Subject Resources – Secondary English

• National Association for the Teaching of English (NATE)
• National Association for Advisers in English (NAAE)
• English and Media Centre (EMC)
• National Literacy Trust
• The English Association

• Poetry By Heart is a national competition in which young people in key stages 2, 3, 4, and 5 choose poems they love, learn them by heart and perform them in a school or college competition. The website also has a number of useful anthologies, a blog, a range of recorded performances to inspire your students and a selection of themed poetry showcases on popular poetry genres.
• The British Library - the education section of this huge site has a wealth of teaching resources and materials linked to exhibitions, CPD for teachers as well as details of events for teachers and workshops for students.
• The English Speaking Union organise a number of national competitions and events to develop young people’s speaking skills. You can also find resources on the website and details about the ESU Oracy Affiliate Programme.
• The New Yorker Poetry Podcast  - in each episode a poet who has been published in the magazine chooses a poem by a different poet to read and discuss with the host before reading their own poem. A great introduction to talking about literature for sixth form students.
• British National Corpus - an invaluable reference and research tool for A level English Language teachers and students.
• The Royal Shakespeare Company - a host of resources linked to Shakespeare in production.
• The Globe - educational resources linked to the Globe Theatre’s productions.
• Englicious
• National Association for the Teaching of English (NATE)
• National Association for Advisers in English (NAAE)
• English and Media Centre (EMC)
• National Literacy Trust
• The English Association
• Curriculum and Assessment in English 3 to 19: A Better Plan - John Richmond
• The Education Endowment Fund is a charity which aims to break the link between low income and poor educational attainment. It published reports like this one, outlining current best practice in specific areas and also conducts research into the effectiveness and value for money of specific interventions. 

Five things English teachers need to know about ... reading aloud

1. Pupils need to hear fluent reading. This gives them a better understanding of how a text should sound and helps them to understand the role of punctuation. It is a good idea to emphasise punctuation by extending the pause on commas and full stops – this will also help you to make fewer errors in your reading and enable you to glance round the room occasionally to ensure everyone is on task and following in their books. Hearing you, the expert teacher, reading aloud will also help them to understand pronunciation of key terms as well as place and character which can be unusual.
   

   Cliff Hodges, G. Researching and Teaching Reading (2016) Routledge, Abingdon and Wyse, D. and Hacking, C. The Balancing Act: an evidence-based approach to teaching phonics, reading and writing (2024) are both great places to start in developing your understanding of the role of reading in the English classroom.

2. Conversely, it is very difficult for a class to follow a text that is being read in a halting manner by a non-fluent reader. Being picked to read can be very distressing for some pupils who are not confident readers and this can seriously damage their confidence. It also makes it very hard for the class to get into a state of “flow” where they are all engrossed in the plot of the text if it is being read in a halting way by an inexperienced reader.
   

   Quigley, A. (2020) Closing the Reading Gap, David Fulton and his blog are both strong on these topics.

3. With longer texts it is important to get through the it quite quickly so that a sense of momentum builds up. Try to minimise disruptions and limit the number of questions you ask to check on understanding. You will quickly get to know your classes and become aware of how extensive their vocabularies are and when new of complex words need glossing.
   

   Westbrook, J. and Sutherland, J. (2017) - Just Reading

4. Plan your reading. Read the section of the text you will be reading in the lesson ahead of time so that there are no surprises. Think through the key questions you are going to ask to ensure that the class are picking up on key points. Think through which words you will need to explain and have scripted definitions ready so that you are not stumbling.

   Think through the implications of the text you are reading for the context you are reading it in. How are you going to ensure that pupils do not feel intimidated or upset by issues? Equally, how are you going to ensure that pupils understand that literature is designed to help us to live fully lives and is not about passing exams?

   It is also important to re-read passages with classes. The understanding that is gained will be different each time. This is particularly important with poetry. Aim to play your classes a range of different readings of the same poem and discuss with them how each reading brings out different aspects of the text’s meaning.

