Why is ‘The ‘Woman in Black’ the best ever GCSE Drama play?There are aficionados who clock up performances of Les Mis. For a show so timeless in its themes, that’s perhaps understandable. And then there’s The Woman in Black, a play I’ve seen (by my best guess) at least a dozen times – more than I’ve seen Hamlet and King…
Reflections on the first term of an MEd courseIt has been just over two months since I started studying again. While the rest of the student population across the nation seems to be heading off for a Christmas break, as an MEd student, I have this sneaking feeling that much of the festive season is…
Geoff Barton’s essential guidebook is not only easy to read but highly practicalThe Daily Telegraph’s report that students from independent schools dominate entry to many leading universities should concern anyone in state education. The gap in educational attainment between the wealthiest and the poorest seems to be growing, not receding. We face problems with literacy…
It’s the end of term. Like most teachers, I’m exhausted but I’ll claim special dispensation: since May half term, I was rehearsing a school play three nights a week, with the occasional Saturday thrown in, and a final fortnight of meltdown. It’s madness to mount a production with fifty Year 8-10 students acting in it…
As an English teacher, I am passionate about two things: my subject and the achievement of pupils in that subject. I am concerned, too, that pupils experience the subject in a way which will benefit them in the long run. For many, it will be an A level choice, whilst for some, it will be…
Some of us really do love the idea of libraries and their endless rows of books. Take the National Library of Wales, for instance, with its cavernously inspirational reading room, and when you need a breath of fresh air, uplifting views of Cardigan Bay – it’s hard not to feel one is on the very…