Pragmatically, the Ofsted grading criteria are going to be a very useful tool for self-evaluation. But schools need to remember, when reflecting on curriculum or on children's experiences, that schools are about a lot more. For example, the following words don't appear: 1/2

Pragmatically, the Ofsted grading criteria are going to be a very useful tool for self-evaluation. But schools need to remember, when reflecting on curriculum or on children's experiences, that schools are about a lot more. For example, the following words don't appear: 1/2

When term starts, expect headlines about "woke" schools refusing to allow "patriotic" pupils to display / wear / carry flags.

Honoured to write this.

James Durran reflects on his friendship with the late Jim Stewart, who has died, aged 67, after a rapid progression of Parkinson’s. Jim was a devoted English teacher and a loyal friend of NATE. www.nate.org.uk/2025/07/29/j...

My close friend Jim Stewart has died, aged 67, after a rapid progression of Parkinson's. We taught English, organised @NATEfeed conferences & wrote books together. He taught me much about teaching, Shakespeare, music & the hills, and even more about laughter. He's deeply missed.

I really like this blog which explores how older students can be supported to actively engage with text - really practical ways of thinking through a text- thanks @jdurran.bsky.social jamesdurran.blog/2025/07/08/d...

NEW BLOG More on #Disciplinary_literacy and #challenging_texts: making sure pupils are focused and thinking hard when #reading in the classroom. Examples from #PE, #science, #art, #music, #DT... jamesdurran.blog/2025/07/08/d...

Fab suggestions here for making valuable content accessible so children can engage 🌟 My caveat with this would be that many students with or w/out identified SEND will need to pace their ‘hard’ learning - eg due to fatigue risk. Autistic children & ADHDers often burn out as teens, sadly. Some may

NEW BLOG More on #Disciplinary_literacy and #challenging_texts: making sure pupils are focused and thinking hard when #reading in the classroom. Examples from #PE, #science, #art, #music, #DT... jamesdurran.blog/2025/07/08/d...

NEW - Giving Serious Attention to Student Voice in the everyday moments of classroom life. What happens when we treat children’s ideas as real and valuable? Read the post: www.mantleoftheexpert.com/blog-post/ha...

NEW POST #Disciplinary_literacy: more on challenging texts in the classroom; ensuring that pupils are reading 'actively' and thinking hard. All part of good #adaptive_teaching! jamesdurran.blog/2025/07/08/d...

I wish I'd read this 50 years ago!

NEW POST #Disciplinary_literacy: more on challenging texts in the classroom; ensuring that pupils are reading 'actively' and thinking hard. All part of good #adaptive_teaching! jamesdurran.blog/2025/07/08/d...

Quite a lot to think about before we outsource essay marking to AI!

Currently running a webinar with @jdurran.bsky.social about using short film clips to teach Shakespeare in English. It's absolutely brilliant. All Shakespeare teaching should use films like this!

EMC SUMMER WEBINAR PACKAGE PURCHASE WINDOW CLOSES MAY 1ST Take a look at the range of webinars that your whole team can access with a single purchase for your institution! @jdurran.bsky.social @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social @barbarableiman.bsky.social englishandmedia.co.uk/workshops/20...

There's some debate about my piece on X & a blog by David Didau agreeing with much of what I say but warning against a return to 'some mythical version of the past'. I've written a response to this idea of a 'myth' of a different kind of English on my own blog: www.barbarableiman.com/post/a-respo...

Which of these is likely to result in better learning? 🤔 #book_scrutiny #feedback #editing #adaptive_teaching

If we have scientific evidence about 10% of what teaching involves, that doesn't mean we should stop doing the other 90% because it's not "evidence based."

I absolutely understand the thinking here... But oh goodness it makes me sad.

Ofsted's inspection 'toolkits', which propose a fine-grained description of what matters in schools, contain over 10,000 words. But these don't appear anywhere. 🤔 enjoy/enjoyment interest/interesting excite/excitement curious/curiosity

On #adaptive_teaching. If we think of teaching (in the moment & over time) as conversation, then it will be naturally adaptive. Conversation is built on feedback loops: we adapt what we say next according to what others have learned from us, & to what we've learned from them.

