The English Teacher Feature

The English Teacher Feature explores the struggle of writing. This is our sixth episode looking at the writing framework and here we consider the case study of Sophie, a pupil whose chattiness and comfort at reading potentially mask her writing frailities. Sam Denno and Nicola Romaine consider why Sophie's writing never took off in her early years, why this may not have been picked up in her p...

Twinkl have teamed up with publisher Bloomsbury Education to secure the special guest on this episode of The English Teacher Feature. Podcast host and National Education Lead for Secondary English, Sam Denno, talks to author and educator Alan Howe about the use of oracy in the classroom. Alan's new book 100 Ideas for Secondary Teachers: Oracy, co-written with Topsy Page, is available to purcha...

In this episode of The English Teacher Feature , Nicola Romaine is joined by Lyn Stone, author of Spelling for Life , to explore the science of spelling and challenge common misconceptions about how English words work. Together, they unpack how spelling is shaped by phonics, morphology and etymology, and why understanding word structure is key to improving both reading fluency and writing accuracy...

In this fascinating episode of The English Teacher Feature, Sam Denno speaks to children's author and video game writer, Sharna Jackson, about the worlds of print publishing and game development. 2026 is the National Year of Reading. As part of the government's ambition to raise literacy levels and to increase reading engagement, there is an imperative to reconsider the definition of what...

Sam Denno and Nicola Romaine welcome their first guest onto the show. Caroline Hudson, aka the "Kitchen Table Teacher", joins Nicola to talk through her own first-hand experiences of going deeper with parental engagement around literary concepts and the English curriculum in primary settings. Following the interview, Sam contemplates the implication of Caroline's ideas for secondary sc...

Sam Denno and Nicola Romaine look at the case of Jamal, a confident, competent writer in year 6, who has had a positive experience during his primary schooling and is about to embark on his secondary school journey with a robust set of writing skills. They look at where things went right for Jamal and consider the application for classroom teachers of English and writing up and down the key stages...

English teachers, Sam Denno and Nicola Romaine examine the "simple view of writing" model as presented in the 2025 writing framework and consider its implications for primary and secondary teachers. Should pupils be literally plotted onto an SVW graph or is it more of a metaphorical tool for educators. And, what can be done with pupils who fall into the respective quandrants. Join Sam and...

In this packed episode of The English Teacher Feature, Sam Denno and Nicola Romaine dive into the next section of the DfE's 2025 writing framework. Their focus is on the interaction of writing and reading - how it is imperative that we treat them as distinct disciplines, but how they can be used alongside each other to create a feedback loop that raises literacy levels across the board. As usu...

Nicola Romaine and Sam Denno are back to explore the DfE's writing framework. During this episode they dig into the section entitled "The development from spoken language to written language" and contemplate speaking as the foundation to the discipline of writing. As a secondary teacher, Sam has a host of questions to pose to his primary school counterpart. Will Nicola have all the ans...

Join Sam Denno and Nicola Romaine as they delve into the DfE's Writing Framework 2025 and tackle the section "why writing matters". Sam asks Nicola how important writing is when ranked alongside reading and they ponder what schools should prioritise. This is the first episode in a series about the Writing Framework in which we seek to provide bitesize insights and offer practical advic...