“For any teacher, it is a salutary experience to be a learner – and ideally, a learner who feels no particular aptitude for the matter in hand. That was my fate when schools were closed and we found ourselves in our virtual classrooms providing virtual teaching to literally remote students. If nothing else, I…
“I have never spent so much time in my kitchen… Not cooking, or not only cooking, but round the table with laptops, books, pens, pencils, scissors and glue trying to balance working with my own children (keystage 2 maths, English, history, geography and quite a lot of art) and to maintain some kind…
“I am not a natural online teacher – I like being in the classroom too much… I love that feeling of leaving the world at the door and turning towards books and ideas. My students at Salford are so sparky and funny – no matter what meetings I’ve been in that day or forms…
“I don’t think any of us will forget this academic year, or the next. Or perhaps the next… The pandemic will have a significant impact on the lived experience of working and studying in UK HE and HEIs for years to come. Resilience and sustainability, strategy and transition, adaptability and community have become the…
Gecko Press ISBN 9781776572816 £11.99 This is a new gift edition of a selection of poems from James K Baxter’s The Tree House and Other Poems that was first published in 1974. Baxter was a primary school teacher and the poems cover topics which young children will find familiar such as being out in the…
Orchard ISBN 9781408359969 £6.99 This book is the first in a new series, and is an enjoyable read. The start of the story is about Emily moving to a new area and fitting in. She makes friends with Layla and Grace. The girls rescue a dolphin tangled in a fishing net, and start on an…
Otter Barry Books ISBN 9781910959251 £11.99 This story about uniqueness and individual acceptance could be read and enjoyed simply at surface level. But what I think makes this book much more is it’s a starting point for so much discussion and so much learning. I can imagine reading this to a child between 3-7 years…
Little Tiger Press ISBN: 9781788816311 £6.99 This is one of a series of beautifully colourful board books populated with appealing characters with peep throughs and felt flaps for little fingers to lift. The formula: where is X hiding? is a time-honoured favourite with babies and toddlers and builds from their enjoyment of Peek-a-boo games. In…
Templar publishing ISBN 9781787415713 £9.99 A charming lift-the-flap board book that introduces readers to some of the creatures in the oceans. The format is like a scrapbook with a font like handwriting. Flaps, cut-outs and 3D pull outs intrigue the reader and suggest the awe and wonder of life under the ocean. Factual information is…