This assembly aims to assist children in becoming resilient learners who are more willing to approach tasks, keep trying when tasks become difficult, and learn from their mistakes. I love giving this assembly because I feel that the key message within it is so vital. More importantly, wherever I have given this assembly (to a wide-range of students from a wide-range of contexts) it has always gone down extremely well, with students being extremely engaged and informing me of their increased resilience in the months that follow! The slides are visually engaging and well-presented, and the subject matter is tailored to the interests and needs of young people. For example, there are references to Justin Bieber, Beyonce, Andy Murray, JK Rowling and a host of other successful people in the public eye who have needed to overcome difficulties. There is also a hyperlink to a music video which utilises a ‘Rude Goldberg Machine’ which has been painstakingly set up, through months of set-backs and sticking points, to achieve an extraordinary result. The slides are fairly self-explanatory, but I’ve included guidance notes to assist the speaker. Hope that you find this useful!

This detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students learning about/ revising their understanding of Judaism. It contains comprehensive sections under the following headings: -Judaism Overview; -Jewish Beliefs; -Judaism Timeline; -Key Vocabulary; -Top Ten Facts; -Answers to the Important Questions. Key words and ideas are underlined for easy reference. The resource is designed to be printed onto A3, and is provided as both a PDF and a Word version (so that you can edit if you want to).

This lesson aims to improve students’ understanding of one of the key scenes in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth – Act III Scene IV. In particular, they learn to make insightful interpretations about the changing nature of Macbeth’s tone throughout the scene, and are enabled to understand how this would have affected Shakespearean audiences. The lesson utilises a range of tasks, that require students to be visual and interactive learners. It follows this learning journey: - Defining the key term ‘tone’ and establishing its importance as a literary technique; - Understanding how tone is used to depict mood and attitude across a range of fiction; - Reading and interpreting Act 3 Scene 4, and establishing how Macbeth’s tone alters throughout; - Reflecting upon why this may/ what effect this may have had on audiences at the time; - Summarising the events of the scene; - Analysing Shakespeare’s intentions in sharply altering Macbeth’s tone throughout; - Peer/self evaluating the learning in the lesson. Included in this resource pack are: - A well-presented, thorough, and informative, whole-lesson PowerPoint presentation; - Resources for the reading and interpreting activity - full scene transcript with space for notes; - A template to help scaffold the main task, complete with P.E.E instructions; - Cards for the card sorting group activity - A comprehensive teacher guidance form/lesson plan to assist delivery. All images in this resource are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide of the lesson presentation.

This 16-page resource booklet contains a wide range of challenging and engaging comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Brian Bilston’s poem ‘Refugees.’ This is a clever poem that can be read in two ways - offering two perspectives regarding attitudes to refugees. Teachers have found the activities particularly useful throughout teaching, or for revision or guided reading sessions. Students have found these resources extremely engaging, and it is clearly highlighted within each task regarding which assessment strands the task is designed to demonstrate. It is provided in both Word (to allow for easy editing) and PDF (to ensure for consistency of formatting between computers). Activities within the booklet include (amongst many others): ‘Analysing Context’ - helping students to ‘Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written.’ ‘Analysing Subject Matter, Language and Structure’ - to help students to ‘Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate.’ ‘The Speaker’ - to help students to ‘Read, understand and respond to texts. Students should be able to: maintain a critical style and develop an informed personal response use textual references, including quotations, to support and illustrate interpretations.’

This detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students learning or revising Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol.' It contains comprehensive sections on: - Context; - Chapter by Chapter Summary (with quotes); - Main Characters; - Themes; - Features of Structure; - Dickens' Literary Devices. Key words and ideas are underlined for easy reference. The resource is designed to be printed onto A3, and is provided as both a PDF and a Word version (so that you can edit if you want to). All images used are licensed for commercial use and are cited on a separate document (included).

This detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students learning or revising William Shakespeare’s ‘Othello.’ It contains comprehensive sections on: Context; Scene by Scene Summary (with quotes); Main Characters; Themes; Dramatic Devices; Features of Tragedy. Key words and ideas are underlined for easy reference. The resource is designed to be printed onto A3, and is provided as both a PDF and a Word version (so that you can edit if you want to). All images used are licensed for commercial use and are cited on a separate document (included).

This detailed and visually-appealing resource offers a complete reference point for students learning about/ revising their understanding of Islam. It contains comprehensive sections under the following headings: -Islam Overview; -Islamic Beliefs; -Islam Timeline; -Key Vocabulary; -Top Ten Facts; -Answers to the Important Questions. Key words and ideas are underlined for easy reference. The resource is designed to be printed onto A3, and is provided as both a PDF and a Word version (so that you can edit if you want to).

This fun and original assembly aims to assist children in understanding the value of remaining humble, through: Understanding what humility is, and recognising why it is important; Looking at examples of behaviour that is proud/arrogant or humble, and noting the effect that it has; Learning strategies to demonstrate humility in their own lives. This assembly is tried and tested, and has always been really well received in the past. The slides are visually engaging and well-presented, and the subject matter is tailored to the interests and needs of young people. For example, there are references to scenarios and dilemmas that they themselves might find themselves in (for example how to show humility after winning at a sports match, or when they are becoming very skilled at something), in order to help them to make the right choices in their own lives. The session also includes a fun role-play task, a beautiful, thought-provoking video about the importance of humility, and a top ten tips for remaining humble information slide. All other resources that you will need (for example the story readings) are provided in the pack. The slides are fairly self-explanatory, but I’ve included guidance notes to assist the speaker. Hope that you find this useful!

This whole class reading session aims to develop children’s comprehension of Kit Wright’s poem ‘The Magic Box.’ After children have read the poem together (included as a PDF), they partake in a series of activities aiming to develop their retrieval, explanation, inference and creating skills. It also contains a vocabulary check immediately after the extract is read to clarify any unfamiliar/ difficult language. The tasks are comprised of quick-check questions, solo thinking, pair/ group discussions and deeper thinking activities. The session is best suited for children in years 2-4, although with minor adaptations it could feasibly be used with slightly younger and older year groups.

This engaging and informative lesson students to make sustained and developed links between Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and its social and historical context. In particular, students learn about the harsh treatment of the poor in Victorian society, the selfishness and cruelty of those in power, and attitudes towards sin, religion, and the supernatural. The lesson explores how Dickens explores these ideas through the allegorical nature of the text. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: - Understanding key information about Charles Dickens, his life, and influences; - Researching and sharing key contextual understanding about the rich, poor, healthcare, and religion in the 19th Century; - Reading Stave 1 of ‘A Christmas Carol’ and identifying evidence of contextual influences; - Analysing how Dickens presents his views about the cruelty of 19th Century life through the opening of the text; - Peer assessing each other’s learning attempts. Included is: - Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive; - Extract - Chapter 1 of A Christmas Carol; - Template for researching 19th Century life (and completed answer sheet for teachers); - Analysis template with success criteria for creating well-structured responses; - Comprehensive lesson plan. There are also opportunities for group learning, peer assessment, and whole class discussion. This was originally taught to mixed ability year 10 groups, but can easily be differentiated for groups of different ages and abilities. All images are licensed for commercial use, and image rights are listed on the last page of the presentation.

These comprehensive checklists have been created to aid school leaders when performing learning walks with a particular focus e.g. questioning, differentiation, etc. Clearly structured and organised, they present a central idea surrounded by a breakdown of a number of its key components. For the user, this layout provides a simple reference list of each of the desirable skills, categorised appropriately. The checklists also provide an alternative to regular feedback methods, which often focus too heavily on the standard or ‘judgement’, as opposed to being a developmental tool. Alternatively, these are really handy for teachers looking to develop their practice in the key teaching areas listed below. Included in the pack are checklists for: -Questioning -Differentiation -Utilising Resources (including support staff) -Engagement -Building Literacy Skills -Planning and Expectations -Building Learning Power -A blank template for you to design your own based upon your own focus Note: The checklists offer a range of desirable strategies that teachers should look to implement over time - it would be damaging to expect teachers to utilise each of these strategies in every lesson! Many Thanks

