Blogs and writes about writing, the written word and education. Director of the National Association for the Teaching of English and editor of Teaching English.
York, England
- Tweets 2,742
- Following 3,214
- Followers 3,977
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Anthony Cockerill retweeted
Non-fiction graphic novels are a wonderful way of helping children understand complex information. I've started putting together a list of my favourites to use in class. Feel free to add to the list!
padlet.com/Jon_Biddle/non-fi…
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Anthony Cockerill retweeted
@ForwardPoetry @EdexcelTeachers
@thecockerill @RealGeoffBarton @C_Hendrick @engteacherabro2 @MrFerguson85 @Gwenelope @Headteacherchat @mrs_denglish
Reduced, never reductive
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Anthony Cockerill retweeted
There are many schools making the whole of KS3 prep for GCSE. They're teaching the same limited texts, doing constant exam answers, schooling students in forms & formulae for success, giving them sentence starters, getting them to repeat the words & phrases they've told them. 6
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Anthony Cockerill retweeted
Audiences are silent in plays. Audiences are silent in concerts. Patients are silent in operations -after being anaesthetised. Children are not anaesthetised (or shouldn't be!). They contribute, respond, change the direction, alter the script, require/take part in improvisation.
Actors use scripts. Musicians use sheet music. Surgeons follow established procedures.
Why are scripts for teachers treated as an affront to professionalism?
@ehanford explains why Direct Instruction uses them.
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Anthony Cockerill retweeted
With the welcome new announcement by @LucyMPowell on Oracy, it's important to keep saying that it isn't just learning *to* talk, though that's key. It's also learning *through* & *about* talk. Plus talk gives teachers a window into students' thinking. nate.org.uk/2026/06/05/think…
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Anthony Cockerill retweeted
Is Oracy going to be the next Trad v Prog battleground (it was phonics for ages).
Fascinating to watch people suddenly be using terms like 'snake oil', 'gravy train' etc as if large companies haven't bled schools dry for years. But when it's something you don't agree with...
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Anthony Cockerill retweeted
I’m all for evidence-informed practice in schools. It’s important that what we do is backed by research.
But I do think we need to ask more questions about the evidence itself.
How many schools were involved? How many children? What was the context? How long was the research carried out for? And how relevant is it to our own classrooms?
Evidence should inform professional judgement, not replace it.
Just because something is ‘research-backed’ doesn’t automatically mean it’s right for every school or every child.
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Anthony Cockerill retweeted
Fantastic day at the AQA Rethinking English Language day @AstonUniversity @AQAEnglish @HeadofEnglish @mmgiovanelli Thank you so much for having us!
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Anthony Cockerill retweeted
Reading for the 'Beyond the Essay' project we've just started work on, I'm reminded of the value of Louise Rosenblatt's work on what reading literature is all about. The quote below is the end of a chapter, written in 1956 & still so relevant today! s3.amazonaws.com/arena-attac…
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Anthony Cockerill retweeted
You can show me how to juggle. I still can’t juggle. Rather spectacularly proving that demonstration ≠ learning. Explicit instruction, practice, feedback, problem-solving and, yes, productive struggle all have a place. Why must education discourse turn everything into a binary?
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Anthony Cockerill retweeted
Non-fiction texts are an essential part of the classroom reading diet and deserve far more attention. In my latest blog, I begin to explore the important role non-fiction can play in developing a rich reading culture.
jonbiddle2.substack.com/p/ma…
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Anthony Cockerill retweeted
First display is nearly done… #Macbeth
Anything I could add?
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Anthony Cockerill retweeted
So happy to have been a judge on this years BBC Young Writers' Award. We have five brilliant shortlisted stories. Listen to them here. Winner announced Tuesday 29.
bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0p968…
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Anthony Cockerill retweeted
🎟️ Rethinking Language Conference 2026
lnkd.in/gnFbjtne
📖 New blog 'What are we waiting for?' lnkd.in/emuBPvKS
🔗 Join our teacher panel to have your say on curriculum and assessment reform
lnkd.in/ejJvzFbv
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Anthony Cockerill retweeted
There will be talks, panels and workshops from teachers, leaders and academics - from big ideas to practical takeaways that can make a difference in classrooms right now.
If you're passionate about what English Language can and should be, book your FREE place!
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Anthony Cockerill retweeted
I’m not often on X these days but wanted to let you know about AQA’s ‘Rethinking English Language’ conference on 10th October!
Join the conversation exploring English as we teach it now and as it could be in the future.
FREE tix 👇👇👇
eventbrite.co.uk/e/rethinkin…
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Anthony Cockerill retweeted
The view from here: a huge pleasure to attend @TheRSC’s symposium for arts & education leaders today, and to hold a ‘fireside chat’ with schools minister @Georgia_Gould about the importance of the arts, the power of partnerships, and the new national centre for arts education
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Anthony Cockerill retweeted
Are there many English still on here? If so, can you give any recommendations for year 7 modern(ish) plays? Not Shakespeare!
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Anthony Cockerill retweeted
We love mooching around Acomb in York.
Its negative stereotypes have almost strangled it but yet it comes through: green spaces, great craic, idiosyncratic, independent outlets. York as a city is on a roll but let’s not forget the suburbs beyond the wall.
@VisitYork @iloveacomb
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