Mr Mahoney

Baking equipment laid out on a wooden table in an historic kitchen space. Polished copper jugs, plans and dishes are arranged on a dresser behind.

It's Stir Up Sunday!

A tradition that dates back hundreds of years, many households stir a sweet plum pudding on the Sunday before Advent. Silver charms often added including coins, a ring to foretell a marriage, a horseshoe for luck and a thimble for a life of blessedness.

Do you still do this?

‘Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pen rests.
I'll dig with it.'

Listen to Jarvis Cocker read ‘Digging’
youtube.com/watch?v=KRgyIWYMy8g

From the Archive. Seamus Heaney writes to Faber editor Charles Monteith in May 1965 with a ‘selection of poems for your consideration.’ This selection of poems would become the groundbreaking collection, Death of a Naturalist.

"We will need writers, artists and actors who can help us to imagine what these futures can look like by helping us to understand our present."

#hope #education #amen

Simnel cake and the final blossom at Bateman's #blossomwatch #nationaltrust

A bee flies through blue sky towards pink blossom. Text reads #BlossomWatch

It's here, it's here, it's finally here - #BlossomWatch season is back! Camera, phone, painting, we don't mind how you do it, but share the blossom-y goodness near you with #BlossomWatch so everyone can enjoy it 🌸

‘History says, Don’t hope
On this side of the grave.
But then, once in a lifetime
The longed-for tidal wave
Of justice can rise up,
And hope and history rhyme.’

Seamus Heaney was born on this day in 1939.

Escape into Nature   There are times when it all gets too much and I have to switch off my phone and the radio and my brain, and escape outside.   I say good afternoon to next door’s dog. Have you seen the latest about the government, he barks, you couldn’t make it up. I offer a weak smile and make my excuses before walking on past the pub, whose sign creaks in protest against the steep rise in the cost of living.   From the tall branches of a tree, a seminar is in progress: a squirrel sets out his ideas about how to alleviate the refugee crisis, while a chaffinch flaps his wings angrily. It all gets too much for one leaf, who hurls itself down, remembering Trump.   I feel the eyes of a murderous-looking crow upon me, annoyed no doubt about global warming, so make my way down to the river where – for a few precious, stolen moments – I close my eyes and listen to the water as it laps gently against the bank,   until I hear the slap of wet feet approaching. Thought I’d find you here, the duck quacks, Now what the hell we gonna do about Putin? Brian Bilston

Here’s a poem about going for a walk to clear my head of all the news.

What is teaching? Can we agree a useful definition or is it already blindingly obvious?

*NEW* What is teaching? open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...

What is school for? The struggle for control of the national curriculum is a fight for the soul of English education.

The struggle for control of the national curriculum is a fight for the soul of English education.

🖋️ Pippa Bailey in this week's cover story: What is school for?

Recently taught this, one of Hopkins’ so-called “Terrible” or “Desolation” sonnets.
An astonishing, shattering poem; the self splitting & re-splitting; self-invigilating, self-flagellating.
A syntax of contortion & depression; words eliding, consuming—until, oh, that wild (“betweenpie”!) ending…

English literature GCSE: 5 strategies for the final push As exam time hurtles nearer, Zoe Enser offers her favourite quick and effective approaches to help students feel ready

📖 In one of our most-read articles this week, @greeborunner.bsky.social offers some short, sharp, 10-minute activities to help your students with the final push towards their GCSE exams

NEW ‘Power and Conflict - The Interpretations’ revision booklet. I always get students to consider 3 interpretations of each poem & ask them to consider which they agree with the most. Great springboard for debate/new ideas. I’ve collated these into a booklet here 👇🏻

www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/h5hi3...

(Why And How) We Made A Documentary Unpacking Great Teaching YouTube video by Peps Mccrea

🚨🚨 NEW TODAY

For the last 18 months, I've been working on a top secret documentary to capture & deconstruct some of best teaching in UK.

Why We Made It & How To Access It (For Free):

↓

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SQ0...