Looking forward very much to delivering this course on mixed attainment #English teaching, with @andrewemc.bsky.social, in Leeds. www.englishandmedia.co.uk/courses/439e...

Looking forward very much to delivering this course on mixed attainment #English teaching, with @andrewemc.bsky.social, in Leeds. www.englishandmedia.co.uk/courses/439e...

Hope we get provided with free highlighters in a variety of colours….

Basically, Ofsted has just created an enormous APP grid. What could possibly go wrong?

Bookings close 8am Friday morning Don't miss out on this brand new course with @jdurran.bsky.social! englishandmedia.co.uk/courses/7edc...

Don't be the 'sage on the stage' or the 'guide on the side'. Just be the sage who is sometimes on a stage but knows when to climb off it to do some guiding, mixed with some side-saging and some guiding from the stage. As appropriate.

With trepidation & to feed debate, I'm sharing this old video of me, as one imperfect example of one kind of dialogic teaching. It was a mixed attainment, Y10 #English class (unfamiliar to me) seated in groups, studying Lord of the Flies. Comments welcome! jamesdurran.wordpress.com/wp-content/u...

I am very much looking forward to speaking about writing, at the @literacy-trust.bsky.social Primary Conference, on March 27th, in Bradford. Find out more: literacytrust.org.uk/events/prima...

Very excited to be delivering this course, with @andrewmc.bsky.social for @engmediacentre.bsky.social, in March, in Leeds. www.englishandmedia.co.uk/courses/439e... @engmediacentre.bsky.social

Very much looking forward to working with @engmediacentre.bsky.social to deliver this webinar on teaching grammar within English at Key Stage 3. It will be about so much more than just grammar. www.englishandmedia.co.uk/courses/e8df...

Hell is empty, And all the devils are here.

I shall be asking my school to sign me up for this.

Looking forward very much to working with @engmediacentre.bsky.social to deliver this webinar in February. 🙂

It also speaks volumes about how that somehow controversial notion of ‘fun’ can be an intrinsic part of the discipline in practice.

Fantastic blogpost, saying so much about #English_teaching, from @CarolAtherton8. passing-it-on.com/2025/01/12/s...

Really looking forward to drawing on @jdurran.bsky.social's expertise for two of the courses in the Spring Webinar Package englishandmedia.co.uk/workshops/20...

Teaching KS3 students "GCSE skills" instead of giving them a broad experience of literature has been one of the biggest missteps in education, but I sense the beginnings of a shift.

Me: "Tell me what you do in English?" Year 8 pupil: "We annotate texts and then write PEE paragraphs about them." Making the curriculum more enjoyable is not about lowering expectations. It is about exactly the opposite.

Certainly, in English, the 'what' in teaching is inextricable from the 'how'.

The use of ‘snus' is becoming another worrying trend that leaders and safeguarding teams need to be on top of, says safeguarding lead Luke Ramsden

From Sunday’s Telegraph. #EnglishCreates

At school, I was taught by people who'd lived through & sometimes fought in the war. I remember them drumming into us just how recent & how fragile liberal democracy is. They did so with a sort of grim passion. "Never, ever take this for granted."

New post: thoughts on what keeps pupils learning through a lesson, and why this might be difficult for the robot teachers of the future. #EduSky #UKEd #UKEDU #UKEducation #HeadteachersUK #teachermentoring #TeacherEducation #EduSkyPrimary #eduskyprimary jamesdurran.blog/2024/10/25/s...

New post: thoughts on what keeps pupils learning through a lesson, and why this might be difficult for the robot teachers of the future. #EduSky #UKEd #UKEDU #UKEducation #HeadteachersUK #teachermentoring #TeacherEducation #EduSkyPrimary #eduskyprimary jamesdurran.blog/2024/10/25/s...