Secondary English

The Power of the Motif: How to Ace Descriptive Writing

After reading many torturous stories (‘and then… and then… and then…), I think that most of us have been steering our students towards the Descriptive rather than the Narrative task in the GCSE English Language Paper. The focus on one place or situation frees up many students to concentrate on… Read More

Hammering it home: how writers use imagery to create effects!

By Peter Morrisson He’d left his laptop open, and still switched on. As her hand had brushed against the screen, it had shamelessly flickered into life, brazenly displaying the profile of a young woman with a shock of red hair, piercing green eyes and heavy pancake makeup who called herself… Read More

Using a Bilingual Dictionary: Hints & Tips

Using a dictionary is a skill that students can improve with practice and by following some basic guidelines. Here we have tried to focus on the areas that will help students to make most effective use of their bilingual dictionary. Read More

Tackling underachievement in English

Tackling underachievement in English This year I took a different approach to setting our year 9 English groups. The problem with focusing on current attainment data is that you risk writing-off students who are not currently reaching their potential, and the problem with focusing on prior… Read More

Tips and Tricks to Make Your Students Work Harder

Time is of the essence. Never has that adage been more true than in the current educational climate: we are working harder and harder, and expectations for student progress are increasing year on year. I want ALL of my students to make outstanding progress, but that means that they all… Read More