Characters are the most important part of any story - without your characters, there is no story! Use the resources on this page to build your own character, and start to think about their strengths and flaws! Download and print out this worksheet to help you plan your character. Appearance Ask yourself some questions: What... Continue Reading →
The Museum of Everything
What makes the perfect classroom? Ask twenty different teachers and they will give you twenty different answers. Some will prioritise seating; others, resources; my favourite kind of teacher will favour a well-stocked class library (of course!). But when it comes right down to it, all their answers will point in the same direction: the perfect... Continue Reading →
Author Visit – Broadway Academy
At 3.30 on Tuesday morning my alarm rang out. After considering turning it off and burying my head in my pillow, I dragged myself out of bed, washed and dressed, and proceeded to carry eight enormous boxes of books from our first floor flat to the boot of my car outside. By 4.30 I was... Continue Reading →
Using ‘Out of the Smoke’ in a Book Group
Book Group 3, in our home education group, is loud, fun and interactive; and this group of 10 to 12 year olds wanted an adventure book next.
Lord Shaftesbury: A Biography
Lord Shaftesbury was born Anthony Ashley Cooper in 1801. His father was Cropley Ashley Cooper, the Sixth Earl of Shaftesbury, and Anthony's childhood was one of "great severity, moral and physical." Anthony’s parents spent their time and money on themselves, and their children were often hungry and cold, left in the care of the servants... Continue Reading →
Things that get in the way
I'll say this for working at a school: the holidays are well-earned. It's quite popular these days to bash teachers and teaching staff for the amount of time they get off, but believe me: they deserve it. Imagine trying to do your job (whatever you do), with all of its paperwork, admin, on-line and off-line... Continue Reading →