Start as you mean to go on: ideas for enthusing your new Year 7 language learners from the beginning

After the constant changes of the last two years, I know that many of us are excited about getting back to school and experiencing more ‘normal’ lessons. It is liberating to think that we (hopefully!) will be able to incorporate activities which were previously restricted, such as speaking. At the time of writing, it seems […]

Read more

Boosting vocabulary in Year 7 to ease transition

Starting secondary school

In ‘ Bridging the Word Gap at Transition: The Oxford Language Report 2020 ’ the team of researchers found that students transitioning from primary to secondary school are exposed to up to four times as much new vocabulary as at primary school. Compound this with the existing challenges around literacy skills and reading ages, COVID gaps and the emotional challenges of transition and it is easy to […]

Read more

Transition from Year 6 to Year 7

Year 7 transition

Provided nothing changes between now and then, we are all due back into school in September. How that will look practically will vary from school to school as we all figure out how to make routines that work in our unique settings given the constraints imposed upon us for public health. Jemma Sherwood shares a […]

Read more

Simple strategies for September

here to help with September planning transition

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 My memories of September’s new uniforms, shiny pencil cases and pristine planners feel contradictory and outdated, and the future feels unpredictable.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 […]

Read more