Primary Literacy
Black History Month
Many people believe that if racism didn’t exist then we wouldn’t need to celebrate Black History Month because all the achievements of these people would be recognised alongside those of their white counterparts. In studying their achievements, we must recognise that their fame was earned in spite of prejudice and,… Read More
Traditional Tales
There’s got to be something about traditional tales for they have stood the test of time, hence the term ‘traditional’ but traditional tales are not just about being old, they have elements of traditions in them and in many cases they are used to impart learning or to consolidate or… Read More
English – The Women’s Institute
© The National Federation of Women’s Institutes of England A hundred years ago, when it finally dawned that the Great War wasn’t going to end as quickly as many had hoped, a group of women decided to do what they could to help the war effort. The… Read More
English – The Battle of Waterloo
© BBC Two hundred years ago in a field ten miles south of Brussels in Belgium, the decisive battle of the Waterloo Campaign took place between the French under Napoleon and the British led coalition under the Duke of Wellington and Blucher. It is arguably the best known battle… Read More
English – The General Election
May 7 saw the political parties battle it out to see who would govern the UK for the next five years. It’s possible to do a topic on the election in two different ways, one focusing on the actual politics, the other on the election process which is what this set… Read More
English – Democracy
We all think that the last time Britain was invaded and ruled by a foreign power was after the Battle of Hastings but there have been a number of occasions when a foreign candidate took over or was invited to take the throne. One of the least know is that… Read More
English – Recounts
Before books, all knowledge and storytelling was passed on verbally with those that heard the story or learned how to hunt, retelling or recounting it to others, days, weeks, months or even years later. Recounting accurately relies on two main skills – listening and remembering and a supplementary one in… Read More
English – Asking the Right Question
It’s twenty years since we were first introduced to the rather wacky sounding Yahoo! internet search engine. Over the years we have come to realise that unless we phrase our questions accurately or succinctly, search engines will throw up millions of results leading to a frustrating time of reading through… Read More
10 ways to increase enthusiasm for reading in your classroom
Enthusiasm: Make sure everyone understands that reading enthusiasm – regularly choosing to read even when there’s no adult around – correlates strongly with academic success, even in maths (PISA; IoE et al). Enjoyment of reading improves children’s life-chances! Self-identification: Focus all colleagues on the job of generating enthusiasm for reading:… Read More