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.
Igniting Thinking, Inspiring Practice: Reflections from LitdriveCPD Southampton
Written by the host of LitdriveCPD: Southampton, June 2025, John Murphy June 18th marked Southampton's third yearly regional event, with...
From Formulaic to Sophisticated: Transforming A Level Essay Writing
In this series from Litdrive, we bring you short form blog posts that you can read in under three minutes. Whether you are an ECT looking...
Stretch and Challenge in A Level Language: Beyond the Specification
In this series from Litdrive, we bring you short form blog posts that you can read in under three minutes. Whether you are an ECT looking...
The Power of Patterns: Teaching Discourse Structure
When we ask students to explain how a text is structured, many struggle to go beyond naming features or spotting the obvious. They might...
Grammar in Context: Using Texts to Teach
In this series from Litdrive, we bring you short form blog posts that you can read in under three minutes. Whether you are an ECT looking...
LitdriveCPD25 National Conference: Celebrating Our Community of English Teachers
Our national conference LitdriveCPD25 marked a personal milestone as my first as Strategic Director, and what a brilliant day it was. With...
Key Considerations from the Curriculum and Assessment Review | Teacher Perspectives
The recently published Curriculum and Assessment Interim Report has ignited important discussions among English teachers. As part of...
‘If it be not now, yet it will come — the readiness is all’: GCSE English reform
John Murphy is Litdrive’s Regional Lead for the South. Hailing from Ireland, John is Head of English, teaching KS3 to KS5, in Southampton....
Balancing prescriptivism with descriptivism at KS5
In this new series from Litdrive, we will be bringing you short form blog posts that you can read in under three minutes. Whether you are...
Word Building Blocks: How Etymology and Morphology Aid Vocabulary Learning
In this new series from Litdrive, we will be bringing you short form blog posts that you can read in under three minutes. Whether you are...
Powerful Extracts: A Prologue with Punch
In a new series from Litdrive, we will be bringing you short form blog posts that you can read in under three minutes. Whether you are an...