Pupil’s comments on reading could be read alongside @barbarableiman.bsky.social 's recent posts re hyper-control of teaching: www.englishandmedia.co.uk/blog/how-a-m...

“I really used to enjoy reading. But now, in school, I can’t read without having this fear of being in trouble for not tracking every line with a bookmark,” pupils, parents, pols complain about behaviour management policies at Athena Academy Trust. (At 3.55 here: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis... )

The latest @booksforkeeps.bsky.social is out - free online! Beyond the Secret Garden looks at multilingualism in children's books. @ksandsoconnor.bsky.social and I discuss 'I'm Going to Make a Friend'. And an excellent column on tower blocks (and gardens!) from @letterboxlibrary.bsky.social!

He's here! Our Waterstones #ChildrensLaureate @frankcottrellboyce.bsky.social has taken the stage and is diving straight in to his Lecture. As he says: "Those children arriving at school without experiencing the joys of a physically handling a book are carrying a huge disadvantage."

OK, anyone out there in the market for an INCREDIBLE book for roughly 8-12 year olds? I have just read The Deep Dark by Zohra Nabi and it blew my socks off. Imagine the Buffy episode Reptile Boy but set in Victorian london, exploring colonialism and capitalism, with magical music too. #KidLitUK

Oracy and DLD, a thread. #DevLangDis #NAPLIC26

Thank you @englishassociation.bsky.social for sharing this research on the power of young people's narrative writing to increase empathy & reduce political polarisation. A very important message for schools in our times & with a new NC in English under construction. www.psy.ox.ac.uk/news/new-stu...

Please retweet.

This!

These students need simple, careful, responsive teaching in environments that care. 😊

📌 ICYMI — Local Election Results 2026: Morgan McSweeney’s ‘Blue Labour’ Legacy Lives… Keir Starmer's former adviser's strategy of focusing on Reform-sympathetic 'hero voters', whilst spurning Labour's natural supporters on the left, has led to a disastrous set of local election results for the…

Professor John Curtice says that voting shows the Green Party are doing more damage to the Labour Party than Reform

Nigel Paul Farage Final rage plague

Other anagrams Nadine Dorries Inane Disorder Elizabeth Truss Haziest Bluster Rishi Sunak Runs His Kia Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson Xenophobe Slanderer Fends Off Jail I may have had too much time on my hands when I was writing politics books

Keir Starmer is an anagram of Sirr Meerkat… make of that what you will

🤦🏻‍♀️

At what point do we stop pretending our newspapers are ‘news’ and start calling them what they are… Promotional pamphlets for the billionaires who own them and the agendas they’re selling.

More picture books. With a fun addition. The last book is an older NZ title which features Sir David in the illustrations!

Some picture books from my memory.

-The Animals of Farthing Wood by Colin Dann (for the animal perspective) - Save Our Forest by Nora Dåsnes (GN about activism) - The Beck by Anthony McGowan (appreciating nature and taking action to protect it) - Green Rising by Wren James (teen eco superheroes) #KidLitUK #KidLit #KidsBooksFriday

#KidsBooksFriday #ÉannaNíLamhna is an absolute legend as regards all things wild and natural in Ireland. Her book is a treasure trove. #BrittaTeckentrup's books are informative and beautifully made. And "Think of an Eel" is a gorgeous oldie. I wrote, in my book, about using it in a classroom

Over David Attenborough’s lifetime the natural world has become ever more eroded. On his 100th birthday let’s use #KidsBooksFriday to celebrate children’s books that carry on his environmental legacy, help us delight in nature and encourage us to protect its future. #KidLitUK #UKKidLit #KidLit

Debunking edu-myths: Writing errors form bad habits writing4pleasure.com/2025/07/02/d...

Thrilled to have a poem featured by the fantastic @poetrybyheart.bsky.social! It's a poem aimed at little kids and is a very popular performance piece. Enjoy: poetrybyheart.org.uk/poems/perfor... #BookSky #KidLitUK

Disgusting.

😭Sad news😭 The authorities have finally caught up with us so this will be our last post on BlueSky. It's been a blast and we love you all. Especially our BFF @merchantshallyork.org 🥰🥰 Keep up with the posting, everyone. Together you can conquer the scourge of work-based productivity...

