“To write is human, to edit is divine.” Stephen King, ‘On Writing’ ‘I’ve finished’ is a common refrain you hear in the classroom soon after pupils are set a writing task. Pupils’ urge to write can see them rush to pour their ideas onto the page. Alas, for too many pupils, their energised efforts can …
Do our pupils need support for bolster their writing development? In my last blog, I posed the question about whether there was a hidden problem with the damage wrought by the pandemic on pupils who have joined secondary school. The evidence of a dip in national date at both Key Stage 2 and Key Stage …
Are pupils new to secondary school this year prepared for the challenges of academic writing? After a couple of terms of secondary school, it becomes clearer whether pupils are getting to grips with the academic demands. As they write narratives in English, essays in history, notes in science, or annotate in art, pupils are expected …
Is there a hidden writing problem in secondary schools? Read More »
There are few topics in education – indeed, English life – that inspire fear, loathing and unfulfilled expectations quite like the subject of grammar. Researchers are quick to challenge notions of ‘standard English’ and how grammar is being taught in primary school, or the tyranny of tests. Sadly, amidst these loud debates, too many teachers …
It is crucial that busy teachers are supported with timely and accessible resources to support their work. As a result, to go alongside my new book, ‘Closing the Writing Gap’, I have produced a small number of tools that I hope will help translate the insights from the book into action. The free resources include: …
I was drawn to teaching English for a whole host of reasons. Primarily, it was due to a deep love for the nourishing power of literature and stories. It was because the power of literature could, metaphorically, and sometimes literally, lift me out of a slough of despond, or buffer me against the depressing crashes …
Earlier this week I wrote a brief post explaining how research evidence that appeared from the Education Endowment Fund (EEF) appeared to challenge evidence undertaken by Deborah Myhill and her team at Exeter University on the success of her ‘grammar for writing‘ programme. See here. Now, as an English teacher, ‘grammar for writing‘ is a …
A Cautionary Tale of Educational Evidence – Part 2 Read More »
