A helpful one stop shop guide for students (and teachers!) on the Standard Level Diploma course. An excellent resource to give to students in the first few weeks so they understand where they are heading, and how they will be assessed.

A guide for students on the Speaking and Listening component of the AQA Language GCSE with examples of possible topics students could do. The topics were taken from real students who spoke very well on these topics.

A revision powerpoint on every poem in the AQA GCSE English Literature Power & Conflict anthology. I have condensed the quotes, themes, context and comparisons into one slide per poem. Perfect as a handout or as revision in class. Particularly useful for students who have struggled to know what to revise.

A full SOW for Philip Pullman’s stage adaptation of Frankenstein. This SOW would be perfect for 11-14 year olds to introduce them to drama, close reading, inference and thinking about larger themes/ideas. There is a PowerPoint for each Act, containing detailed discussion opportunities and activities differentiated appropriately, as well as extracts from Shelley’s novel to start exploring the language of 19th century literature. You are free to set whatever assessments you wish to fit with your specification. This is NOT a SOW for Shelley’s novel but Philip Pullman’s adaptation of it. As no dramatisation exists of this script, Ive gone with the next best thing and included a link to Danny Boyle’s excellent production for the National Theatre a few years ago (educational use permitted) in the last presentation. That production is NOT based on Pullman’s adaptation, but it is an excellent dramatization of the novel. I have included information in the final slides to help you to judge if it would be suitable to show to your students.

An original, extensive guide on assisting students with writing top level essays. It includes full guidance on how to write introductions, a range of analytical verbs differentiated (bronze, silver, gold) and some example paragraphs. The texts this was taught with were Romeo and Juliet, Jekyll & Hyde, An Inspector Calls, and Power and Conflict, but this advice is applicable no matter your choice of text and the resource is easily adaptable to your specific choice of text.

A full SOW for Caryl Churchill’s play Top Girls for the IB DP, complete with activities, differentiated questions for students, some contextual reading and practice exam questions…

Fully resourced and planned SOW to introduce William Blake to KS3 classes. The unit looks at a selection of poems from his beautiful Songs of Innocence and of Experience, working towards a poetry comparison assessment akin to the poetry anthology comparison of AQA GCSE Literature Paper 2. Because there is usually an Innocence poem with an Experience counterpart, the poems are arranged in pairs in a booklet, and there is a lesson for the following poems: The Lamb/The Tyger The Chimney Sweepers The Echoing Green/The Garden of Love Infant Joy/Infant Sorrow The Divine Image/A Divine Image A Poison Tree (no Innocence counterpart) I have also added two more poems to the booklet to extend the unit/stretch and challenge if necessary (no powerpoints) Little Boy Lost and London The unit looks at the religious, social and historical context of the time, the themes of the poems (sin, death, religion, desire, childhood, poverty etc.) so it provides a really good grounding in early Romantic poetry and Blake himself, which will stand students in excellent stead for Power and Conflict in KS4. I have included a worksheet with an acronym that helps all students to analyse poetry: Structure, Meaning, Imagery, Language, Effect (SMILE). This supports all students, especially those who are nervous about poetry. This unit works well as a gentle introduction to the AQA GCSE Literature Paper 2 poetry assessment criteria, and obviously they will feel more confident with Blake when they come to the poetry anthology in KS4. As a unit wind down, students can create their own social justice poem in the style of Blake - this has produced some excellent, imaginative and heartbreaking poems from students. For teachers, there is also an analysis guide to every poem in the whole collection from AQA which is very helpful.