   Atherton, C (2024) Reading Lessons, Penguin and Gallagher, K. (2009) Readicide, Stenhouse Publishers are both good sources of ideas on how to make clear that literary texts have contemporary relevance.

5. Remember that reading aloud has key cognitive benefits for the pupils who are listening. Do not expect to be able to see direct evidence of this but be confident that learning is taking place – your pupils are becoming more sophisticated readers with every page you read and this will also have a direct impact on their ability as writers and speakers. Remember also that reading aloud at home is on the decline, so by reading to your classes you are helping to boost equality.
   

   Cremin, T., Hendry, H. Rodriguez Leon, L. and Kucirkova, N (eds) (2023) Reading Teachers: nurturing reading for pleasure, Routledge, Abingdon.

Five things English teachers need to know about ... reading poetry

1. It is important to remember that, first and foremost, these are texts. Everything you have ever learned about how to read, understand and enjoy a text is still relevant. Do not over-complicate things for the pupils by giving them the impression that they need to know a huge amount of background material before they can even read the poem. Like any other text, it is all about how to make sense of human experience, so focus on what the poem has in common with the lives of your pupils rather than on what is different. Straight-forward prompts such as George Saunders’ “what couldn’t you help noticing?” remain your best friend here.
   

   Saunders, G. (2021) A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, Bloomsbury is all about teaching Russian short stories to Americans and has many salient points to make about how to teach literature.

2. Bear in mind that there may be pupils in the class who share some aspects of the cultural background of the text. If this is the case, use them as a resource but do so in a discrete way which does not leave them open to being othered by the rest of the group or being made to feel vulnerable.
   

   Atherton, C (2024) Reading Lessons, Penguin includes thoughtful examples of how texts  can be made relevant in largely mono-cultural classrooms.

3. Read the poem repeatedly. Read it in different ways and talk to the class about how each reading brings out different aspects of its meaning. Encourage the class to play around with the poem by giving it to them with the vowels removed or chopped into sections which they must fit back together or with key words blanked out. Any activity which keeps the pupils engrossed in the poem for an extended period (say 40 minutes) is going to build their understanding and they will also find themselves beginning to remember quotations.
   

   39 steps to engaging with poetry by Trevor Millum and Chris Warren is a great resource – available through the NATE website.

4. Poems are open to a range of responses and opinions. It doesn’t really matter what opinions your pupils hold about the poems they read, as long as they can explain them clearly and support their ideas with evidence.  They need to understand that, while to an extent there are no wrong answers in English, there are certainly answers that cannot be effectively supported with textual evidence. Elaborate or fanciful interpretations can be plain wrong.
   

   Webb, J. (2019) How to Teach English Literature, John Catt covers these issues in detail.

5. Be open about your own response to the poem. If you are confused by things, say so. There is no reason why you should understand every aspect of any text. If you feel differently about the text on different days, tell the class this as it will give them an insight into the way we can have multiple possible interpretations of a text, particularly a text that is from a diverse culture.
   

   Gilbert, Dr F (2018) The Mindful English Teacher is a good source of general approaches to poetry.

The most important reading that secondary English trainees can do is to read as much YA fiction as possible. They should talk to their school’s librarian about what is popular with the T students and read a range of different authors. This will equip them to talk knowledgably to young people about books and reading for pleasure – a key role of English teachers.

