Part 1: science fiction, fantasy and dystopia Whether you’re looking to widen the genres you try or just want to dig deeper to find more of the kind of books you love, I hope these reading suggestions might help you to explore the science fiction, fantasy and dystopia genres. Please note, some of the books […]
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The term ‘word gap’ is used to describe how children with a smaller vocabulary than others are disadvantaged in a range of ways. There are two main ways you can support your child and help them to build their vocabulary – by encouraging reading for pleasure, Here we share a range of ideas to help […]
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This is the first time in my twenty-year career as an English teacher that I can’t picture the start of the academic year. My memories of September’s new uniforms, shiny pencil cases and pristine planners feel contradictory and outdated, and the future feels unpredictable. With a few simple strategies I can start to plan for […]
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Sarah Eggleton suggests some strategies and tips to help you plan how to assess your students, identifying gaps and start the process of catching-up. Lockdown has resulted in the majority of students having received only 6 months of face to face education this year. We know it has hit those children who are disadvantaged the […]
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Rebecca Geoghegan discusses how lessons and learning might evolve through an increased virtual experience with her four stages of reimagining the classroom. When the closures were announced on the 18th March, most schools would say that they had an inkling it was coming. International news had led to much speculation and ‘loose’ plans being created […]
Read moreGraham Elsdon looks at ways to help the new year 11 classes cope with post-lockdown English exam preparation The tentacles of the horrible virus are long and inevitably they have wrapped themselves around the world of education. Lives have been lost, the yearly rhythm has been lost and time has been lost. Leaving aside the […]
Read more ‘A Sea of Talk’ Helen Prince considers some of the educational challenges facing schools and offers her advice for encouraging developing vocabulary across the curriculum. Responding to a pandemic was not part of my teacher training. Dashing around Christ Church, Canterbury all those years ago, I remember no module on understanding the challenge of students […]
Read moreGraham Elsdon looks at ways to help new sixth form students deal with the aftermath of cancelled GCSEs Next term’s new year 12 students may well begin their new course feeling like one of those pop acts who’ve scored a number one, but haven’t actually played on the record. The necessary cancellation of exams has […]
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Coronavirus is the 2020 Oxford Children’s Word of the Year! 2020 marks the 10th anniversary of BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show and Chris Evans’ 500 Words short story competition, and saw more than 134,000 children submit entries, hitting the millionth story milestone! As part of ongoing language and lexical research, the Oxford Children’s Dictionaries & […]
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And what are we looking forward to? Secondary English teacher, Gwen Nelson reflects on the last few months especially the things she has started to miss. And what exactly is she looking forward to about getting back into the classroom again full time? Firstly, let’s be abundantly clear. Suddenly being thrust into remote teaching has […]
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