Teachwire

10/10/2025

October, October, a middle-grade novel by Katya B***n, changed my view of children’s books. It showed me the true power of character and how children deserve the chance to explore their innermost feelings. It embraces nature, wildlife and the opportunity to be completely true to yourself.

In her picture book, Wild, B***n explores these same themes. It’s like she has given us a precious chance to see October as a little girl. Her joy in nature and wildness shines through her relationships with birds, trees, the sky and the Earth.

This delightful character shows us just how beautiful it is to be wild. Gill Smith’s gorgeous illustrations emphasise the light, warmth and peace of her woodland home.

Explore the wildness within and without, using Katya B***n’s beautiful picture book Wild as your guide…

https://bit.ly/3Iz9n9n

Explore the wildness within and without using Katya B***n’s beautiful book Wild as your guide. This PDF contains lots of activity ideas...

09/10/2025

Be it Christmas, Hanukkah, Yule or Yalda Night, many religions have a festival of lights that marks the triumph of light and good over darkness and evil.

For some religions these are core festivals, intrinsically linked to faith. For others, they may be minor festivals but can be widely celebrated, even overshadowing those that are theologically more significant.

The traditions and theology behind these celebrations are varied and make for a fascinating lesson or lessons.

Download the full lesson plan 👇

https://bit.ly/4q1IN9O

The traditions and theology behind different festivals of light, including Diwali, make for a fascinating lesson or lessons...

08/10/2025

“Not another one!”. That famous cry uttered by Brenda from Bristol ahead of the 2017 General Election could well apply to the recent announcement of yet another major enquiry into the underachievement of the white working class.

This latest commission, staffed by the influential research and polling organisation Public First, draws on a range of experienced figures in education. Former Education Secretary, Baroness Estelle Morris, is co-chairing it.

The big question, however, is whether the commission comes up with any new solutions to some very old and well-rehearsed problems…

Full article 👇

https://bit.ly/4pXdyMW

The government is examining the reasons for lower outcomes among ‘white working class’ pupils. Will new policies actually make a difference?

07/10/2025

Having worked in the British criminal justice system with young offenders, I can tell you that the school-to-prison pipeline is real.

Almost every young offender I’ve worked with left school early, and almost all had undiagnosed ADHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, autism or some combination of these.

This isn’t a complex mystery needing endless research and funding, though. The solution is right in front of us, in that it all starts back in the classroom...

Full article 👇

https://bit.ly/3VRb0Cc

With ADHD Awareness Month around the corner, discover valuable resources and strategies to create an inclusive learning environment...

03/10/2025

🤠 These free resources provide GCSE history teachers with an engaging and structured way to introduce students to the complexities of the American West (1835-1895). 🤠

Designed to encourage critical thinking, the materials explore the experiences of three key groups – Plains Indians, homesteaders/migrants, and cowboys/ranchers. This offers multiple perspectives on the period’s key events and conflicts.

The PowerPoint presentation sets the historical context. It traces the impact of European colonisation, US expansionism and the struggle for land and resources.

The presentation introduces essential terminology, such as ‘homesteader,’ ‘Plains Indian’ and ‘cattle rancher.’ It also includes interactive activities, prompting students to categorise and analyse historical events.

Tasks such as sorting event cards into thematic and chronological groups help students make connections between different experiences in the West.

https://bit.ly/487ghNk

These free resources provide GCSE history teachers with a structured way to introduce students to the complexities of the American West...

02/10/2025

😴 Inspire students to engage with new research about a topic that’s extremely relevant for teens – the science of sleep. 😴

Scientists have discovered that our brains are bathed in fluid as we sleep. Tidal waves of this fluid flow and ripple across the surface of the brain with an effect that resembles washing.

Engaging with recent scientific research and literature can both enthuse and inspire. It gives students a sense of what it is like to be a scientist at the forefront of scientific discovery and promotes creativity.

Engaging with complex language is hugely important for literacy development. This is especially because students’ exposure to technical non-fiction is regularly reduced to snippets, headlines and tweets.

The activities you might explore through this lesson could help them to decode more complex words and phrases and promote better application of knowledge.

https://bit.ly/4pIWjPi

Inspire students to engage with new research about a topic that’s extremely relevant for teens – the science of sleep...

01/10/2025

✏️ How does the new Writing Framework impact teaching? ✏️

Reception teachers

📝 Prioritise handwriting posture, letter formation and grip
📝 Teach phonics-based spelling explicitly, from the outset
📝 Use oral composition to rehearse sentences before pupils write

KS1 and KS2 teachers

📝 Sequence lessons so transcription remains automatic, and fluency grows
📝 Continue phonics and dictation to consolidate spelling and sentence structure
📝 Embed grammar teaching within composition, not as isolated lessons
📝 Ensure audience and purpose sit at the heart of writing

For school leaders

📝 Designate literacy leads to oversee integration of reading and writing
📝 Promote writing across all subjects
📝 Offer CPD aligned to the framework so teachers can implement ideas confidently

Read the full article 👀

https://bit.ly/4p6jAKy

Kieran Mackle is joined by former primary headteacher and English SLE, Adam Lowing, to talk about the DfE's new Writing Framework...