• Blake, J., The Full English. NATE 2008
• Bleiman, B., What Matters in English Teaching. English and Media Centre (2020) 
• Coles, J., On Shakespeare and the national Curriculum 
• Durran, J., On poetry teaching 
• Eaglestone, R., Doing English: A Guide for Literature Students. Routledge (2017 – fourth edition)
• Gilbert, F., The Mindful English Teacher. FGI Publishing (2018)
• Lemov, D., Driggs, C., Woolway, E., Reading Reconsidered, Jossey-Bass (2016)
• McCallum, A., Creativity and Learning in Secondary English. David Fulton (2012)
• Rogerson, K., Analysing narrative style
• Tharby, A., Making Every English Lesson Count. Crown House (2017)
• Thomas, P., A Manifesto for English
• Watson, A. and Newman, R. (eds) A Practical Guide to Teaching English in the Secondary School Second Edition. Routledge (2021)
• Wolf, M., Reader, Come Home, Harper Collins (2018)
• Aarts, B., Cushing, I., and Hudson, R., How to Teach Grammar (2019) Oxford ISBN 978-0-19-842151-1
• Curriculum and Assessment in English 3 to 19: A Better Plan - John Richmond
• Following the publication of the Ofsted English Research review in May 2022, Barbara Bleiman of EMC has written this response which provides helpful context and critique.

   

Barbara Bleiman - The Harold Rosen Memorial Lecture, NATE Conference 2019

Gresham College Lectures 

Michael Rosen and Simon Gibbons discuss the ways in which events in 1988 and the introduction of the national curriculum changed English teaching

Michael Rosen and Francis Gilbert discuss approaches to writing analysis and argument

The platform Myatt and Co has published a series of videos with the collective title "Principled Practice in secondary English". Each of these will be of great interest to trainees, ECTs and those who train them. The site does have a subscription system but many schools will have bulk subscriptions that trainees can access. Search under "English" in the Subject tab and all the films will be listed.

TEMZ Event - Diverse Reading in Schools across Age Ranges

Session Overview:

The session will focus on Gabrielle Cliff Hodges and Mary Anne Wolpert’s paper - participants will need to have at least skimmed the paper in advance.

Expected Learning Outcomes:

An understanding of the issues addressed in the paper, including the idea of reading as a holding ground for thought and a shared exploration of how some of these issues are or could be approached in schools and across age-ranges.

Facilitator Information:

Steve Willshaw - Secondary English Associate Consultant, NASBTT

Recording:

Watch the recording here.

TEMZ Event - Building Challenging Texts into the secondary English curriculum

Session Overview:

How can trainee English teachers build challenging texts into their teaching?

Expected Learning Outcomes:

What do we mean by challenging? How can pupils be supported to access these challenging texts? How much flexibility can/should teachers have to build challenging texts into their work? What is the role of centralised schemes of work?

Facilitator Information:

Steve Willshaw - Secondary English Associate Consultant, NASBTT

Recording and Resources:

Watch the recording here.

View the resources here.

The New Yorker Fiction Podcast - great for hearing writers talking about other writers’ work.

In this podcast for EDSK, Tom Sherrington, trustee of Nat Bacc Trust, talks to Tim Oates about the ways in which a Baccalaureate would improve assessment in the later years of secondary education. If we were to move in this direction there would be implications for English teachers - students not doing an English A level could continue to study the subject to 18 and exams could be taken when students are ready for them. Lots of advantages in terms of student control and buy in and flexibility.

• Published 5th March 2024 - Subject Report Series: English
• 5th March 2024: Schools Week - Ofsted: six key findings from it's English Subject Report
• In May 2022 Ofsted published its Research Review on English. Read it here
• Schools Week - Speed Read Ofsted's guide to 'high quality' English curriculum Moving English forward (March 2012)
• The Reading framework (July 2021)
• English at the crossroads (June 2009)

The links and readings listed in these pages are a small selection of the huge amount of material that is available. They have been chosen to provoke thinking and discussion. They do not provide trainee teachers with ready-made lessons. However, they will equip trainees with an understanding of the philosophical issues that they will need to address if they want to be successful, well-informed practitioners who can regularly deliver engaging lessons.

Featuring Professor Teresa Cremin, this free Open University study course takes you through the fundamentals of engaging young readers in reading for pleasure. Requiring just 24 hours of study it would make an ideal background course for secondary English trainees and you will receive a certificate on completion.