Author Archives

Teacher and Materials Writer

• EAL long-term and medium-term planning

  By Pete on March 25, 2025 • ( 2 )

  

  I recently shared an example unit of work from our EAL syllabus. Here some further insight into the long-term and medium-term planning for our syllabus. We are only in the second year of setting up our provision. Year 1 was… Read More ›

• Assessment Only Route to QTS: D5 record of standards

  By Pete on March 19, 2025 • ( 0 )

  

  Comment from a reader on my recent post about the Assessment Only route: Here are some general tips on compiling your D5 record of standards doc for the AO route through Sunderland, with some screenshots of mine included for reference…. Read More ›

• A unit from our EAL syllabus

  By Pete on March 4, 2025 • ( 5 )

  

  At my school, we have created a bespoke English syllabus for learners on our KS3 EAL pathway. This may not sound like an ‘ideal’ model of EAL provision to you – and fair enough. Ideals are subjective – provision is… Read More ›

• Cover letters for international school jobs

  By Pete on February 22, 2025 • ( 2 )

  

  How do you approach writing a cover letter/supporting statement for international school roles? Here’s what I do – I’ll explain it with some examples from previous applications… Step 1a: Research the school. Get a genuine sense for the mission, ethos… Read More ›

• Embedding EAL in-class support

  By Pete on February 21, 2025 • ( 3 )

  

  When we set up our EAL department last year we started with one HoD, one EAL teacher, and  two EAL support coaches.  As the HoD, I teach an 80% timetable. Our teacher has a full timetable. Our coaches oversee about… Read More ›

• Another year in review

  By Pete on December 18, 2024 • ( 1 )

  

  2024 vibe: PGCEi and AO QTS go-to! This year, I decided to get Qualified Teacher Status in England. It was a great decision to do this through the Uni of Sunderland – I’ve blogged about the overall experience and the… Read More ›

• Assessment Only Route to QTS: Interview Presentation

  By Pete on November 12, 2024 • ( 1 )

  

  Part of the interview process for the AO Route to QTS (Sunderland) is delivering a presentation. You do this during the live interview. The presentation lasts approximately 20 minutes, and it’s recorded for moderation. During the interview you should respond… Read More ›

• EAL response to literature displays

  By Pete on November 5, 2024 • ( 0 )

  

  I recently mentioned how our learners created a final display board in response to a unit on poetry. Here’s a screenshot of what our common assessment checklist looked like for the final product: I could scrutinize here – there’s room… Read More ›

• Materials writing conversations #19: vague briefs

  By Pete on October 31, 2024 • ( 0 )

  

  Host (Des): Welcome back to ELT Publishing Family Fortunes. Before the break, we asked each publishing team to name ‘Something that publishers are deliberately vague about in project briefs’.  Donald gained control of the board for Big Four ELT with… Read More ›

• ChatGPT experiments: New unit intros (IGCSE ESL)

  By Pete on October 29, 2024 • ( 0 )

  

  Luiz Octávio Barros was asking about scripts we feed ChatGPT the other day. I mentioned this: Which is a very boring example of an (over the word count) type IGCSE ESL text I generate for correction practice. I’m not *massively*… Read More ›