John Walker, Sounds-Write

The vast majority of words in our vocabulary are acquired through repeated exposure in context. Yes, students should add to their vocabulary through explicit instruction, but the real driver is a language-rich and knowledge-rich education and environment. city-journal.org/article/a-weal…

@StJamesYear1 @StJamesChorley Lovely to see these children ‘airing’ their knowledge 😂 And they’re killing polysyllabic words. Well done 👏👏👏

Hard at work during phonics this morning! @SWLiteracy @StJamesChorley

The environment children need in order to flourish is one that is: A) safe B) calm and predictable C) dignified and purposeful That can look like a lot of things, but it cannot look like anything. The classrooms I visit normally reveal to me in ten minutes if they satisfy those basic criteria.

Everyone knows Thomas Edison invented the lightbulb. 💡 Everyone is wrong. His name was Joseph Swan. Born in Pallion, Sunderland. Son of a failed entrepreneur. No university. No laboratory. No backing. Just a chemist's apprentice in his home town who couldn't stop thinking about light. He worked on it for twenty years. Along the way he invented bromide photographic paper. Artificial fibre, the process that led to rayon. Over seventy patents. And still nobody had made a lightbulb that worked. Then on the 18th of December 1878, in a lecture hall in Newcastle, he switched it on. It burned bright. Then it broke. But the idea was proven. ⚡ Six weeks later, 3rd February 1879, he demonstrated it again. This time it worked. Seven hundred people watched the room light up. Eight months before Thomas Edison. Edison heard about it. Filed a patent. Then sued Swan in America. The US Patent Office found against Edison. ✅ Edison sued Swan in Britain. The British courts found against Edison again. ✅✅ As part of the settlement, Edison was forced into a partnership with Swan. The company was called Ediswan. Swan's patents. Swan's filament design. Edison's name first. Eventually Edison bought him out. Swan was knighted in 1904. The Savoy Theatre, the first building in the world lit entirely by electricity, used his bulbs. Edison got the credit. Swan got a knighthood nobody remembers. And history forgot Sunderland. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Did they teach you his name? Together we keep our history alive. proudofus.co.uk/support Be part of us. 🙏 Be Proud Of Us. 🇬🇧

Credit where it's due: Tucker is amazing at confidently delivering absolute lies. Here he is claiming that Churchill locked up members of the opposition party during WW2. When, in fact, Churchill led a National Government, i.e. one that INCLUDED leaders of the opposition parties in prominent roles. Labour leader Clement Atlee was appointed Churchill's Deputy and other leading Labour and Liberal politicians held major roles in the cabinet. The person Tucker is talking about is Oswald Mosley who was the leader of the British Union of Fascists and was not elected to anything. He wanted Britain to become a fascist country and work with Hitler. Despite this, contrary to Tucker's claims, he was not even detained for the full duration of the war and was released in 1943, two years before it ended. In most other countries he would have been hanged for treason without a second thought the day the war started. Britain's treatment of this tiny group of fascists, i.e. enemy sympathisers and collaborators, during WW2 is an example of extraordinary restraint and respect for the sanctity of human life and freedom that was not only unparalleled in the world at that time but arguably remains rare and hugely admirable even by the standards of today across most of the world. In short, Tucker is completely wrong and we can only conclude that the spreading of these malicious lies is motivated not only by his ignorance of history but also by the fact that he will say ANYTHING he deems necessary to suit his political agenda. His opposition to the current war in Iran, about which I myself have expressed some skepticism, does not justify this behaviour and is, in fact, undermined by it - no right- thinking person can take him seriously after this.

The Man Who Went Shopping For Dining Chairs and Accidentally Bought Stonehenge. On September 21, 1915, a British barrister named Cecil Chubb was given a very simple task by his wife, Mary. She sent him to a local auction in Salisbury with strict instructions: buy a nice set of dining chairs for their home. But as Chubb sat in the auction house, he got distracted. "Lot 15" came up for sale, a 30-acre plot of land featuring a crumbling, dilapidated ring of ancient rocks. The bidding was incredibly sluggish, and on a complete whim, Chubb raised his hand. When the gavel fell, he had just purchased Stonehenge for £6,600 (roughly $800,000 today). He proudly presented the 5,000-year-old megalithic wonder to his wife as a surprise "birthday present." Mary was absolutely furious. She didn't want a pile of ancient rocks; she wanted her dining chairs. Three years later, tired of his wife’s complaints and realizing the immense historical weight of his impulse purchase, Chubb donated the entire monument to the British government. He attached one strict condition: the public must always have access to it. Today, it stands protected forever, all because a husband couldn't stick to a shopping list.