I should first clarify some basic facts: — The Met Gala is a fundraising event that supports the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute. — The Costume Institute preserves historical garments, curates public exhibitions, and educates people on how clothing reflects and shapes culture.

Here's our growing list of resources and books for English teachers across EFYS, KS1, KS2, KS3 and KS4. Let us know if you have a great free resource to recommend! schoolreadinglist.co.uk/resources/re... #kidlit #ukedchat

The government’s focus on inclusion and oracy means that support for speech and language challenges will be a key focus for schools – and this free database on evidence-informed interventions can help, writes @damsoned.bsky.social

As usual at this time of year we have people on to us worried about having a bumblebee ‘hive’ in their #garden. ‘Are they dangerous?’ ‘Should I have them removed?’ ‘Will they be there forever?’ Here’s a quick #bumblebee #lifecycle thread to explain. Please #repost/#share for the #bees. Thanks! 1/14

This is a really positive move. I hope schools engage. www.tes.com/magazine/ana...

There's plenty of evidence that it's harder for some children and young people to regulate than others, depending on their early developmental experiences amongst other things. Rigid, 'no excuses' behaviour systems can flatten out the differences rather than being flexible and adjusting for needs.

Great article by Prof Jessie Ricketts about developing reading in secondary school. Teaching reading doesn’t just stop at the end of primary. www.tes.com/magazine/tea...

Absolutely LOVED this book. If you haven't read Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody by @patricknessbooks.bsky.social yet, get to it!

A thread about my Y7s reading the Carnegie Illustration Shortlist @carnegiemedals.bsky.social

Strongly disagree with Nelson on his claim that Farage offers “*genuine* hope to people who feel betrayed by the established parties” As with Brexit, it’s hope built on lies and prejudice, funded by corrupt power-brokers who offer nothing but cost and loss to ordinary people. The ultimate betrayal.

Beltane or Bealtaine was a Celtic/Gaelic festival held on the 1st May to mark the beginning of summer. One of the key parts of the festival (alongside massive bonfires, feasting & making merry with beer 👀) was the exchange of posies to bring good luck. Here's a Beltane posy for you from my garden 🌿

I'm running this pay what you can webinar next week. Explore a different way of thinking about behaviour. Very grateful for any shares. Thank you! ⬇️ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1985807984...

2026-27 ASSOCIATE TEACHER PROGRAMME We're looking to recruit three teachers who share EMC's vision for teaching to contribute to and inform the work we do here at EMC. Click the following link to find out more and apply: buff.ly/hRAVWj8

Exclusive: Schools began to scale back their language provision after plans to withdraw the EBacc were announced last November, sparking fears that the change is “squeezing languages out of the picture”. schoolsweek.co.uk/ebacc-withdr...

This… And once it is gone, it is gone. bsky.app/profile/eve....

The outlook for language learning in schools is a real worry. It's likely to further impact language uptake in HE, then the next gen of language teachers from Primary on. Also, multilingual students are continually erased from edu policy, frameworks, acc measures. There is no rationale.

Thank you. I am so sad that languages do not seem to be celebrated and cherished in English schools. They open the world. I am also dismayed at how schools are pushed from pillar to post by accountability measures and frameworks that have no justification and do no make sense. Change needed.

IMO, as a nation, we need to value language learning and encourage students to love languages. Languages open doors to other worlds- culturally, socially and intellectually. Languages are an integral part of the world we live in and central to a broad and balanced curriculum.

… As an additional language. They are language super users. We live on an island, and our nearest trading partners speak different languages. English is a language that absorbs other languages. Learning languages can be hard, but amazing.

So, rather than having a broad and balanced educational offer for all students, we have an offer that represents the next accountability dream. In this case, it means a reduction in availability of languages. What an incredible shame. About a quarter of students in English use English….

This is a beautiful story of being inspired by fossils and a wonderful communicator. Thanks for sharing @darrellwakelam.bsky.social.

WHen people write about 'questioning' for teachers, it's basically just about how to use questions as formative assessment - as part of some form of training towards a closed goal. But you can also ask questions to find out what the students actually think and take an interest in their answers!

It makes me want to scream from the rooftops about how *agency and autonomy are crucial for the development of self-regulation and the maintenance of intrinsic motivation*. Yes, modelling is useful, but getting children to copy you is not the entirety of learning. 🤷‍♀️