I'm currently the head of English and raising standards leader at a secondary school in Birmingham. I'm passionate about my subject and passionate about ensuring that the young people we serve leave education with a high competency in English.
Prior to teaching I worked in the radio industry as a presenter for 7 years and so when I became a teacher I enjoyed the opportunity to teach Media studies.
You'll find hundreds of English and Media studies resources.
I'm currently the head of English and raising standards leader at a secondary school in Birmingham. I'm passionate about my subject and passionate about ensuring that the young people we serve leave education with a high competency in English.
Prior to teaching I worked in the radio industry as a presenter for 7 years and so when I became a teacher I enjoyed the opportunity to teach Media studies.
You'll find hundreds of English and Media studies resources.
A series of lessons attached that explore ‘Simon Lee: The Old Hunstman.’
Lessons include:
inference skills
comparing perspectives with model answers
do now activities
exploration of moral and links to the corona virus pandemic and random acts of kindness
article writing
This is a complete 6 week unit on Non Fiction Writing using topical issues.
Students work through a booklet which contains all extracts and activities. There is also an accompanying power point presentation.
Students will explore the following speeches, letters and articles:
Boris Johnson - Lockdown
Marcus Rashford - free school meals
Greta Thunberg - climate change
David Attenborough - climate change
Lilly Allen - Refugee crisis
Bukayo Saka - Racism in football
Martin Luther King - Racism
Emma Watson - gender equality
Malala - 16th birthday speech
Hands not hate article in response to homophobic attacks
As students progress through the unit they will explore rhetoric and how effective non fiction writing is structured and work on building their own piece of writing.
The unit culminates with speaking and listening.
The booklet also contains scaffolds for students who may need support in accessing the unit.
A booklet of lessons to support the teaching of act 1 of Macbeth.
Each lesson has a big and small question, provides key terms to support scene exploration and contains a knowledge retention quiz that also tests student knowledge of Power and conflict poetry and A Christmas Carol.
A range of activities are included to support students with modelled responses.
A knowledge booklet designed for students to use as they study Romeo and Juliet in class. Suitable for KS3 and KS4 GCSE students.
Lessons for all scenes and scaffolded activities for students who may need it.
All lessons include a ‘do now’ activity that encourages knowledge retention and provide key term definitions to assist reading of scenes. Context is embedded and advanced reading around literary heritage is also provided.
Lessons provide opportunity for students to develop and practice:
language/structure analysis
Narrative writing
Writing about view points and perspectives
evaluation skills
SPaG
GCSE literature skills
academic writing including creating introductions
3 lessons designed to revise with students how to write an academic essay including introduction.
The first lesson models to students
The second lesson is a ‘we do’ lesson where, with teacher support, students structure an answer to a new Macbeth question.
The third lesson is designed to be an assessment where students answer a third Macbeth question independently.
Three Macbeth sample assessments included
A student booklet and teacher power point that takes students through how to answer and revise for the Romeo and Juliet AQA literature question.
Model answers included and guidance on how to structure an academic introduction.
Opportunities for students to write their own answers with and without scaffolds.
The resource uses two different exam questions.
A series of lessons following the I do, we do, you do structure that guides students through how to write an academic response to the GCSE exam question on Power and conflict poetry.
Students are guided through:
how to tackle the question
how to plan their response
how to write an effective introduction
how to structure an academic essay
Three exam questions included for students to work on.
A complete walking talking mock for AQA English language paper 1 and paper 2.
Includes a student booklet containing model answers, exam tips and opportunity for students to practice annotation and structuring answers to the questions.
This resource uses the June 18 AQA English language inserts.
A power point is included to guide students through the mock.
A power point and student work booklet that helps students to understand the requirements of the writing tasks on both AQA language papers as well as develop skills.
Included:
example stronger and weaker answers
exploration of the mark scheme
exam hacks and tips
opportunity to develop effective descriptions
opportunity to structure effective narratives
opportunity to structure effective non fiction writing
exploration of rhetoric and rhetorical devices
effective strategies for planning responses
4 complete lessons that guide students through an exploration of ‘The Right Word’ by Imtiaz Dharker.
Included is a pupil booklet for students to use as they explore the poem including do now activities, contextual information, knowledge checks, space to analyse the poem as well as planning tables for closer analysis of language and structure.
Lesson 1 - context based and what the poem is about
Lesson 2 - Explores the repeated ideas, feelings and tone/mood
Lesson 3 - Language exploration
Lesson 4 - Structure exploration
Also included is a power point to guide students through the exploration of the poem.
A Walking talking mock that uses the AQA examiner feedback from summer 2023 to guide students through a process of planning and then writing answers/essays to the ‘An Inspector Calls’ question.
Power point (40 slides) and student work booklet included.
This resource focuses on helping students to:
plan their response
consider the text chronologically
embed context rather than bolt it on at the end
consider how themes can be context rather than just Historical events
create thesis statements
consider the texts as a construct
Exam questions used in this resource: Selfishness & Sheila as a character who learns lessons
Model answers included.
A Walking talking mock that uses the AQA examiner feedback from summer 2023 to guide students through a process of planning and then writing answers/essays in response to the Jekyll and Hyde question.
Power point (40 slides) and student work booklet included.
This resource focuses on helping students to:
plan their response
consider the text chronologically
embed context rather than bolt it on at the end
consider how themes can be context rather than just Historical events
create thesis statements
consider the text as a construct
Exam questions used in this resource: sympathy for Jekyll#
Model answers included.
