Collins Schools

            
      A message for us all from Dickens
    
      Dickens – and the message of A Christmas Carol is everywhere – even though the season of goodwill is over four months away. He was on the lips of Labour MP David Lammy in the wake of the Grenfell Tower...
    
        4 min
      
        16/08/2017
      
      The Power of the Motif: How to Ace Descriptive Writing
    
      After reading many torturous stories (‘and then… and then… and then…), I think that most of us have been steering our students towards the Descriptive rather than the Narrative task in the GCSE English Language Paper.
    
        3 min
      
        31/05/2017
      
      Hammering it home: how writers use imagery to create effects!
    
      He’d left his laptop open, and still switched on. As her hand had brushed against the screen, it had shamelessly flickered into life, brazenly displaying the profile of a young woman with a shock of red hair, piercing green eyes...
    
        8 min
      
        04/04/2017
      
      Kicking the habit: analysing a writer’s use of language rather than just explaining what it means!
    
      If you were offered a fifty-fifty chance of winning everything you’ve ever dreamed of with just the turn of a card, the throw of a dice, or the spin of a wheel, what would you wager? How about your life!? 
    
        7 min
      
        20/09/2016
      
      Using Pictures to Teach Descriptive Writing and Structural Analysis Skills
    
      Skill-development is surely the watchword for the new GCSE English Language curriculum. With no core ‘text’ for students to engage with – except by teaching GCSE Literature alongside – it has become even more essential that students are developing skills...
    
        3 min
      
        13/09/2016
      
      Revisiting the text: Teaching the 19th Century Novel
    
      As English teachers, we have always known how important it is to re-read the text. I always tell my students that three is truly the magic number, and they must read a text at least three times in order to be fully...
    
        3 min
      
        09/09/2016
      
      Improving analysis of writing
    
      I don’t know about you, but I have found the AQA English Language, Paper 1, Question 3- commenting on the structure of a text- mighty troublesome this year! As much as I try to help students identify shifts in time,...
    
        3 min
      
        08/07/2016
      
      Teach GCSE Writing through Grammar
    
      Spelling, punctuation and grammar is on the agenda again. Not only do our key stage 2 students have to sit the controversial ‘grammar tests’, but most subjects now need to award marks for SPG at GCSE level. So, we...
    
        3 min
      
        01/07/2016
      
      The simple power of the opening sentence (or two).
    
      I have an obsession. One that drives my teaching and learning. One that caught your attention just now. Go on – admit it. A short sentence which begins ‘I have an obsession’ probably makes you think I am going to...
    
        4 min
      
        04/01/2016
      
      Multiplier effect – using word limits to improve students’ writing.
    
      In my new school, I have found three things are hindering my students ability to write. 
    
        3 min
      
        08/12/2014
      
      Drawing Stories with Neill Cameron
    
      A uniquely brilliant thing about comics is simply that they tell a story through drawings.
    
        3 min
      
        16/04/2014
      
      Packing a punch: how a writer’s use of language can create effects!
    
      Picture yourself (if you dare!) in the following scenario …
    
        8 min
      
        04/08/2013