collins primary

Letters and Sounds and Challenging the More Able Child

Teachers often get training on how to support struggling children. They spend time planning and creating resources to support those children. However, teacher training can sometimes miss showing teachers how to challenge the most able children, and challenge (particularly in phonics teaching) is regularly a focus of attention in Ofsted… Read More

Lesson: Write your own Christmas carols

‘I’m offering this simple phrase to kids from one to 92. Although it’s been said many times, many ways, Merry Christmas to you’. A lively, musical, festive and fun lesson on writing your own Christmas carols. Whether you have finished your lessons for the term or just want to… Read More

When was the golden age of medicine?

Someone in my village recently went into hospital for a life-changing operation. She had a knee replacement and she can now drive and walk quite a way, which she couldn’t do before. Such operations are now routine and usually very safe – this is her second knee replacement! But has… Read More

Collins Big Cat Writing Competition 2018: Seeds and Beginnings

Of all the questions I’m asked at school visits, the most common one (after ‘How much do you earn?’) is ‘Where do you get your ideas from?’. I think many readers assume they just pop into authors’ head fully formed as if by magic. Perhaps for some… Read More

Closing the Word Gap

On the 27th of April Collins hosted the first Closing the Word Gap early reading conference. The conference was led by early reading experts Charlotte Raby and Emily Guille-Marrett who discussed comprehension, fluency, phonics and reading for pleasure. We’ve rounded up some of the key findings from the day below. The… Read More

Teaching for mastery: The pros and cons

Written by Jo Lees Jo has taught and led mathematics in primary and secondary settings. She is a former member of ACME and is on the MA committee for CPD. In her current post, apart from co-authoring The Shanghai Maths Project for Collins, Jo leads a large local authority… Read More

Why Outdoor Learning is a Must

Are you an innie or an outie? The problem is most children and their teachers are innies and there’s an outdoor education deficit. According to research, we spend so much time indoors even prison inmates get more fresh air than we do and that’s just #out of order… Read More

Make Every Week Science Week!

British Science week is here – a ten-day programme of science, technology, engineering and maths events and activities across the UK for people of all ages, beginning 9th March 2018. For information about events happening near your school and for great ideas for STEM activities to do in school go… Read More

Poetry retreats for primary kids: sunsets, reflections and togetherness  

Imagine having no timetable, no classroom and no curriculum. At first glance, this idea might phenomenally liberating; we may think of all the things which we feel hold us back in our work just melting away. Or it might sound terrifying and destabilising, as we strain to imagine getting through… Read More

10 Ways To Give Better Feedback

Feedback comes in all shapes, sizes and flavours but the bottom line is that it must serve a learning function to bring about transformation and improve performance. Feedback needs to be expansive and dynamic, not limited and static so that it focuses hearts and minds on progress. Be on time… Read More