40 revision cards with questions on one side and answers on the other to make revision fast and simple. This resource is best used in a small index card folder/organiser.** (As seen in the image) **
Based on the Leitner method, the idea is simple: the further the card goes back in the folder: the more secure the information is in long term memory.
A card can only move back a position if you correctly answer the questions on the card. If at any point you do not answer a card correctly enough, the card must return to section 1 regardless of how far back it went. This is because it needs to be re-studied.
Quotation cards
There are 3 questions on each card: a ‘who’ question, a ‘what’ question and a ‘why’ question.
Knowledge cards.
These cards test knowledge of either subject terminology or the text itself. Subject terminology cards include questions on the definitions of language devices, sentence types and word classes as well as specific terminology.
Knowledge cards include questions about context, plot, character and theme.
Getting started
Create 6 sections in your ‘Lightning Revision’ folder.
Place all/some cards in section 1 at the front of the folder.
Follow the timetable card **(photo attached) **which tells you which of the sections you should revise each day. You’ll revise section 1 every day because cards in this section are the ones that you are least secure with.
If you answer correctly enough: move the card to the next section.
If you aren’t happy that you answered correctly enough then move the card back to section 1. (Regardless of how far back in the folder it was.)
**The Science bit: the better the mastery: the less frequent the practice. **
‘Lightning Revision’ works using the principle of ‘spaced learning.’
Research shows that after studying something: within one hour, you will have forgotten an average of 50% percent of the information. Within 24 hours, you have forgotten around 70% and within a month, this increases to 90%.
By spacing out the studying and by returning frequently to the material we want to remember, we increase our chances of committing it to long term memory.
Instead of ‘cramming,’ the simple act of spacing out revision in instalments, and allowing time to elapse between them makes the learning and memory stronger.
This resource has been created to help information that you have revised stay within your long term memory. In this system, we revise information that we are insecure with more frequently.
2 versions included:
Print - fold horizontally - cut them up and you’re ready to go!
Print back to back and you;re ready to go.
A Walking talking mock that uses the AQA examiner feedback from the summer exams to guide students through a process of planning and then writing answers to English language paper 1.
Power point (81 slides) and student work booklet included.
This resource focuses on helping students to:
plan their responses to the questions
consider the order in which to answer the questions
explore methods and their effect concisely
improve responses through model answers
consider ‘mood’ as a central concept in all of the tasks on the paper
develop their imaginative writing
Source material: Daphne De Maurier ‘Don’t look now’
Model answers included.
A Walking talking mock that uses the AQA examiner feedback from summer 2023 to guide students through a process of planning and then writing answers/essays to the ‘Macbeth’ question.
Power point (37 slides) and student work booklet included.
This resource focuses on helping students to:
• plan their response
• consider the text chronologically
• embed context rather than bolt it on at the end
• consider how themes can be context rather than just Historical events
• create thesis statements
• consider the texts as a construct
Exam questions used in this resource: Macbeth’s violence
Model answers included.
Additional exam question used: Macbeth and Banquo’s attitude towards the super natural.
Lessons that guide students through the process of writing a comparison between Exposure and Extract from the Prelude as well as Exposure and Storm on the Island.
Students are encouraged to think about a thesis - a central argument that will run throughout their essay. What do we learn about the power in Exposure? What is the big idea?
Once students have this they are encouraged to unpick a quotation and explore how the words/devices used corroborate their thesis before writing their first paragraph.
Once complete, students apply the same process to the second poem by considering how the power has been presented and using evidence effectively.
A Walking talking mock that uses the AQA examiner feedback from summer 2023 to guide students through a process of planning and then writing answers/essays in response to Romeo and Juliet.
Power point (42 slides) and student work booklet included.
This resource focuses on helping students to:
plan their response
consider the text chronologically
embed context rather than bolt it on at the end
consider how themes can be context rather than just Historical events
create thesis statements
consider the texts as constructs
Exam question used in this resource: relationships between older and younger characters
Model answers included.
A Walking talking mock that uses the AQA examiner feedback from summer 2023 to guide students through a process of planning and then writing answers/essays to the following literature texts:
Jekyll and Hyde
Romeo and Juliet
Unseen poetry
An INspector Calls
Power point (130 slides) and student work booklet included.
This resource focuses on helping students to:
plan their response
consider the texts chronologically
embed context rather than bolt it on at the end
consider how themes can be context rather than just Historical events
create thesis statements
consider the texts as constructs
Exam questions used in this resource:
Jekyll & Hyde - sympathy for Jekyll
Romeo and Juliet - relationships between older and younger characters
An Inspector Calls - Selfishness & Sheila as a character who learns lessons
Unseen poetry - Autumn poem
A walking talking mock that uses the 2023 paper and inserts about train journeys.
Power point presentation and student work booklet included that:
guides students through strategies for answering each of the questions in section A in order to secure at least a grade 5
provides students with level 2 responses and guides them through how to create level 3 and 4 answers
supports students in how to read the sources effectively
supports students in making inferences and considering the big ideas to help with structuring academic responses
advises students to read the questions first
This presentation was used at conferences to explore the concept of work scrutiny in schools.
The presentation:
explores the what, how and why of work scrutiny
addresses the problems with work scrutiny
provides examples and non examples
is rooted in relevant research
explores how work scrutiny can become much more impactful in schools / departments
takes Ofsted into account and their implementation of work scrutiny as part of a deep dive
compares work scrutiny with a book look
provides potential templates that could be used to make the process of work scrutiny much more impactful