A few years ago, when the curriculum we've come to know, and (maybe love is too strong a word) make our own was merely in draft form, we were asked to prepare an example of planning for a group of…
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In times where things may appear rather bleak in our world, literature is always going to be the medium through which beauty, tales of resilience, exploration and discovery can be transferred to readers the world-over. And what better time than…
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One of our favourite things is when we are asked to visit a school to help shape their English curriculum. This is an enjoyable task for many reasons: it allows us to recommend texts that we believe will both engage…
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With the summer holiday in full-swing, some of us are away, planning to be away or about to return home and so there is something of a theme to this month’s Literature Review - there’s no place like home! And…
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Some of these books are based on actual events but have a ‘fiction feel’ about them. Others are based in that time period and do well to create an authentic story within the time frame.
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In the height of summer and as the school holidays approach, we've selected some texts that we think would make lovely holiday reads for children. Whether sitting in the sun, travelling on a long journey or curling up on a…
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As always, we have been spoilt for choice in selecting texts for this month’s review and were delighted to find, among the many newly-published children’s books, that two authors we already adore have new works on the bookshop shelves: Neil…
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We’ve been absolutely spoilt in putting together this month’s literature review- there is such an array of wonderful books that have just been published and we’ve greedily inhaled several in order to whittle down our selection to three: Tidy by…
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We’ve selected three very different books for our April Literature Review: the first is about a triangle; the second – a rabbit; and the third is a non-fiction work of art about animals. We hope reading these you feel inspired…
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We love listening to the radio when we're in the office, and when the band London Grammar came on the other day, it got us thinking about grammar not just in London but across all the land: how is the…
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We've all been there. You read a book and you fall in love with the characters. You imagine the character's looks. You see the scenery. In some cases you even become the characters! And then you go to see the…
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We are often asked what books we would buy for our own children or for friends. Here's an insight into some our top picks of 2016 that may be landing in a stocking near you soon... Pippa recommends... Ada Twist,…
Read MoreHere at The Literacy Tree, we often find ourselves recommending different books for different purposes without qualifying exactly why. One might be wonderful for phonic application, another as a guided reader or a teaching text. Lately we have found ourselves…
Read MoreWe like this time of year. Y6 moderation time. And although this year is different in many ways, essentially we get to spend the next few weeks reading children’s writing and this is still the best part of the job…
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As another season of SATs draws to a close and the yearly cycle of moderation begins, we thought this an apt time to reflect upon assessment. Never has school assessment been so controversial, drawn so many headlines or created such…
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We are often asked to recommend books for particular year groups, and we know all-too-well how vital it is to match a text to children's interests as well as finding content that is age-appropriate and readable. So what happens when…
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Since the arrival of the curriculum, we've been asked to clarify quite a few grammatical terms. We've also been asked if we could explain which terms are relevant and which are now redundant. Having used many pages of flipchart paper…
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Our literature review this time covers a range of books, but essentially all of them this time are about how powerful our imagination and dreams can be – if we allow them to be realised... Demolition Dad by Phil Earle…
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