Secondary English

Practical approaches to teaching KS3 Shakespeare

By Hannah Appleton Reframing or reimagining how we tackle Shakespeare in schools begins with our perception of it being boring, irrelevant or too difficult, especially if we teach in schools with high numbers of SEND, EAL or FSM. It is, however, precisely those complexities and layers Shakespearean texts provide, which… Read More

Academic writing for GCSE

Academic writing just means that our students need to write in a formal manner that reflects their level of educational and is distinct from how they would converse orally or via text. A good approach is to gradually introduce students to a range of ways in which they can ensure their writing is more academic. I find it helpful to divide these into three aims: being concise, being precise, and being sophisticated. Read More

Avoiding empty analysis in GCSE English

It’s important that we encourage students to explore structure and form when they are analysing a literary text. However, this can sometimes lead to empty analysis. I’ve regularly read comments on exam papers like, ‘The writer uses a comma to convey how the two people are separate’ or ‘By writing in rhyming couplets, the poet demonstrates the speaker’s love for her partner’. Responses like these are often based on good ideas but, unfortunately, the analysis is tenuous: a comma doesn’t actually mean anything; a rhyming couplet doesn’t instantly represent love. 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

How to develop brilliant reading at KS3

Reading is in vogue at the moment – and rightly so! Several factors have raised the priority of reading in schools. The number of students reading at home has slowly dwindled as the number of distractions has dramatically increased. Alongside this, the GCSE changes have also increased KS3 reading demand… Read More

Boy wearing school uniform reading book in library

How to develop brilliant reading at KS3

Leaping across the writing gap: building resilience and independence at KS3

The impact of the disrupted nature of the last few years is perhaps most felt on the continuity which is key to progression. It is surely harder than ever to get a sense of just what level students transition with from the primary phase, given the gaps in learning and… Read More

Scandal and storytelling in The Picture of Dorian Gray

‘The love that dare not speak its name’ is generally understood to be a euphemistic reference to homosexuality. The phrase is commonly associated with Oscar Wilde; indeed Wilde was cross-examined about it by the prosecuting counsel Charles Gill when he was put on trial in 1895. But the phrase has… Read More

Forging creative connections in King Lear

Any teacher introducing King Lear in the classroom, whether for the first, or even the 20th time, can’t but help feel daunted by the sheer philosophical and emotional heft of Shakespeare’s most-studied tragedy. How do we convey the significance and complexity of its over-arching themes, such as power, loyalty and… Read More

Exploring Childhood in Hard Times

‘If we can only preserve ourselves from growing up, we shall never grow old and the young may love us to the last,’ declared Dickens. This call to protect the magic and wonder of childhood concluded his New Year’s Day essay, published in his magazine Household Words, almost exactly a… Read More