Violetta di Parma

The build up to our Christmas break was fantastic - such a busy few days for students and staff.

You gotta prioritise your wellbeing in the hols…

Here’s how:

Here are almost 40 of my favourite #MiddleGrade reads for 2025.

A fantastic range from wild fantasy, to gritty realism, historical adventures and more than a few scares. What a brilliant year its been for children’s books

Loki: A Bad God's Guide to Causing Chaos - Walker Books PRE-ORDER NOW! THE BRAND-NEW HILARIOUS DOODLE-PACKED DIARY IN THE BESTSELLING LOKI SERIES.‘Tom Gates and Wimpy Kid fans need look no further than this laug...

I have a book out in two weeks. So....one repost of this and I'll drop one fact/spoiler/detail about the book. @walkerbooksuk.bsky.social www.walker.co.uk/978152951581...

Back to school, and once again I spend a lot of time thinking about this poem ❤️

A picture of a wall with block letter graffiti reading: If you ever feel heavy because you care deeply about injustice, suffering, and ecological destruction, remember that a trillion dollar propaganda machine was built to make you numb and it didn't work on you.

Today's mood:

MG Review & Author Q&A: Utterly Dark and the Tides of Time by Philip Reeve, illustrations by Paddy Donnelly Cover image and inside illustrations by Paddy Donnelly, Publisher David Fickling Books, 7th September 2023 The conclusion of the Utterly Dark trilogy is an adventure woven through with the ancient …

#SundayMorningBookChat Have to agree with @hfj0108.bsky.social and nominate the #UtterlyDark trilogy by @philipreeve.bsky.social They are beautifully written and deserve far more attention than they’ve received.
This was my review of final book: vsviewfromthebookshelves.home.blog/2023/09/04/m...

Front cover of Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne illustrations of the main characters by E Sheppard

Front cover of The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame illustrations of main characters by E Sheppard

Front cover of Hoot by Carl Hiaasen, all blue, googly eyes and orange triangle looking like owl’s face, title in bright yellow lettering at the bottom.

#SundayMorningBookChat
Great question as always Tom. My two childhood favourites: #WinnieThePooh & #TheWindInTheWillows then was put off animal stories after reading #WatershipDown as a kid, until reading #Hoot by @carlhiaasen.com as a bedtime story, many years later! #AnimalStories

Always the most popular read-aloud with my Year 5/6 class.

And a few more…very excited for the final Podkin in September

Love a good animal story, here are a few standouts…

Silverwing bat in flight silhouetted against a full moon.

I love Varjak Paw, too. Also loved Wind in the Willows as a kid and again with my own child. But my all-time favourite is Silverwing by Kenneth Oppel, a kind of bat David vs Goliath tale.

#sundaymorningbookchat comes all the way from Mauritius this morning. Had a wonderful safari in SA and was completely inspired by the animals. Let’s celebrate animal books! What is the appeal of a great animal book or authors who write them? Here are some of my favourites @whatsfsaid.bsky.social

What Bridget Phillipson can learn from Conservative education policy In a new book, the former schools minister Nick Gibb defends a strong, if controversial legacy.

This is an excellent review of Nick Gibb & Rob Peal's new book: www.newstatesman.com/culture/book...

My wife shared this with me and I’m tellin you… it’s worth the read.

Tommy Robinson has quite literally bemoaned a primary school where first language isn't English, by suggesting it goes against the district's proud history of serial killers and gangsters. Which is apparently better...

Get some perspective, lad.

The myth of balance in the classroom Why the case for mixing teacher-led and student-led activities doesn’t stack up

Teaching isn’t about “balancing” teacher-led & student-led activities.
It’s about asking which approach closes & which wides attainment gaps
If you’re mixing without knowing the answer, you’re not balancing you’re gambling with the lives of the most vulnerable.
open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...

Hallmark 4: Effective pedagogies build on students’ prior learning and experience

(Fourth in a series exploring the Nine Hallmarks of Great Pedagogy through the lens of Imaginative Inquiry and Mantle of the Expert) www.mantleoftheexpert.com/blog-post/ha...

It's the summer holidays, which means I have a copy of Primary Reading Simplified to give away.

Simply **repost** this post for your chance to win.

I will pick a winner on Sunday 17th August.

Good luck!

Tens of thousands of cornflowers in a field in Wicken. Research shows that the sight of them will help you recover from sources of stress more quickly & boost dopamine release in your brain, lifting your mood…in case you need it just now:

Hannah Gold’s books, especially The Lost Whale. Kieran Larwood’s Podkin were this year’s runaway discoveries for me.

A sunday question for the #UkKidlit gang - what's a children's book you've read recently that you push upon anyone who'll listen? The one that turns you into the ancient mariner, forcing people to listen to you about it?

If great teaching matters, why are we so bad at keeping great teachers? Why do so many teachers leave teaching and how can we keep them?

We think the teacher crisis is about recruitment.
It’s not.
We train thousands every year then watch a third leave within 5 years. Almost half of trained teachers are not teaching.
The real crisis is retention.
And we’re losing many who could have become great.
open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...

#Sundaymorningbookchat this week is about celebrity authors. What are your thoughts on celebrities writing children’s books - even if they have a background in writing? Are there any that you’ve enjoyed? Are they books that you avoid? Do you think it’s good for the industry? the children?

Good morning! #SundayMorningBookChat this week is all about the Summer! Which books have really brought the summer alive for you? Great summer reads… I always think of Waiting for murder by @fleurhitchcock.bsky.social Tales of Truthwater Lake by Emma Carroll or ship of shadows by Maria Kuzniar

Gordon Brown on the lessons of 2008 for the new challenge of strengthening multilateral institutions when they are under attack from the government in Washington DC
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Found it utterly absorbing, terrifying and heartbreaking. Really the opposite of dull.

Getting Out of the Way Much of my adult identity was bound up in being a teacher. For over 20 years I had lived my life by bells and terms and assessment deadlines. Most of my friends were teachers (that is still the cas…

*** NEW POST ***

@greeborunner.bsky.social explores why you sometimes just need to get out of teachers' way...

wp.me/p7mhqT-OI

Charlotte’s Web, Stewart Little, some Dick King-Smith animal
Books.

Thanks, Sam. That means a lot coming from someone with your expertise.