Alex Quigley profile image

Alex Quigley

York, UK
Why teaching academic vocabulary matters Post feature image

Why teaching academic vocabulary matters

A new school year begins, full of old routines and new challenges. It is only natural to seek out novel ideas to start the year afresh, but we should be wary they are not at the expense of long-held priorities and practices. The teaching of academic vocabulary is one of

Is teaching writing the 'Neglected R'? Post feature image

Is teaching writing the 'Neglected R'?

If you can write well, you can succeed in school. But the impact of being unable to write with confidence can be crippling, in the classroom, as well as far beyond the school gates. The recent White Paper on ‘levelling up’ education by the government, predictably attempts to address writing

Teaching Vocabulary and Mighty Morphemes Post feature image

Teaching Vocabulary and Mighty Morphemes

How do you teach a tricky new word, or seek to boost the word hoard of the pupils you teach? One of the most common approaches to developing academic vocabulary is to study morphology – breaking words down into their component parts and roots. It can support the development of academic

Write like the Romans Post feature image

Write like the Romans

Apart from the sanitation, the medicine, wine, public order, roads, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us? Well, they taught us how best to teach writing. Not a week goes by when new apps or AI isn’t promised as the answer to all our educational

Leading Literacy... And Communicating Complexity Post feature image

Leading Literacy... And Communicating Complexity

This short blog series is targeted at literacy leaders – either Literacy Coordinators, Reading Leads, or Curriculum Deputies – with a key role in leading literacy to ensure that pupils access the curriculum and succeed in meeting the academic demands of school.  Few school leaders get trained in communications. Yet, in almost

The Grammar Gap Post feature image

The Grammar Gap

There are few topics in education – indeed, English life – that inspire fear, loathing and unfulfilled expectations quite like the subject of grammar. Researchers are quick to challenge notions of ‘standard English’ and how grammar is being taught in primary school, or the tyranny of tests. Sadly, amidst these loud debates,

Closing the Writing Gap - New Resources Post feature image

Closing the Writing Gap - New Resources

It is crucial that busy teachers are supported with timely and accessible resources to support their work. As a result, to go alongside my new book, ‘Closing the Writing Gap’, I have produced a small number of tools that I hope will help translate the insights from the book into