AQA GCSE English Language Paper 2, Question 5 asks students to present a viewpoint for a specified audience, purpose and form. The question may require an article, letter, speech or other piece of transactional writing. The task carries 40 marks: 24 for content and organisation and 16 for technical accuracy. Students therefore need to generate … Continue reading Teaching GCSE Transactional Writing for Autistic and Neurodivergent Students
Neurodiversity
Writing and resources exploring neurodiversity, autism, and inclusive approaches to learning from educator Kate Coldrick.
Autism, anxiety and uncertainty: a visual guide to feeling stuck
Why can an uncertain plan, an unanswered message or a decision about the future feel so difficult to leave open? For some autistic people, the problem is more than wanting to know what will happen. The uncertainty itself can become exhausting, especially when there is no way to get a definite answer yet. I have … Continue reading Autism, anxiety and uncertainty: a visual guide to feeling stuck
GCSE English Language November resit: a focused Question 4 revision strategy
I have created a pair of structured worksheets for students who gained a grade 3 in GCSE English Language in the summer and are preparing to take the November resit examinations. The resource focuses on Question 4 from both AQA papers, using repeatable methods that can be taught and practised within the relatively short resit … Continue reading GCSE English Language November resit: a focused Question 4 revision strategy
New Edutopia Article: Making Assessments More Accessible Without Lowering Expectations
My latest article for Edutopia has now been published: 5 Ways to Make Assessments More Accessible Without Lowering Expectations. The article grew out of a question I return to often in my teaching: what is an assessment really measuring? Many pupils can understand an idea, explain it in conversation, or show their thinking when the … Continue reading New Edutopia Article: Making Assessments More Accessible Without Lowering Expectations
They Look as Though They’re Coping. But What Does It Cost?
Autism, masking and the limits of observable behaviour Earlier this year, TES published an interview with Dame Uta Frith under the headline Why I no longer think autism is a spectrum. Frith has been one of the most influential figures in autism research for decades, and her change of position is significant. She argues that … Continue reading They Look as Though They’re Coping. But What Does It Cost?
When Our Idea of a ‘Successful Learner’ Becomes Too Narrow
How classroom expectations can create barriers for autistic and neurodivergent learners – and how more accessible teaching can reveal what pupils really know. Over the years, I have taught and tutored children and young people across very different settings, from mainstream classrooms and specialist provision to individual tuition. One thing that has become increasingly clear … Continue reading When Our Idea of a ‘Successful Learner’ Becomes Too Narrow
Music for Every Learner: Rethinking What Inclusion Means in Music Education
When I began revisiting the music curriculum I had developed during my early teaching career, I initially imagined that I might update the original scheme of work. It had been written for a residential school for autistic children and young people aged from three to eighteen, and was organised as a four-year cycle extending across … Continue reading Music for Every Learner: Rethinking What Inclusion Means in Music Education
A Small Milestone: Four Titles Now Available on Amazon
A small milestone: I now have four titles available on Amazon. My latest workbook, Understanding English Through Word Parts, has been published by Kate Coldrick and focuses on Anglo-Saxon, Latin and Greek word parts for vocabulary, spelling and reading. The book is designed to help students look inside words and understand how they are built. … Continue reading A Small Milestone: Four Titles Now Available on Amazon
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