Please note that we have moved to a new website since these newsletters were first published, so the links to resources on the old website will now be broken. All the resources can still be accessed through our Resources webpage.
September 2018
Full details of the new Poetry Spine: a list of recommended poetry books that Pie has put together. There’s free body percussion resources from Beat Goes On – a superb organisation that links body percussion with literacy – and there’s a video of what we believe to be the biggest TfW retelling of a story ever, which happened at Warren Road School in Orpington. Well worth a watch! Read the full newsletter.
April 2018
Trainer Kathryn Pennington has written a great article about using model texts which includes four free model text examples. Also, trainer Maria Richards explains how schools need to ensure they have a long-term plan in order to make the most of staff training. There is also news of new Talk for Writing process posters – ideal for your classroom or staff room! Read the full newsletter.
January 2018
There’s info about the new Talk for Writing fiction book which has been released. Pie also put together a new free poetry resource, there’s a free model text and teaching notes from Talk for Writing trainer, Dean Thompson, plus two new articles from schools in Newham and Australia. Read the full newsletter.
September 2017
Free teaching resources on creating suspense and descriptive writing, Maria Richards gives us her top tips for building a school that reads and Greengate Juniors in Cumbria share how they ran a Talk for Writing unit based around Mary Poppins. There are also two articles, one on motivating pupils to write for pleasure and a second on using picture books at KS2. Read the full newsletter.
May 2017
Pie has written a piece to clarify how Talk for Writing leads to true independent writing. In addition, there’s a super article by Kathryn Pennington pulling together the requirements of the National Curriculum reading programme and the SATs into one document. There are two new school case studies from Summerhill Primary in Sandwell and Front Lawn Primary Academy in Hampshire, as well as a short video interview with Mark McClements, a UK expat in Australia, who was quick to credit Talk for Writing when he won the Western Australia ‘Teacher of the Year’ award. Read the full newsletter.
January 2017
We have three great articles, including a cracking piece by Maria Richards on how to teach short-burst writing, a new short film put together by illustrator Jon Ralphs and, as always, there’s some free resources to download and use in class. Read the full newsletter.
September 2016
There’s advice on the best way to approach teaching grammar, an article from Selby Primary in North Yorkshire on integrating science into the Talk for Writing approach, an article looking at how Talk for Writing has helped teachers at Victoria Road Primary in Cheshire teach French and Spanish and we’ve also got the winning stories from last term’s story competition. Read the full newsletter.
April 2016
There’s a selection of free KS2 resources that I’ve written for Teachwire, a new Talk for Writing story competition, a great new case study from St Matthew’s Primary in Birmingham and information about a Talk for Maths training day in Slough. Read the full newsletter.
January 2016
We are looking for trainers and training centres in London, the south-east and eastern areas. We have also been developing our thinking in order to best help colleagues that use Talk for Writing with SEND children. Also, Julia has made fantastic progress in developing Talk for Writing through secondary education. Read the full newsletter.
September 2015
There are free resources, two excellent case studies of Talk for Writing to enjoy and information about the Talk for Reading training sessions we’ll be running around England this term. Read the full newsletter.