A full scheme of work with presentations and extracts for Witch Child by Celia Rees based on the skills/assessment objectives of AQA GCSE Literature Paper 1. Aimed at KS3 - has been taught to medium to high ability Y8. The unit aims to encourage close reading/annotation/inference skills. Lessons focus on understanding the text, its key themes, wider historical/religious context, and narrative/descriptive choices. The homework project also encourages independent research/AO3 skills; it also allows for some very creative responses. The lessons focus mostly on the first two-thirds of the novel - the remainder can be incorporated into reading lessons as an end of unit wind down. This SOW has been created from scratch so is original and planned carefully with the GCSE Literature criteria in mind. There are a lot of images/discussion opportunities. All you need is copies of the text itself. There is also a link to a fascinating documentary presented by Simon Armitage on the Pendle Witch trials. This SOW would work well for Y7 or Y8 as a gentle introduction to the GCSE Literature assessment criteria.

Fully resourced and planned original lessons for the teaching of AQA GCSE Language Paper 1 (with a Paper 2 Q5 opportunity as well) around the theme of Dystopia, both on the page and on screen. The lessons focus on: Doctor Who Brave New World Handmaid’s Tale 1984 The Hunger Games A Sound of Thunder Minority Report Black Mirror I, Robot All lessons are ordered and links have been checked to ensure they work. I have incorporated a lot of videos and images for interest. There is one short story, A Sound of Thunder, which will take a few lessons to do. The others are all short extracts of larger works. Some of the material (The Handmaid’s Tale, Brave New World) means that it is more suitable for mature Y9 classes/Y10-11 classes. There are some great opportunities for class debates on the ethics of technology, time travel, social media etc. Other texts such as Frankenstein or Jekyll & Hyde could be brought in as well. The extracts used are listed as separate word documents but they are also collated into a booklet if preferred. Lessons 7 and 8 are based on dystopia on screen and act as excellent unit wind downs. There is no final assessment as such included in the unit - it is presumed that this unit is leading towards the sitting of a part or all of Language Paper 1. Has been taught to high ability Y9 thus far but there is plenty of material that would interest and stretch all abilities. Feedback from the kids has been very positive so far!

A full scheme of work with presentations for The Importance of Being Earnest, perfect for any A-Level/KS5/IB Diploma level class. There is a Powerpoint for each Act, so this is perfect for a truly in-depth study. This SOW has been planned carefully with lots of discussion opportunities and questions that can be posed to students… Lessons focus on understanding the text, its key themes and wider historical context. There are activities for each scene, and this scheme of work is flexibly laid out so it can be used with any exam specification.

A full scheme of work for The Crucible. There is a Powerpoint for every act, so this is perfect for a truly in-depth study. Lessons focus on understanding the text, its key themes and wider historical context. This SOW has been planned carefully with lots of discussion opportunities and questions that can be posed to students. This scheme of work is flexibly laid out so it can be used with any exam specification. I recommend using the excellent production starring Richard Armitage which is available in Digital Theatre Plus with a subscription

A full scheme of work for Primo Levi’s If This Is A Man for the IB Diploma’s Literature and Language course, complete with activities, contextual reading and opportunities for discussion. Every chapter is covered so this is perfect for an in-depth study of the book, or certain chapters can be selected if short on time. Lessons focus on close analysis of the text, exploring some possible non-literary texts (articles etc), as well as giving larger historical context to flesh out students’ understanding. As it is a text written by a Holocaust survivor, naturally there will be images, videos and themes that may be distressing, so students should be warned of this in advance.

A full scheme of work with presentations and extracts for The Merchant of Venice. The lessons can be adapted to any KS4 specification, or indeed be taught to a KS5 / A-Level class. There is a lesson for most scenes of the play (a few have been brought together/summarised), so this SOW is perfect for a truly in-depth study, or certain scenes can be selected if short on time. For ease, I have labelled each scene with a short summary of what happens in case you can’t remember what happens in Act II scene ii! The unit aims to encourage close reading/annotation/inference skills. Lessons focus on understanding the text, its key themes and wider historical context. There are differentiated questions for most scenes that can be used to stretch and challenge students that can be adapted to suit any class/ability/specification. I am a Shakespeare specialist and this SOW has been created from scratch by me so is original and planned carefully with lots of discussion opportunities and questions that can be posed to students…