@StJamesRecep @StJamesChorley This is just so good for a reception class. Well done to all, teachers included! 👏👏👏

Wow! What amazing writing during our dictation lesson in @SWLiteracy @StJamesChorley @StJamesRecep

@AlisonW78759658 @catgenevieve @robrandel Fantastic news! Keep us up to date 😊

@catgenevieve @robrandel @SWLiteracy We started SW last year. A massive step forward!

Starting off with the first of our workshops with @SWLiteracy as part of the CSC #teachingreading26 conference. Laila is exploring principles for effective phonics delivery.

Schrodinger's inspection process.

@C_Hendrick @New_Old_Paul @AkalEditor ¡Maravilloso! Todo profesor debería hacerse con un ejemplar.

Delighted to receive a copy of this today. Great to see the Spanish edition of How Learning Happens out in the world.

@PCSnow1604 @Miss_Snuffy What marvellous news, Pam! The whole shebang is absolutely fabulous, isn’t it? Who‘d have thought that Katharine and her dedicated band of brothers and sisters would take things to these heights? Much love 🥰

I’ve long wanted to visit the #MichaelaSchool London & finally did so today. Like many before me I’m in awe of what I saw: warm & efficient teaching, highly engaged & responsive students, smooth & calm classroom routines. All in evidence across subjects. Bravo @Miss_Snuffy 👏

Today I am proud that the second edition of my 7 October Parliamentary Commission Report is being published. It's on 7Octparliamentarycommission.co.uk We cannot allow history to be distorted and 7 Oct denial to win @AppgIsrael #7October #Israel

Join us for a live webinar on teaching through errors. Error correction is a key element of our responsive teaching approach, giving students immediate feedback and offering us valuable opportunities to reinforce the concepts and skills they’re practising. In this session, we’ll cover: 🌟 A refresher on the error‑correction mini‑scripts 🌟 The importance of error correction during Sounds‑Write sessions 🌟 How to use error correction consistently and effectively throughout the curriculum Who it’s for: All Sounds‑Write trained practitioners Can’t make it live? Register anyway and we’ll send you the recording. Log in to the Practitioners' Portal or Members' Portal to register.

Priceless this paragraph by @tombennett71 about Alfie Kohn. I've read it several times and have to chuckle each time I do. Thanks for putting a smile on my face today!!

@ShippersUnbound @BleakTerrain8 Very sorry to see that he’s gone. I read all the first four of his novels as a boy in the sixties. How well he captured the moment. There’s an excellent tribute/obituary in the Telegraph today.

Very sad to learn of the death of Len Deighton, who was one of the two greatest spy thriller writers of all time and in some regards was Le Carre’s superior. Anyone who has not read Deighton should try Funeral in Berlin, Bomber or SSGB. Most of all they should seek out Berlin Game, the start of an epic 10 book Cold War series focused on Bernard Samson. Deighton’s writing was sharp, satirical, gripping and often amusing. His office infighting in the intelligence services was delicious and his characters are beautifully drawn. The Samson cycle starts with a meticulously plotted run of five books (Berlin Game, Mexico Set, London Match, Spy Hook and Spy Line) which all stand alone but tell one big story from the jaded but dedicated perspective Bernard a brilliant field operative. Len’s genius idea was to use the sixth, Spy Sinker, to retell the whole cycle from the perspective of everyone else, exposing what Bernard didn’t know and misunderstood. There is then an origin story about Bernard’s dad during the war, Winter, and then a concluding trilogy of Faith, Hope and Charity, which is not as high quality but deals with the fallout from the events of books 1-5. It’s an epic achievement and the greatest long series in spy fiction, accepting that the Smiley series is the greatest short series. Do yourself a favour, give it a try