Articles

Empower your students to thrive in a changing world

Ed Walsh explores how you can inspire students to pursue STEM careers and the value of integrating career discussions into your teaching. Why is it important to start talking about careers in Key Stage 3? Students may start to make decisions about KS4 subjects that will affect their future… Read More

Igniting a love for reading in your students

Igniting a love for reading can be quite tricky with young people. Often parents ask teachers for help in getting their child to become a ‘reader’ after many attempts, and that’s not without them trying very hard. When I was growing up, computers were so slow that by the… Read More

Modelling exam answers for GCSE English

I love discussing a text with my classes: ethical issues in ‘Never Let Me Go’, duality in ‘Jekyll and Hyde’, how far we think Macbeth’s a tragic figure, the sheer horror of war in poems like ‘Exposure’… But one of the things that I’m often asked is, ‘So how do I write that in an essay?’ It’s very useful to model writing with students so they understand how to shape their knowledge and understanding into a strong exam response. There are a number of different approaches that you can use, depending on your confidence with your class or with a topic. Read More

Practical ways to improve teacher wellbeing

By Suzanne Allies We all know that teachers are extremely busy, and when workload and expectations from school become overwhelming, this can be very detrimental to the wellbeing of you and your colleagues, especially if stress and exhaustion continue in the long term. Wellbeing is such a personal matter; activities… Read More

Light Night

In Light Night, I wanted to write about a character who, like me, finds the dark days of winter difficult. A lot of people do find winter hard, and it can sometimes be a lonely time. I wanted to let readers know that if they feel like this, they’re not alone. And I wanted to share the joy of our special light night in the park.   Read More

Teaching every child to read!

We are determined to teach every child to read, so we have developed different programmes to ensure you can meet the needs of all your leaners.  Read More

Retrieval strategies in the classroom

In my previous three blogs, I have addressed the power of retrieval practice, using retrieval alongside spaced practice and how to use retrieval to self-regulate learning. Here, I am going to highlight some of the key strategies I use in my lessons. With all of these strategies… Read More

Meet Nadine Cowan, author of the new Black history series from Big Cat

I’m Nadine Cowan and I write and illustrate picture books with Black main protagonists to combat the low figures of Black children in children’s literature from diverse and underrepresented voices/creators.  Read More

Getting GCSE maths revision right!

The run up to GCSEs can be a very difficult time for Year 11 students. Often, they are still learning new material but are aware of the need to practice and consolidate earlier learning so they are ready for their examinations. This year’s Year 11 students may feel even… Read More

Developing metacognitive skills with retrieval practice

One of the most challenging aspects of teaching is equipping students to be able to learn effectively on their own, outside of the classroom. This is particularly difficult when it comes to equipping students with the tools for effective revision. In this blog I will explore how we can equip… Read More