A full scheme of work with presentations and resources for A Midsummer Night’s Dream based on the skills/assessment objectives of GCSE but the lessons can be adapted to any other KS4 specification, or indeed be taught to a KS5 / A-Level class. There is a lesson for every single scene of the play, so this SOW is perfect for a truly in-depth study, or certain scenes can be selected if short on time. For ease, I have labelled each scene with a short summary of what happens in case you can’t remember what happens in Act II scene ii! The unit aims to encourage close reading/annotation/inference skills. Lessons focus on understanding the text, its key themes and wider historical context. There are differentiated questions for all scenes that can be used to stretch and challenge students . I am a Shakespeare specialist and this SOW has been planned carefully with lots of discussion opportunities and questions that can be posed to students…

A full scheme of work with presentations for Antigone, perfect for any A-Level/KS5/IB Diploma level English or Drama class. There is a Powerpoint covering every section of the play, with videos and images for interest, so this is perfect for a truly in-depth study. Lessons focus on understanding the text, its key themes and wider historical context. I have included a lot of information on the political and social background to help students understand context more fully. This SOW has been planned carefully with lots of discussion opportunities and questions that can be posed to students. Tis scheme of work is flexibly laid out so it can be used with any specification.

A full scheme of work with presentations and extracts for Twelfth Night based on the skills/assessment objectives of the IGCSE but the lessons can be adapted to any other KS4 specification, or indeed be taught to a KS5 / A-Level class. There is a lesson for every single scene of the play, so this SOW is perfect for a truly in-depth study, or certain scenes can be selected if short on time. For ease, I have labelled each scene with a short summary of what happens in case you can’t remember what happens in Act II scene ii! The unit aims to encourage close reading/annotation/inference skills. Lessons focus on understanding the text, its key themes and wider historical context. There are differentiated questions for most scenes that can be used to stretch and challenge students that can be adapted to suit any class/ability/specification. I am a Shakespeare specialist and this SOW has been planned carefully with lots of discussion opportunities and questions that can be posed to students…

A full SOW for the Poems of the Decade anthology as part of the Edexcel A-Level Literature course. Ideal for supporting students through these complex poems, with differentiated questions for each poem, and powerpoints for 15 of the poems. For the sake of variety, the other poems are learned more independently through carousel activities with the teacher as a supervisor or guide. Examples of timed essays that could be used as mocks or end of year assessments and otential homework documents are also included. This SOW has been taught with great success to Year 12 groups, usually as the first module of the course, so there is a welcome PPT outlining the structure of the course (please fill in the table with your school’s texts) and expectations.

A full scheme of work with presentations for A Streetcar Named Desire, perfect for any A-Level/KS5/IB Diploma level class. There is a Powerpoint for every scene of the play, so this is perfect for a truly in-depth study. The unit aims to encourage close reading/annotation/inference skills. Lessons focus on understanding the text, its key themes and wider historical context. This SOW has been taught to Year 13 groups with great success, andI would recommend using the excellent production of the play starring Gillian Anderson which is available online with a Digital Theatre+ subscription.

A full scheme of work with presentations for The Great Gatsby, perfect for any A-Level/KS5/IB Diploma level class. There is a Powerpoint for every chapter, so this is perfect for a truly in-depth study. Lessons focus on understanding the text, its key themes and wider historical context. This SOW has been planned carefully with lots of discussion opportunities and questions that can be posed to students. Tis scheme of work is flexibly laid out so it can be used with any specification.

A full scheme of work with presentations for The Handmaid’s Tale, perfect for any A-Level/KS5/IB Diploma level class. TLessons focus on understanding the text, its key themes and wider historical context. This SOW has been planned carefully with lots of discussion opportunities and questions that can be posed to students. Thiis scheme of work is flexibly laid out so it can be used with any specification.