Writing

English

Secondary

Condensing six Key Stage 3 subjects into one lesson

A school reduces the number of Key Stage 3 lessons per week, by teaching up to six subjects in a cross-curriculum lesson, under the heading 'Creative Literacy'. Assistant headteacher, Gary Begusch from Archbishop Beck Catholic Sports College in Liverpool, has condensed the subjects so Year 7 and Year 8 students learn through creative literacy and logical thinking. The lessons cover literacy, communication, reading and writing skills, through different themes. In this new curriculum, the core content is being taught and teachers are encouraged to bring in lots of imagination in the way content is delivered. At the heart of the lessons is enjoyment and teachers are able to seek help from creative consultants to ensure they get the balance right.

Creative Literacy in the Classroom

Outdoor learning sparks creative writing at Key Stage 3

Discover how a secondary school uses exciting new experiences outside the classroom as inspiration for creative writing at Key Stage 3. The Lancaster School for boys in Leicester, takes students struggling to write creatively to an outdoor pursuits centre. The pupils take part in activities like kayaking and climbing before being asked to write about their day for the school newsletter. The teachers behind the project say the boys find it much easier to write about real life experiences and that their vocabulary, use of language and creativity are all improved. In this video the staff at The Lancaster School share their top tips for how learning outside the classroom can improve achievement.

Creative Writing Outside the Classroom

Everest is used to explore the structure of creative writing

A KS3 revision class in Backwell School, Bristol, use Everest as a metaphor to enhance and entrench their learning. The pupils are taught by the Head of English to use their minds creatively to produce powerful and interesting stories by treating them as a mountaineer scaling Everest would do. Pupils focus on the idea that specific equipment used by a mountaineer can reflect the creative writing tools used in English to create imaginative and structured writing. &nbsp; Pupils also work through two lesson objectives in order to help them develop techniques in persuasive and argumentative writing and structuring work in and between paragraphs. &nbsp; This programme, is part of our Uncut Classroom series where you can follow the lesson from beginning to end, unedited, watching either the teacher or the pupils' experience of the classroom. &nbsp;

Strategies for improving boys' literacy

Teachers demonstrate their successful strategies for improving literacy in teenage boys at Barry Comprehensive School in Wales. The school has been recognised for its achievements in improving literacy, and teachers Jenny Conway and Sian Morgan show how the strategy works in the classroom. They make sure they provide frequent opportunities for its students to read and write and take time to understand their learning styles. Appropriate forms of assessment are used and they encourage positive role models within the school. There is also an insight into the role of libraries in the campaign to improve boys' literacy.

Improving Boys' Literacy in Wales - Barry Comprehensive School

A school shows how it has improved boys' literacy

Staff at Y Pant Comprehensive School in Pontyclun, South Wales, share their strategies for improving boys' literacy. Assistant head Helen Jones, and class teachers Andrew Hurley and Gareth Howells, demonstrate in class the importance of choosing appropriate classroom resources for boys and of encouraging good social interaction. They make sure that during lessons, reading and writing is made relevant to boys and that technology is used as a way to get boys interested in literacy. They also discuss the important role of the teacher in improving boys' literacy.

Improving Boys' Literacy in Wales - Y Pant Comprehensive School

Year 7 English students construct inspirational speeches

A fun secondary lesson idea, where Year 7 English students construct their own inspirational speeches. Suitable for Key Stage 3. Using key words and clauses from historical and contemporary speeches, English teacher, Karen McWilliam from Dane Court Grammar School, discusses themes and motives for her Year 7 class's speeches. Some students decide to travel back in time, whereas others draw on modern events and news stories for inspiration. The students then mask together their own speeches using the list of key words and clauses given to them, exploring persuasive language as well as using and adapting cliches. At the end of the lesson, students perform their speeches to the class. Karen also uses this lesson with older year groups as a revision exercise.

Inspirational Speeches

Looking at APP in action at Downlands Community School

The English department at Downlands Community School in Hassocks has been applying the new QCA Assessing Pupils' Progress for three years. See it in action in a Year 9 English lesson, focusing on a specific Assessment Focus to target students' learning needs around writing. Head of English, Paul Barber, who introduced APP to his school, also discusses the challenges and successes they have had using this approach. For Paul, APP helps his planning and teaching. He can spot students' weakness, plan specific lessons to tackle these and see progression over time. For the students, APP is a very personalised approach, putting them in the driving seat of their own learning and enabling them to understand how to improve their writing.

KS3 English - APP Writing

English staff take a creative approach to the new KS3 curriculum

An English department embraces the new Key Stage 3 curriculum, using creativity to engage pupils and develop their writing, speaking and listening skills. At Manor College of Technology in Hartlepool, Amy Coates uses a courtroom role-play to help Year 7 pupils develop their ability in writing to argue within a critical reading unit. Jill Bullock encourages creativity in Year 8 by using props and group collaboration to help pupils develop a murder plot as the basis for a piece of imaginative writing. Ashleigh Clark helps a Year 9 class improve their persuasive language, with the students trying to convince their peers that their own made-up words should be included in the dictionary.

KS3 English - Classroom Creativity

Follow a Year 9's writing journey from inspiration to creation

Follow a piece of extended writing as it develops, taking in the various stages of teacher input, pupil planning, drafting, writing and, finally, peer review. Year 9 pupil Laura-Jay lets us into her head, her work and her homework as she writes a scary story, shares her inspirations and narrates her creative process. [Note: the text of Laura's story is given in early drafts. Laura later proof read and corrected her text with her teacher's help]

KS3/4 English - Laura's Writing Journey

Using travel writing to explore creativity in non-fiction texts

In this programme, English teacher Ava Houris explores the genre of travel writing to help prepare her Year 10 students for the reading and writing requirements of their GCSE exam. As a non-fiction genre, travel writing can offer an excellent insight into the way texts work in the outside world, and the ways in which texts can fulfil more than one purpose. Working alongside consultant Barbara Bleiman, Ava looks into ways of going beyond the most basic features of text types, audiences and purposes. She uses a range of practical classroom strategies including graphic planning methods, modelling writing and text analysis, to help students be more lively and creative in their non-fiction writing.

Professional Development for Quality Teaching

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