‘Reading for Pleasure’ certainly seems to be the phrase of the moment in education. In the last month alone we have been asked to work with groups of Literacy Coordinators from two different Local Authorities on the subject, and it…
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Each month we pick some recently published books to share with you. This month we have the latest offering from one of our favourite author/illustrator collaborations, and two very different books about boys in boats! ‘IF YOU WANT TO SEE…
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Last week, we were lucky enough to be part of a conference which was all about writing across the curriculum where we presented a piece of work on how to use film to develop non-fiction outcomes. After an entertaining and…
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Many of our blog posts have been confessional in the last year. Admitting to liking grammar was controversial enough (only in context mind you!) but then we spoke about how we used spelling as an opportunity to play with words.…
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Each month we will pick some recently published books that we have bought to share with you. This month we have an updated version of a classic fairytale, a book about a rather famous scientist and a one-of-a-kind picture book!…
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Before the summer term roller coaster takes off, we have paused this week to undertake some writing for a few teaching sequences that we are using in some upcoming training. Our teaching sequences are always text based, sometimes using more…
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Recently, we were asked to present a keynote presentation at the Wandsworth, Merton and Sutton Primary Curriculum Conference, about using texts to inspire cross-curricular writing. This was a great opportunity for us to take stock and to evaluate our recent…
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Each month we will pick some recently published books that we have bought to share with you. We will try to stop at three, one being a book for younger readers within the 0-7 range, one for older readers (7…
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The new draft curriculum puts additional emphasis on the teaching and learning of spelling, setting out a programme of study for years 1-6. It gives us lists of (albeit suggested) words through which to teach spellings. It gives prominence to…
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Each month we choose some recently published books to share with you. This month, we have been enjoying a collection of poems that will get you thinking and a new offering from Lauren Child (both are new-to-paperback), as well as…
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Poetry can be divisive. It is clever, yet often makes us feel stupid. It is unpredictable and frustratingly seems to lack a planned direction. Poems can finish Owl and the Pussycatbefore they’ve hardly started. As a teacher, I find it…
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Each month we choose some recently published books that we have bought to share with you. We try to stop at three, one for younger readers within the 0-7 range, one for older readers (7 and up, up, up) and…
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Recently a 4 year old known well to me announced that she did not want to sit on the top deck of the bus because there were goblins up there. I agreed. Of course I told her I had seen…
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At the Tree, we are often asked to recommend books, not only for use in the classroom for Literacy sessions, but also for children whose parents are genuinely stumped to find a book to engage and excite. We all have…
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This academic year will be an interesting, and no doubt controversial one, with changes in place for the way children are tested in writing at the end of Key Stage 2. Lord Bew’s recommendations for the tests have been fully…
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Each month we choose some recently published books that we have bought to share with you. We try to stop at three, one for younger readers within the 0-7 range, one for older readers (7 and up, up, up) and…
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As new initiatives come thick and fast into the education world, we are sometimes in danger of forgetting the power of some of the most tried and tested ways of engaging children to become writers. One such way, a particular…
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We love delivering training because it gives us the opportunity to work with some really inspirational teachers and the group we worked with on Tuesday 3rd July, was no exception. We arrived in Southwark early in the morning, ready for…
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