30/09/2025

🎃 Trick or treat! Give your little terrors a feast of fun this 31st October with some great classroom ideas…

Trick or treat! Give your little terrors a feast of fun this 31st October with these great Halloween activities for schools...

26/09/2025

Peer inside the mind of author Clare Harlow and help pupils understand how flashbacks can help to set up mystery stories with this WAGOLL based on Tidemagic: Ista Flit and the Impossible Key.

There are different ways of setting up mystery stories: authors may explain the details and the situation thoroughly, or they may shroud the set-up in a further atmosphere of mystery. This makes readers infer and deduce what’s happening from clues. It also helps them experience both the secrecy and unreality alongside the main characters.

This resource pack will help you guide KS2 children through the process of analysing the setting up – and the embarking on – a key mystery in Clare Harlow’s atmospheric, magic-filled adventure Ista Flit and the Impossible Key. They’ll select the techniques they will borrow to set up mystery stories of their own.

Use the extract to teach the development of a mysterious atmosphere, and the use of tenses to create flashbacks.

Download the full pack for free 👀

https://bit.ly/4nnMgOg

Learn how flashbacks can help to set up mystery stories with this KS2 WAGOLL based on Tidemagic: Ista Flit and the Impossible Key...

25/09/2025

🚀 How I set up Bolton’s first-ever space week 🚀

I decided to build a space curriculum that we could share across primary schools in Bolton. As busy teachers, if we don’t share then we all end up building resources from scratch.

The process was incredibly exciting and I received such positive feedback from colleagues in other schools that I decided that we would create Bolton’s first ever ‘space week’ to launch the new curriculum.

My first step was to pitch a space week for EYFS to Y6 children to the Institute of Engineering and Technology. I was absolutely thrilled when we won a £15,000 grant.

This meant we could create a ‘space bundle’ for every school taking part, containing lights, planetariums, drones, and kits to make space suits and moon buggies.

In a previous teaching role in Washington DC, I was lucky enough to be introduced to a NASA astronaut, who agreed to talk to the Bolton children live and answer all their questions about what it’s really like to go to space.

For these children, having the chance to interview a real astronaut was extraordinary and a great way to experience science first-hand and bring their learning to life.

As part of the St Bede Teaching School we also created a ‘science centre’ where teachers can access free online CPD and workshops. We share what’s really working in our lessons, such as resources from Learning by Questions which have been a revolution for our children.

I’ve never done so much presenting and have enjoyed learning from and sharing with so many educators in the UK.

One of the best things about creating Bolton’s first space week and our science centre is that it has inspired other teachers to share their knowledge and resources.

My colleagues have been inspired to set up truly remarkable initiatives, including a maths centre to engage and support SCITT students and teachers with maths mastery, and an outdoor learning centre to improve children’s wellbeing through utilising nature in education.

By working together, science leaders and teachers no longer feel on their own. By opening our classroom doors, we can all join in the conversation and be part of a cluster of teachers supporting each other and providing the spark to ignite pupils’ enthusiasm for learning in science.

Read the full article 👀 👨‍🚀

https://bit.ly/4nEztGD

Explore the galaxy from the comfort of your classroom with these simple ideas for making World Space Week come alive this year...

24/09/2025

This ‘Web of Themes’ resource is a great way of offloading as many Macbeth themes as possible, using information from the play that links to each one.

This is, in effect, a mind-mapping activity that students can carry out individually, in pairs or in groups. It’s flexible depending on your class’s requirements.

At the end of the activity you should have a series of word bubbles arrayed in formation. These will show how different themes specifically relate to different events and characters portrayed within the play.

Try using bubbles of different colours:

🟣 lilac for overarching themes that students must identify
🔵 blue for any initial thoughts they might have about the themes in question
🟡 yellow for demonstrations of how a given theme appears within Macbeth

Download the full resource for free 👀

https://bit.ly/4na2la1

23/09/2025

⭐ Concentrating on the strengths of children with ADHD ⭐

As teachers, we can influence how the ADHD label is perceived by focusing attention on children’s strengths. One way of doing this in the classroom is to write every child’s name on a piece of paper and hand them out to the class.

Ask everyone to think of the nicest thing they can say about the person on their paper and have them write a compliment – something they’re good at, an admirable personality trait or anything praiseworthy that they’ve done.

Everyone then passes their paper on and writes a compliment for the next name they’re given, continuing until everyone’s written one nice thing about each child in the class.

Collect the papers in, type the comments up and then present every child with their own personal list of positive labels. What if, instead of ‘ADHD’ or ‘difficult’, a child might be able to wear the labels ‘clever’, ‘good at science’, ‘keen singer’ or ‘sporty’?

Labels matter, so let’s help children lose those that describe behaviours often outside their control and find ones that describe who they really are.

Read about more strategies and techniques for ADHD Awareness Month (October) 👀

With ADHD Awareness Month around the corner, discover valuable resources and strategies to create an inclusive learning environment...