURE has the biggest positive impact of any factor on children's life chances. So never stop sharing books with kids. Never stop reading to them, and helping them to read. Never stop changing lives. #literacy #kidlit #books
Fresh booklets for a fresh unit. Gothic settings, here we come 💪🏼