It might seem obvious, but language is all around us. In fact, I’ve bored my classes to tears for years by reminding them of this fact. It’s in the conversations we have, the things we watch and listen to on our phones and in the messages we send each other. “Yes, we know it’s there,” […]
Read more
Rebecca Geoghegan responds to the launch of the Education Inspection Framework and considers I think the word that most resonates with me is ‘connect’. The new EIF outlines that inspections will focus on looking at the connections between all elements of education – the curriculum, the lessons, the books, the student’ outcomes – and consider […]
Read more
The sun is shining and the holidays are just around the corner, so what better excuse to roll out a list of recommended reads to see you through the summer. Here’s my pick of the top five reads for ten to thirteen-year-olds. Scavengers by Darren Simpson If you like stories where things aren’t quite what they […]
Read more
In my first blog I wrote about how my headteacher had wanted to create a ‘culture of reading’ at my school. This time last year, in quiet moments, I worried that it would be impossible. I forgot that creating cultures is something teachers do all the time. Whether it be a culture of neatly presented […]
Read more
It is a strange time of year if you teach in FE, a Sixth Form or have A-Level classes on your timetable. Second year students have sat their exams, and have flown the nest. Many of them you will miss in some way; the occasional one evokes Greg Davies’s speech to his Sixth Formers in […]
Read more
This is the message at the heart of National Writing Day which is being celebrated on the 26th June. Over the last year we’ve been interviewing authors including Christopher Edge, Kiran Millwood Hargrave and Gill Lewis. One of the regular questions we ask is their tips for aspiring writers. Here are some of their thoughts: […]
Read more
I am not sure about you, but I am constantly curious about how plays get their titles, as some appear to be quite random; think of Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, or A Streetcar Named Desire or Ionesco’s The Bald Soprano. Have your students ever asked you why Miller called his play […]
Read more
Summer exams are almost here. It is a time for cautious optimism, but also a little teacher anxiety, as we will our pupils on to succeed. Worried questions race through our minds: what if they don’t understand the question? What if a word in the question trips them up? What if they give up? Each […]
Read more
The lasting popularity of Arthur Miller’s plays is undeniable. As I write this, there are two Miller productions in the West End: ‘The Price’ (1968) and ‘The American Clock’ (1980). Upcoming productions include the hotly anticipated ‘All My Sons’ (1947) starring Sally Field at the Old Vic and ‘Death of a Salesman’ (1949) at the […]
Read more
Macbeth is often presented as a villain and it is difficult to defend him without taking the obvious route of blaming Lady Macbeth for his actions. In my view, it is not all about her manipulation of him. As I said in a previous blog , I think he has made his mind up to act on […]
Read more