When Gavin Williamson announced the cancellation of all formal examinations this summer, it was arguably the biggest tremor the education sector had felt in recent history. Both teachers and students were rattled, experiencing a range of emotions including frustration, fear, relief and even a sense of grief over what had been taken away without negotiation […]
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Revision. A word which probably conjures up memories of the anxious weeks before exams, frantically reading through notes wielding a highlighter in an attempt to get vaguely remembered knowledge into your head. Perhaps you did some practice questions, or maybe you felt so overwhelmed that you ended up doing nothing. Whatever your approach, you would […]
Read moreThe last few years have seen us, as English teachers, deluged in pre-20th century literature and non-fiction texts. Simultaneously in the 21st century we have been seriously exploring the treatment of women in society – pay gaps and sexual harassment have been major issues – and rightly so. So how can the male dominance […]
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In the cold and dark days of December and January the warmth of the summer months can seem a very long way away. As teachers, we know that the exam period comes around much sooner then we’d like. However, most of our students, who are entering their first official exam period, still think they have […]
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For the first few years of my teaching career, I would set revision lessons without much expectation. If you were going to do a test, you should at least give some chance of success by providing the lesson before for ‘revision’. I would often provide a list of suggested activities that students could pick from: […]
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With exams looming on the horizon, David Shanks is back to share his top 4 exam preparation tips for teachers… With just six short weeks remaining until the speaking examination window opens, we are firmly in the ‘home straight’ as we head towards the first sittings of the long-anticipated “more challenging” 9-1 MFL GCSE exams […]
Read moreIn a previous blog post , I listed five errors pretty much guaranteed to make teachers scream. In the first part of this blog , I explained how students could overcome four of them, but never explained the last one. In this blog, everything should become clear. Again, feel completely free to share with your students – in fact I would positively encourage you to. […]
Read moreTaking exams is like wiping your bottom. It’s not the point of the exercise, but it’s a very important part of the process. In my last blog , I listed a few errors are almost guaranteed to make us teachers scream. In this blog, I’ll explain how students can avoid the errors and even how they can write […]
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Our regular blog author, Jill Carter, has prepared some revision tips and advice for your students – pass it on! You have two English Language exams so get clear about what each of these requires. Look for patterns so you can prepare more effectively for both. For both exams, you will need to be able […]
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Our regular blog author, Jill Carter, has prepared some revision tips and advice for your students – pass it on! You have two English Language exams so get clear about what each of these requires. Look for patterns so you can prepare more effectively for both. For both exams, you will need to be able […]
Read more