Essay Skills

Teaching Skulduggery Pleasant

Compelling characterisation The exciting action in Skulduggery Pleasant is played out by well defined and, at times, mysterious characters as written by author Derek Landy. In particular, the two main characters, the skeleton detective, Skulduggery Pleasant, and young Stephanie Edgley, break stereotypical moulds as they… Read More

Secondary English – The art of navigating textual analysis

What’s your point!? In a combined GCSE English Language and Literature package which boasts a plethora of ultra-ambitious aims and objectives devoted to the complex task of textual analysis, where do you begin when trying to plot your course? Trying to resolve that particular dilemma is not made any easier… Read More

All Secondary – Improving essay feedback in the classroom!

Anyone who teaches an essay based subject will know how frustrating it is to spend hours writing comments on students’ work, only for them to look at the grade and then crumple the work up in their bag. There it will often stay along with the model answer which they… Read More

Secondary Geography – A Level Essays

Tackling ‘A’ level Essay Writing The start of Year 13 for me always begins with trying to teach A Level students how to write a successful essay. We do AQA and there is a lot of emphasis in terms of marks on the one essay they have to write for… Read More

Secondary History – How to argue at A Level

Can you negotiate your hostage’s path to freedom? ‘But it’s really hard, it’s a big step up Miss’. This was the slightly hysterical cry of one of my not-quite-so-new Year 12 students last week. Indeed when they come back after the enviably long post-GCSE summer break, students… Read More