Children reading

Training (INSET) and professional development for teachers

The experience for teachers of working alongside a writer enhances of their understanding of the writing process and provides them with skills and techniques. 

TEXT can also run training sessions for teachers and deliver whole school staff INSET.

Cost - to be negotiated.

Teacher's training days    

  • Falling in love with language - exploring the love of language as a way into writing
  • Writing from life - using emotions, memory, imagination, autobiography and common experience to create writing, stories and characters
  • Making drama fun
  • Soap bubbles - story and television.

Teacher's research groups into writing techniques

  • Poetry  - why should poetry be included in the classroom?  Developing a critical language for poetry.  Techniques for deepening and re-drafting children's writing
  • History - ways of helping children to research effectively, interpret historical evidence to make history 'human'.

Staff meetings – school based in-service training

  • Creative writing - Whole staff INSET sessions on techniques for encouraging writing brought to your school. A significant feature of these sessions is the opportunity for members of staff to do some writing themselves. These sessions can be part of an INSET day or an after school Staff Meeting.
  • One of the valuable aspects of a professional writer's residency in school is the interaction between the writer and the classroom staff.  Often teachers can gain useful insights into writing techniques which they can take forward into their own teaching. This is one of the reasons why it is a requirement of TEXT residencies that class teachers should be present at every session.
"We would like to say thank you for all your hard work and we are sorry if we are tired and grumpy. The play is going to be great. Our children will be great and everyone will love it.

We have been asked to do it again Thursday morning for the infants! We have really enjoyed the experience."

Agatina Marchese – Year 4 teacher, William Tyndale Primary School