Alex Quigley

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Alex Quigley (The Confident Teacher) is a blog by the author, Alex Quigley - @AlexJQuigley - sharing ideas and evidence about education, teaching and learning. 🌉 bridged from ⁂ https://alexquigley.co.uk/, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact

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Longform Stories

Literacy and Key Stage Three success

Key stage 3 (KS3) in secondary schools has always been the squeezed middle when it comes to school improvement. Jammed between high stakes assessments in KS2 and GCSEs at KS4, it has often been shrunk…

5d ago·7 min read·1299 words

Talk routines: ABC Feedback

High-quality talk routines in the classroom matter. They can build understanding, foster engagement, aid behaviour, promote critical thinking, and much more. It is no surprise then that oracy has rise…

May 23·4 min read·777 words

Reading clusters to build language

“Books are a uniquely portable magic.” Stephen King, 'On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft' Everybody knows that there is a special language that you find in books. The special language and vocabulary…

May 9·1 min read·88 words

Essential Reading

Literacy is a perennial concern in education. Standards are lamented, strategies launched, policies revised, and detailed plans drafted—yet year after year, the same issues persist with little meaning…

Apr 29·1 min read·79 words

A new chapter

After more than seven years at the Education Endowment Foundation, I’m stepping into a new chapter. It’s been a privilege to work alongside such a talented, purpose-driven team, deepening my understa…

Apr 24·1 min read·78 words

SHARE to support struggling readers & writers

Where do teachers start when it comes to supporting students who struggle with reading and writing? There is so much written and argued about reading and writing, that busy teachers can feel a little …

Apr 18·1 min read·92 words

Is it time to engage teenage students?

Engagement matters to learning. Without it, students are unlikely to focus and invest in their learning. If teenage students in England are increasingly disengaged, we should want to know the causes a…

Mar 28·1 min read·87 words

Selecting vocabulary to teach

I have spent more than a decade writing about vocabulary and working with a range of teachers across primary, secondary and colleges. Over that time, I've come to think differently about one of the mo…

Mar 14·1 min read·81 words

What should we do about 'reading for pleasure'?

Take the time to sit with Rebecca for a moment. It was in the school library that I sat across from Rebecca. At the end of a long autumn day – for us both – I attempted to spark her into life, nudgin…

Mar 11·1 min read·105 words

The 3Rs - Reading, writing, and research to be interested in #79

In the last fortnight, flashes of sunlight and daffodils have brightened the days, whilst government announcements and interesting new resources keep coming to light too. In this edition, I share my l…

Mar 7·1 min read·92 words

What teachers think about disciplinary literacy

It can sometimes feel like primary school and secondary school teachers inhabit different worlds. It is no surprise then that teachers at different phases have diverging views and beliefs given their …

Feb 28·1 min read·84 words

The psychology of SEND labels

What if your child struggles and falls behind their peers? When it comes to the topic of children struggling in school and education, parents can experience profound feelings of fear or worry, or hope…

Feb 21·1 min read·92 words

Note-taking by hand or by AI?

There is a lot of warnings and worries when it comes to using AI in education. Teachers understandably worry that if ChatGPT, Gemini, and similar AI chatbots, do all the hard work and thinking, then s…

Feb 14·1 min read·98 words

6 strategies to support reading for students with SEND

Shared reading is vital for every student to succeed in education. Reading in the classroom helps build knowledge, develop ideas, boost vocabulary, fuel creativity, and so much more. But we know that …

Jan 24·1 min read·84 words