Freedom to Teach

Five tips for home music-making with early years and primary-aged children

Are you a parent or teacher who finds themselves responsible for devising or delivering home-based music lessons? Are you looking for advice and ideas for activities? Are you feeling apprehensive at the thought of teaching music, or perhaps you’re...

6 min

Dealing with Poetryphobia

Students often express negative perceptions about poetry. They feel intimidated; they think it’s difficult; they ‘can’t get on with it’. Such perceptions can be self-fulfilling if we’re not careful. How do we get them to appreciate that poetry might...

5 min

Self-care in times of uncertainty

Self-care in times of uncertainty

Self-care is a word that is banded about these days to refer to many things that it isn’t. Self-care isn’t always eating a bar of chocolate whilst watching Netflix (as excellent as that is); it’s about identifying what you...

5 min

Simple, fun ideas to help children with phonics

Literacy expert Gill Matthews, shares some simple ideas for how to make phonics learning fun and enjoyable. You may find this helpful to share with your pupils’ parents or you can adapt the ideas for your home learning plan. <br...

6 min

Helping KS1 Children With Reading At Home

Literacy expert Gill Matthews, shares some simple, enjoyable ideas for how parents can support their child’s reading comprehension and development at home. You may find this helpful to share with your pupils’ parents or you can adapt the ideas for...

6 min

Helping KS2 Children With Reading At Home

Literacy expert Gill Matthews, shares some simple, enjoyable ideas for how parents can support their...

7 min

Preparing for exam questions on science practicals

Preparing for exam questions on science practicals

Students often love the idea of practical work in science. They have the chance to work in small groups as they experiment with new equipment and see the science come to life, rather than taking notes from the board...

4 min

Practising SATs-style questions

To help prepare pupils for SATs, we can build their confidence by revising topics and making sure they know what to expect. Here are some ways to make sure pupils...

4 min

Homework to prepare for the SATs: KS2 Maths

To make sure pupils get the SATs practice they need, it makes sense to set homework that also involves parents/carers. Here are some things to consider.Set short, focused activities, following on from work in schoolWhile children...

4 min

Dealing with Poetryphobia

Dealing with Poetryphobia

Students often express negative perceptions about poetry. They feel intimidated; they think it’s difficult; they ‘can’t get on with it’. Such perceptions can be self-fulfilling if we’re not careful. How do we get them to appreciate that poetry might...

5 min

Teaching tips: Insight and Empathy in Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway

Teaching tips: Insight and Empathy in Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway

The protagonist, Mrs Dalloway, spends her life contemplating and waiting. The endlessness of her days are epitomised in the structure of the novel; a flow of consciousness that is both absorbing and frustrating. It is said by her guests...

4 min

Creative activities to bring Jane Austen’s Persuasion to life

Creative activities to bring Jane Austen’s Persuasion to life

Persuasion’s protagonist Anne Elliot is perhaps the one character who critics describe as closest to Austen herself, going as far as to suggest that this novel is in fact part autobiographical. It is a novel that shows Austen...

4 min