For use alongside lesson observations and learning walks, this succinct performance grid enables observers to gauge and categorise teaching and learning sessions using OFSTED guidance for effective teaching. The first page of the document provides descriptors of 'outstanding', 'good', 'requires improvement' and 'inadequate' teaching within appropriately considered focus areas, for example: Questioning, Planning, Use of Additional Adults, etc. Schools that already employ this tool often opt to highlight the descriptors on this page as they observe, thus creating a bigger picture of the strengths and areas for improvement in the teaching and learning observed. Schools who still grade individual lessons have noted that this is a helpful aid in arriving at an overall judgement. The second page allows observers to further pinpoint and describe the 'www' (what went well) and 'ebi' (even better if) aspects of the lesson, in order to make feedback to teachers more clear.

This engaging and informative lesson students to make insightful and developed interpretations of The Ghost of Christmas Past in Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol.’ In particular, they explore the ghost’s physical appearance, actions, and mannerisms, and analyse the extent to which the ghost symbolises the power of memories. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: - Reading and understanding the key plot elements of stave 2 - in which The Ghost of Christmas Past appears; - Identifying and exemplifying the key features of the ghost, including its appearance, actions, and mannerisms; - Analysing the extent to which the ghost represents the power of memories; - Peer assessing each other's learning attempts. Included is: - Whole lesson PowerPoint - colourful and comprehensive; - Extract - Chapter 2 of A Christmas Carol; - Features of The Ghost of Christmas Past Worksheet (and completed answer sheet for teachers); - Analysis template with success criteria for creating well-structured responses; - Comprehensive lesson plan. There are also opportunities for group learning, peer assessment, and whole class discussion. This was originally taught to mixed ability year 10 groups, but can easily be differentiated for groups of different ages and abilities. All images are licensed for commercial use, and image rights are listed on the last page of the presentation.

Based on the popular game show 'Pointless', this resource is perfect for use as a whole lesson resource, enrichment option, or revision tool. Editable, so that you can change to any other topic or change questions. (I've also added a blank template so that you can make your own games from scratch). Containing almost 30 slides of sound clips, engaging visuals, and suitably challenging questions, this resource is effective at both promoting engagement and enhancing learning. There are several full rounds of questions to build or revisit knowledge of characters, plot, and themes in 'A Christmas Carol.' Round 1. The characters in A Christmas Carol Round 2. Quotations from the text Round 3. Themes, Ideas, and Objects Round 4. Places where the ghosts take Scrooge The nature of this game ensures that the resource can challenge students of all levels. A blank template has also been added, so that you can create your own games!

This resource booklet contains a wide range of age-appropriate, engaging, and meaningful comprehension activities for use throughout the reading of Mark Haddon’s ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.’ Teachers have found them particularly useful in comprehension or guided reading sessions. They are perfect for aiding the progress of children towards meeting the KS3 expectations within the new National Curriculum framework. Children have found these resources extremely engaging, and for teachers there is explicit information within each task regarding which comprehension strands the task is designed to demonstrate. They also relate to key extracts, characters, and themes from the story, ensuring that children gain a deep understanding of the text. Activities within the booklet include: - ‘Context: Asperger’s Syndrome’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Know the purpose, audience and context of the writing and drawing on this knowledge to support comprehension.’ - ‘Haddon’s Description - The Police Station’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Know how language, including figurative language, vocabulary choice, grammar, text structure and organisational features, present meaning.’ - ‘Ed Boone’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Study setting, plot, and characterisation, and the effects of these.’ - ‘Vocabulary Inspector’ - to enable students to demonstrate that they can: ‘Learn new vocabulary, relating it explicitly to known vocabulary and understanding it with the help of context and dictionaries.’ Plus many, many more activities (the booklet is 21 pages in length!) I’ve also added it as a PDF in case the formatting differs on your computer. All images are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on a separate document (included).