Our team sorts through all blog submissions to place them in the categories they fit the most - meaning it's never been simpler to gain advice and new knowledge for topics most important for you. This is why we have created this straight-forward guide to help you navigate our system.
And there you have it! Now your collection of blogs are catered to your chosen topics and are ready for you to explore. Plus, if you frequently return to the same categories you can bookmark your current URL and we will save your choices on return. Happy Reading!
Whilst I haven’t necessarily always understood the importance of education all my life, I have always been a lover of language. I remember my mum teaching herself Russian and the Cyrillic alphabet when I was younger and she subsequently decided to take this further and attend night school at Park Lane College. After asking her why she was studying Russian, I remember her laughing and saying- “Why not?” I also remember her insisting on us reading any Bronte novel and taking us to Haworth to share a love of literature- even if, at that time, me and my siblings just wanted to go to the sweet shop to buy pots of kali (that’s sherbet in case you were wondering)! She wasn’t an academic, but she remains to be one of the cleverest people I know and I think it is almost by accident. She has become this way because of language, not because of academia or educational qualifications.
See, my mum left school with a good handful of ‘O-levels’, two of which were in languages and one of those was English Literature, but she knew she wouldn’t do anything with this small grasp of success (unless you count becoming a typist in a typing pool in the 1970s, learning how to type at break-neck speed and learning shorthand- coincidentally I actually do think this is a huge success!) But, she certainly did have an even wider impact- she passed on her enjoyment of language to her children! I can’t help but think her innate passion and enjoyment for language and literature fuelled my interest, but that’s not to say I am discrediting any other influences of course!
As I grew older, my twin sister and I used to sit and read aloud to each other before bed (sometimes while listening to radio ‘phone-in’ broadcast ‘Jezza’s Midnight Confessions’ and being appropriately exhausted at school the next day). We loved sharing a good book, weirdly playing out our teenage years as the wonderful Bronte sisters must have done too up in Haworth. We weren’t the prodigies that they were. In fact, we were two very average ‘students’, who did ‘OK’ in primary school and developed in line with average expectations at key stage three. But, when we reached secondary school, we matured and started to develop faster. I put this down to our love of – and complete commitment to language and literature, which in turn developed our literacy. Not that academic success matters to all, but it did afford us both some brilliant experiences later in life and allowed us to both become English teachers.
As a student, I remember one day rather casually using the term ‘intertwined’ when explaining the characters of Romeo and Juliet in a year 9 English answer and my teacher at the time stopped me mid-sentence and said: ‘Where did you get that word from?’ I said in response (in a thick Yorkshire accent- so thick that most people have mistaken it for a Hull accent, strangely): ‘Dunno, must’ve read it somewhere!’ Now, I know that the word ‘intertwined’ isn’t particularly ground-breaking, but the fact I had the confidence to use it really WAS! I used it confidently, correct in context and without being convoluted or conscious with my vocabulary (like I am now). It was so familiar to me, it became part of my casual repartee. And I LOVED the reaction from my English teacher, even though I now see he was just trying to praise a small glimmer of my work. That doesn’t really matter, but my self-confidence grew as a result.
This brings me onto the power of language, words and praise in teaching. As teachers, we have to raise our aspirations for the young people that we teach through the use of exciting and interesting words. We need to instil a love of vocabulary and an excitement for language in the students that we teach. We can do this through so many ways: modelling, oracy, words of the week, READING, rapping (not tried this myself, admittedly), poetry, creative writing, graphic illustrations, picture books and so much more! Even as science, maths or geography teachers, it is our collective responsibility (that word incidentally makes it sound like an onerous task) to impassion the young people that we teach through language. Wouldn’t it be amazing if every child has fond memories of their growth as a lover of language like I do? No matter what experience they have at home, we have the ability to create a positive ethos around vocabulary development, reading and language.
So, let’s TALK more, READ together and MODEL the use of great words that will inspire and create confidence.
The author
Read more
Read more
Read more
Read more
Read more
Read more
Read more
Read more
Are you looking for solutions? Let us help fund them! Nexus Education is a community of over 11,000 schools that come together to share best practise, ideas and CPD via online channels and free to attend events. Nexus also offers funding to all school groups in the UK via nexus-education.com
Established in 2011, One Education is a company at the heart of the education world, supporting over 600 schools and academies. Our unique appeal as a provider is in the breadth and synergy of the services we offer, supporting school leaders, teachers and support staff to achieve the best possible outcomes for their pupils and staff.
School Space is a social enterprise that has empowered schools for over 12 years through their profitable and hassle-free lettings services. So far, they’ve generated over £5 million in revenue for education, helping to connect over 200 schools with their local communities.
Operoo is a school operations and productivity platform. We help thousands of schools and trusts to eliminate slow, expensive and repetitive tasks. Operoo helps schools streamline and digitise processes, drastically reducing the associated costs: From student pre-admissions, permission forms, payments, and school trips; to medical information and emergency contacts, incident reporting, staff agreements, and more in over 100 languages.
Unify is an online sales and marketing tool that allows users to create tailored personalised documents in moments.
There’s nothing special about the energy we sell. In fact, it’s exactly the same energy as all our competitors provide. But there is something special about the way we do it. Where others complicate the process, we simplify it. Where others confuse customers with hidden terms, we’re an open book. And where others do all they can to make as much money from their customers as possible, we do all we can to make as little. Everything we do, we do it differently. Our customers are a privilege. One we’ll never take advantage of.
Securus provide market-leading monitoring solutions to safeguard students on ALL devices both online and offline. We also offer a full monitoring service, where we carry out the monitoring on behalf of the school, freeing up valuable staff resources. From the smallest school to large MAT groups, Securus offers safeguarding protection for all!
As European leaders of Time Management Solutions, Bodet offer Lockdown, Clock, Bell & PA Systems. Harmonys, our five-in-one IP/PoE Bell System, provides a unique customisable lockdown or panic alarm alert. Melodys, a Wireless Bell System, is useful where wiring can be difficult.