Secondary English

Advice on teaching literacy at post-16 from guest blogger and teacher Alexandra O'Conner. Read More

Naomi Hursthouse offers advice on improving drop everything and read so that all students can benefit. Read More

I don’t know about you, but I have found the AQA English Language, Paper 1, Question 3- commenting on the structure of a text- mighty troublesome this year! As much as I try to help students identify shifts in time, character, location, and find interesting patterns,… Read More

Spelling, punctuation and grammar is on the agenda again. Not only do our key stage 2 students have to sit the controversial ‘grammar tests’, but most subjects now need to award marks for SPG at GCSE level. So, we need to help our… Read More

What we read can say a lot about us. Books instil a sense of identity and purpose, exposing us to unique situations and offering insight into areas we would never otherwise encounter. What we read during our time in school – be it for an assignment or pleasure – often determines… Read More

I have an obsession. One that drives my teaching and learning. One that caught your attention just now. Go on – admit it. A short sentence which begins ‘I have an obsession’ probably makes you think I am going to reveal bones in the caretaker’s cupboard, a hoard of football… Read More

  We all want young people to read, to enjoy books, to get lost in a story.  But how do you do that with readers who just don’t want to read, or who find it difficult getting through a book? You have to grab those readers with that… Read More

As we come to the end of what has been a fantastic GCSE English Festival, we round up some the week’s highlights. If you missed any of the week’s festivities, you can find links to all of our blog posts, videos and exclusive resources here, so you don’t miss a thing! Read More

There’s a moment in ‘Touching the Void’ when Joe, badly injured, describes his discovery of a meticulous ‘pattern of movements’; a way of travelling slowly but effectively across an inhospitable landscape. Ultimately he transforms a task that seems daunting - to say the least - into something that is achievable. Without wishing to compare the prospect of preparing students for their new English GCSEs to a perilous trek across icy terrain, it does feel as if Joe’s approach might have something useful to offer in terms of tackling the challenge of new specifications, particularly with regard to monitoring students' progress through the course and preparing them for the terminal assessment. Read More

Here's a thought experiment: what current books will be read in the future? What movies and TV shows will they watch a century from now? What songs from 2015 will they listen to in 2215? I don’t mean this in an academic or archival sense; I'm talking about the works people pick up and enjoy on their own — the way Pride and Prejudice and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes still grip us despite being over a century old. Read More