Bumped into an ex pupil who still remembers the child's picture book he made in Spanish 20 years ago. whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2021/05/crea...

Highly commended award for excellence, from the Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild, for Gritstone author (and founder) @andrewbibby-writer.bsky.social : The Borders, The Lands We Share. Buy your copy here: gritstonecoop.co.uk/product/bord...

Not long to go now to this event, marking 25 years of access legislation in E&W and campaigning for further access rights. @ramblers.org.uk @righttoroam.bsky.social @openspacessociety.bsky.social @philbrickellmp.bsky.social @andymacnaemp.bsky.social See you there!

Good thread here on possible implications of the C&A review on English bsky.app/profile/clar...

Looking forward to this later today!

The BBC is apologising for its Panorama edit. It shouldn’t. First, the narrative is true: Donald Trump *did* incite the Capitol riot. Second, the apology won’t appease those attacking it. So why not at least stand for something? Wrote this on it earlier this week: inews.co.uk/news/world/b...

It’s Anti Bullying Week, Nov 10-14th. Brian Moses has put together a helpful collection of poems, over on X. If you don’t venture over to The Dark Side, here’s one that might encourage discussion with your older pupils.

I really shouldn't share bad ai, but the fact that they're pretending to have animated it all by hand is extraordinary. Anyone who has done digital animation will be flabbergasted at the audacity.

Never used it.

220. Floating Home: Lessons From a Life Less Ordinary by Adam Lind A lovely, uplifting read in full of wisdom the author has gathered through his life on a narrowboat.

219. Children of Radium: A Buried Inheritance by Joe Dunthorne An extraordinary memoir and family history in which the author investigates his Jewish great-grandfather's work developing chemical weapons in Nazi Germany and then in Turkey. One of my favourite reads of 2025.

There are roughly 10,000 children’s books published in the UK each year, so if you’ve been nominated for the @CarnegieMedals, be very proud and dance like nobody’s watching. 🥳

Everyone working in primary schools wants to raise standards in reading. For me, the best starting point is Primary Reading Simplified by @suchmo83.bsky.social. It's superb and covers everything, with phonics, fluency, comprehension and RfP all being explored.

Following a few requests from teachers and school leaders, I've made a short video on the key ideas that I think teachers (and parents/carers) need to know about reading development, based on my reading concept map. youtu.be/JvtUxB5WM1k?...

A little thread about #play. 🧵☺️

I get this a lot too. I don't use ChatGPT or any LLMs in my work because I want my writing to sound like me, not like the averaged-out voice of the internet. But also, writing is thinking, and thinking is a habit. I don't want to get out of that habit.

Excl: Diversity and anti-racism should be embedded into teacher training, according to an open letter from ITT providers. There should be an "explicit focus” on addressing inequalities within ITT programmes, including in trainees’ reflective tasks. www.tes.com/magazine/new...

Have you heard? It's Michael Rosen Day next week! There's still time to register today for our free live event and resources: www.walker.co.uk/michael-rose... #MichaelRosenDay @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social

Overheard in Space, a terrific poem by @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social and read by him as part of the wonderful Hot Poets initiative, has just been released today - find it at www.youtube.com/watch?v=KquX...

Andrew Otazo has plucked, bagged, heaved and hauled more than 17 tons of trash from the mangroves in Florida. Every piece of garbage he removes reclaims space for what should be there: bird nesting grounds and fish nurseries. https://wapo.st/4oS36Vx

Congratulations @dansmithauthor.bsky.social as #TheDeadsoulProject shortlists for the 2026 Brilliant Book Award! bba.inspireculture.org.uk

Don’t worry. I spoke to BBC Newsround and said everything was fine 😁

Today's review...'The Day Death Died' by Tanya Landman, illustrated by Cinthya Alvarez and 'The Last Day of October' by Phil Hickes,illustrated by Oriol Vidal Two brilliant books from Barrington Stoke. throughthebookshelf.com/reviews/the-...

There's a debate going on atm about how much 5 year olds should sit at desks. The weird thing about these conversations is that we have plenty of evidence on how sitting affects health and development but this gets ignored because some people see stillness as a virtue. 🤷‍♀️ www.nhs.uk/live-well/ex...

