Week 3 - Mileage. Just like training for a sport, the more practice you do, the better your skills. Writing mileage is about giving students small and often opportunities to write.

Week 3 - Mileage. Just like training for a sport, the more practice you do, the better your skills. Writing mileage is about giving students small and often opportunities to write. For some this might look like text to speech or voice recording. 

The more often we get the students to do it the more fluent and confident they will become. It may take time but it shouldn’t be underestimated for its long term value. So often our students have the ideas percolating in their brains but can’t get it out, which is enormously frustrating for them.

At home: Do your children have friends or relatives in other countries or cities? Could you get them to write a letter or email? Perhaps they might benefit from journaling - an enormously helpful mental health support strategy and a way to improve their writing! Maybe you could play a family compliment note game - everyone’s names get put into a hat and draws one out. Then everyone gets a piece of paper and writes compliments to the person whose name they drew, explaining something (or many things) they like. 

Week 4 - With pen / pencil - Handwriting is something we simply don’t do enough of. It’s so much quicker to type and technology enables a lot of new and engaging ways to learn. However, many studies have discovered cognitive benefits of handwriting. Everything from faster learning, more information retained, better fine motor skills, increased creativity and accuracy, improved mental health, the list goes on.  

At home: Did you get your child to do any of the writing activities which I suggested last week? If not perhaps you could give them a go this week - with pen or pencil! 

Ms Beaumont - HOD English

What we’re reading: I'm currently re-reading the book 'Heroes' by Stephen Fry - the second book in a series that covers Greek mythology for the layperson. I was initially inspired to read it by the TV programme 'The Chase', which contains its fair share of questions on Greek mythology, and I was tired of not knowing the answers! 'Heroes' goes over the exploits of figures such as Heracles, Jason, Perseus, Oedipus and Theseus in a systematic and engaging way. The stories, as far-fetched as some of them are, are fascinating and through it all I have come to appreciate the profound impact that the Greeks have had on western civilisation. - Mr Carroll.

Katherine Beaumont

HOD English

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