Member Blog
Our member blogs capture a series of approaches from English teachers and academics to support members in developing their approach in the classroom. Departmental teams can print, share and discuss these articles as subject CPD.
Do you have a particular approach that you would like to share? Perhaps a particular area of subject knowledge or your experience of teaching a specific text or genre? Maybe a perspective piece for fellow Heads of Department colleagues? We would love to hear from you and share with the community. Read our blog guidance before getting in touch.
New Year’s Reflections and Resolutions
Mary is an experienced teacher and leader, and was a school improvement officer for 10 years. Mary loves reading, a creating teaching...
Shakesfear: Getting to Grips with the Bard
Jill Reynolds Kiwi-born singing grammar guru working in a new academy in Greater Manchester. I’ve been teaching for 11 years, have set up...
The Realities of being a Mentor
Bonnie is an English teacher from Bristol who has worked in a number of different secondary schools since qualifying in 2012. As well as...
Making links between quotations, themes and structure: Exploring fiction digitally with the CLiC web app
Learning to effectively engage with literary texts and make use of quotations is an important aspect for students at both GCSE and...
Starting Small, Thinking Big
The Quotation Bank provides study and revision guides for GCSE set texts, focusing on the skills of close analysis and interpretation, as...
Discovering Literature with the British Library
When did you last delve into Discovering Literature?This free online resource from the British Library is brimming with inspiration for...
TEACHERS ARE THIEVES
Some may disagree with me, but I believe this to be a fact. We have all been shaped by what we’ve experienced, both in and out of the...
The Depression Trap and Nature’s Failsafe
Andy Sammons leads English in a large secondary comprehensive. He has had numerous roles in schools over the last decade, including Key...
My name is Craig and I have a confession to make…
I never understood marking. I mean it. I never understood it: how it worked, why I was doing it, how it helped students… it all eluded me...
My Literacy Journey: 25 Strategies to Promote Literacy
Three years ago I was appointed as Literacy Co-ordinator. As a Geography teacher by trade, the prospect seemed both exciting and...
A Cold Read: Getting Through the Big, Hard Books!
Right, we’ve got seven weeks to get through Romeo and Juliet with Y11, interleaved with some poetry and Language Paper 1 revision, oh and...