We don’t need yet another test. Children under 11 are already tested more than any other European child. Tests don’t equate to teaching. @bphillipsonmp.bsky.social needs to really understand this and make some changes based on research rather than a knee jerk reaction. @teamlabouruk.bsky.social

Interested in the teaching of writing? Do take a look at this great summary from @theclpe.bsky.social of what works in developing writers who are confident, engaged & thoughtful & can draw on their reading to give voice to their ideas in increasingly sophisticted ways. clpe.org.uk/research/wri...

Education is about much more than school. A child is in school for under 20% of their time. So what we really need is an overarching, joined-up, inclusive, child-first vision. And then a long-term thoughtful plan to implement it.

This is such a good novel and if I were still teaching secondary, I’d be teaching it. Lauren James aka Wren James is the sort of author teenagers should be reading and look at their background! #STEM

Sat down with WrenJames -author and founder of the Climate Fiction Writers League- to discuss promoting climate conscious messaging and their Amazon MGM movie deal! Full interview at: www.savingterra.com #climate #climatefiction #author

'When people are asked what matters to them personally, they point to the everyday realities of their lives: their economic and social situation at a local level. Yet politicians and the media continue to construct immigration as a matter of public concern...'

Jesus Christ. We go mad about one bloke we wrongly released, yet hear next to nothing about this horror? www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Once again… testing is not teaching. Testing children does not teach them to read and it doesn’t encourage schools to teach children to read. It encourages schools to teach to the test. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

A big part of the problem with the "Brontë country" conversation is that we've been conditioned to see scenery like the photo below and think "ooh lovely countryside" and not "yikes, an ecological wasteland with almost no plant life left thanks to centuries of relentless livestock farming".

Crumble season has well and truly started!

Loads have already said Aveline Jones so will go for Thirteen Chairs by Dave Shelton, Shadowsmith by Ross MacKenzie and the Bigwoof Sticky Pines series by Dashe Roberts. The last ones are Scooby Dooish, so you should be ok. Also Christmas Dinner of Souls by Ross Montgomery (seasonal mix up by me 😂).

Four of my favourite picture books/illustrated fiction

The Worlds We Leave Behind by @afharrold.com is brilliantly unsettling. Highly recommend. Plus Levi Pinfold's illustrations are spectacular.

I'm not much for scary books - but these are my creepy offerings! And now one thought of some more....which I might add I have a box of Halloween books but didn't unpack them this year.... #kidsbooksfriday

I remember finding Seven Ghosts by Chris Priestley suitably creepy. Plus it's a Barrington Stoke book so the accessibility is an extra win. #KidLit #KidLitUK

One we really loved recently is Suee and the Shadow by Molly Park and Ginger Ly. Really atmospheric and compelling. #KidsBooksFriday

I've written a couple of things over the last days about how the government and much of Westminster remaining on X as the platform becomes increasingly toxic is having consequences for our politics...

I’ve just been given the heads up by the fab @accomplishedu.bsky.social to a lovely #maths book PERFECT for next week 👏🏼👏🏼 🎃 #backtoschool: youtu.be/tdViPybeP3c?...

Monster Soup or Thames water? - Happy Halloween

My sixteen year old has been urging me to read this for ages. It came out in 2021. Why did it take me so long? Well-written YA fantasy with an eco focus.

so @matteowong.bsky.social & I wrote on data centers: arguably the most important buildings in the world & are, in a way, holding the economy hostage. Byzantine financial instruments, private equity, depreciating tech, hype, $trillion valuations. it’s all there. an ai crash prob starts here.

I think one problem with the announcement of a y8 reading test is that it feels untethered to any wider reading strategy. This raises questions about whether the govt has an approach for secondary reading based on research & best practice, and a gd understanding of what is needed. If the test aims 1

Yes. Hard agree.

Another brilliant history written for children and illustrated beautifully #Jerusalem

Journeys of Empire is such a good read and I learnt so much! It’s a real skill rewriting a history book for children.