There are many advantages to delivering reading lessons to the whole class. For example, pupil engagement and productivity can be increased as all pupils receive the attention of the expert in the room (you) for the full lesson; you can build on children’s knowledge and understanding by linking the texts you use to the wider curriculum, you can make ambitious text choices so that the whole class are exposed to age-appropriate texts and by involving the whole class you have the potential for wider discussions than if teaching children in small groups. But just as there are advantages to teaching the whole class together, so there are also some common challenges.

A selection of children’s books about the Olympics and sport to get you limbered up for the delayed 2020 Olympic games.

In this article children’s literature expert, Joy Court, gives us her recommendations for books on the theme of evolution.

Putting knowledge at the core of the curriculum is a key area of development in most schools at the moment; after all, knowledge is power. Consequently, the presence of Knowledge Organisers, Knowledge Quizzes and staff training on Retrieval Practice can be felt all around us.

But what about key knowledge in primary English? What knowledge is required to be successful in primary English and what can we do in our classrooms to support this in engaging and memorable ways?

A round up of gorgeous children’s picture books to love and cherish.

If you’re looking for a resource that links grammar to high-quality children’s books, our Starting Points Overview is just the thing. Find out more about this invaluable resource in this short article by our Director, Rachel Clarke.

Here at Primary English HQ we’ve been busy assembling some of the spookiest children’s books we know to help you and your class enjoy some ghoulishly good learning this Halloween. We have ghostly Guided Reading Packs, spooky sets of Starting Points and a wicked Whole Class Reading Sequence.

Our director, Rachel, takes you on a walk through guided reading.

Explicit, planned, and strategic strategies for teaching vocabulary are at the core of the Primary English approach to teaching vocabulary. However, we also love to have fun and in this article we exemplify some of our vocabulary resources and how they can help you and your class play with words.

Phonics, what's all the fuss about? Well to start with there's the ongoing debate between those who love it and those who don't - 'The Reading Wars'. All that hot air about over-reliance on one strategy; all those high frequency words that aren't phonically regular; oh and all those opinions about nonsense words. A quick Google search about phonics can open up a regular kan of wurms on this topic. The incredible thing is, when we wend our way round our schools this isn't the part of phonics that gets educators steamy under the collar.

In this article we recommend approaches to promote reading aloud in your school. Compiled by the members of our Teachers’ Reading Group, each and every recommendation has been tried and tested in real schools. If you’re looking to put reading at the heart of your school, we think our post will give you some great starting points.

Love it or loathe it, guided reading is probably the most well-used strategy for teaching reading in the UK. This popular post collects together a range of ideas to help you plan for meaningful guided reading sessions.

A hugely popular article considering story structure and how understanding it, can help children with their own writing.

Advice and guidance on getting the most from hearing children read. Suitable for teachers and teaching assistants, this article offers quick and easy advice to spruce up your reading practice.

A hugely popular article signposting the suite of Primary English resources to support teaching and learning in reading. Planners, questions and prompts to support all aspects of the Content Domain for reading in KS1 and KS2.

A selection of teaching ideas for The Polar Express to get you and your class feeling Christmassy.

This article combines learning about poetry with a Christmas craft activity and can even be extended to include a quick and attractive classroom display.

On the off-chance that you’re stumped for a writing activity to squeeze into the window between the school carol service and the staff buffet, we’ve collated a few quick and easy Christmas themed writing opportunities.

A round up of books to read aloud to your class this Christmas.

After spending a few weeks under the dustsheets, I’m delighted to say that here at Primary English HQ, we’ve put away the colour charts, packed up the wallpaper paste and washed out our painting brushes. Our website renovation is over, and I think you’ll agree we’re looking rather striking.