I am delighted to be part of the blog tour for the fantastic ‘Orla and the Magpie’s Kiss’, by C J Haslam (cover illustration by Paddy Donnelly)
Make sure you check out the other stops on the blog tour
It’s pretty rare that I’ll read a book and then go straight on to the sequel. I usually need a different style or genre of book, or I’m left reeling with a heavy book hangover that I need to work through. Orla and the Magpie’s Kiss was different: the first book, Orla and the Serpent’s Curse, is fresh, funny and a really good read and it left me wanting more. To be completely honest, more than anything I needed to know if Dave T Dog would return!
Luckily, Dave the grumpy little Jack Russell is back and again he steals the show. Part dog, part cat (but don’t tell him that!), part ninja assassin, part soldier, expert tree climber and bodyguard: Dave is the hero of the second tale as much as the first. His no-nonsense view of the world will have you snorting with laughter and his heroic deeds will have you chomping at the bit to read more.
We’re left at the end of Serpent’s Curse with Orla, a newly discovered witch – known as a a ‘peller’ (repeller of bad or good things) – who is just starting to realise the power she wields. Magpie’s Kiss opens with another family holiday, but this time to Norfolk to stay with Uncle Valentine who Richard lovingly describes as being “A complete nutter”. This time, we’re thrown into a new challenge that throws up real world issues that will provide a lot of stimulus for discussion in the classroom: deforestation, non-renewable energies, corporate greed and abuse of power. A large energy company, GasFrac, plan to bulldoze Anna’s Wood in order to extract natural gasses locked beneath the ground. Protesters have been silenced and Orla is dragged in after receiving a magpie’s kiss that enables her to catch a glimpse of the future. As pellers draw their magic from the earth, Orla is left fighting a battle against an enemy much bigger and uglier than she anticipates as she tries to protect something she knows is special and that she, as a peller, has a duty to do something about.
The brilliant family dynamic with Orla, Richard, Tom and Dave comes back with full force via beautifully crafted dialogue and relationships. They’re a believable family who bicker and fall out, but have each others’ backs no matter what. As I said before, Dave continues to steal the show, but it’s lovely to see all the characters grow as we progress through the second book in what is hopefully the start of a longer series. You won’t need to have read book 1 because C J Haslam summarises what took place previously as we kick off our new adventure, but I’d really recommend getting them as a pair. That way, you get a double dose of Dave!
I am delighted to be able to share the first chapter of the book. Here’s the link to the PDF for the whole first chapter and a sneaky peek at the first 4 pages to wet your whistle below: file:///C:/Users/stharrisonc/Downloads/Orla%20Magpie%20Sampler.pdf
Written by Justyn Edwards, cover illustration by Flavia Sorrentino
I am delighted to be part of the blog tour for the magical mystery ‘The Great Fox Illusion, by Justyn Edwards (@justynedwards). Check out the rest of the tour dates and accounts below:
Growing up, I remember watching a TV show called ‘Breaking The Magician’s Code’. A masked, silent chap would perform and tricks and then he’d break the Magician’s code: he’d show you exactly how the trick was performed. I distinctly remember one show, where he makes a tank disappear in front of a live audience, and the solution was frustratingly simple – as so many on the show were! I saw so much of this old classic threaded through Justyn Edwards’ debut book: The Great Fox Illusion.
The Great Fox Illusion starts with the passing of world-famous, masked illusionist ‘The Great Fox’. Following this, a competition is launched to finding successor in a televised Hunger Games / Charlie and the Chocolate Factory style competition hosted at Fox’s sprawling mansion. Contestants have to unpick a range of tricks to move on to the next stage, much like the magician in Breaking the Magician’s Code combined with Penn and Teller: Fool Us. I loved stumbling across each new trick, many of which I remember watching on telly or YouTube as I grew up, and reading about how they were done was really interesting!
Each contestant has their own reasons for entering and Flick Lions is a girl on a mission: where is her father, and what on earth is the Bell System?! Can she beat the competition without her motives or identity getting discovered? Will her chatterbox partner be a help or a hindrance? Will she uncover the mystery of the Great Fox’s mansion?
The Great Fox Illusion has a great Truman Show / Hunger Games / Charlie and the Chocolate Factory / Amari and the Night Brothers vibe to it with a Penn and Teller style unpicking of tricks. Throw in a sassy elevator, a partner who just won’t stop talking and excellent exploration of unique family challenges and disability representation and the end result is a fun, pacey, action-packed adventure that has twists and turns you just won’t see coming!
Despite this being Justyn’s debut, he comes across as a mature and confident author. He’s managed to craft something unique and fun that I’d thoroughly recommend for Upper KS2 (Years 5 and 6), but a mature Year 4 could definitely handle it. I haven’t actually come across many books that unpick the world of Magicians, so this will add a great new genre to my bookshelves! It’s also left wide open for a sequel (or two!) and I really feel that this is the start of an exciting series.
It’s midnight, so it’s officially ice cream time. Crack out The Great Fox Illusion and your favourite ice cream and dig in!
The original intent of the map has grown and matured somewhat, so here are the potential benefits and uses:
1. Schools can easily find local authors and illustrators to connect with to deliver in-school or remote sessions that have a huge impact on children’s love of reading
2. Schools can find local authors or illustrators to approach with a view to them being Patrons of Reading to further boost a lifelong love of reading. Patrons can even network and share ideas with each other – this was Rashmi Sirdeshpande’s great idea!
3. Authors and illustrators can network with creative neighbours to touch base, share ideas, provide professional support and build friendships
4. Authors can find local illustrators to team up with and vice versa. Who knows how many brilliant people live in your area!
5. If you match this with Jon Biddle’s brilliant map of independent booksellers, then book hubs can be established to promote book launches and networking opportunities
6. Children can be shown how diverse and spread out authors and illustrators are across the UK which can help them to see themselves as writers
I’m sure there are many more benefits, but I hope this is enough to get you all started! If you’re an author or illustrator, then just get in touch via Twitter (@MrHtheteacher) and I’ll add you. If you’re an educator, then happy perusing and happy reading!
Safety side note:
I have shared approximate locations, such as closest towns or cities, to protect authors and illustrators
I am delighted to be part of the blog tour for the fabulously funny Loki: A Bad God’s Guide to Being Good. Prepare for chuckles, funky family trees, pockets full of faeces and…well, you’ll have to read Louie Stowell’s new book to find out what else!
Loki is being punished and he finds himself stripped of his powers and forced to live as a noodle-armed 11 year old boy (with only slightly awesome hair). With a Zeus-powered diary that forces him to tell the truth, can Loki earn his powers back and escape Thor’s bumthunder, or will he be trapped in his human form – or something much, much worse – forever?
I am delighted to host the fourth extract from this cracking new book. Check out the rest of the blog tour above!
As I’ve shared before, earlier in my career I was on track for accelerated headship by the age of 30. I was learning quickly, however the wind was taken out of my sails after a number of run ins with some very poor leaders. I was bullied, manipulated, put down and used and I was left really struggling with my mental health (more details about my journey are here: https://mrhtheteacher.wordpress.com/2020/02/23/im-still-standing-just-a-little-further-back/). My self-worth was in tatters and I firmly believed that I was no use to anyone. This left my wings clipped as I could never see myself stepping back up into deputyship or towards headship; it’s so hard to take a risk and try something new when you don’t believe in yourself.
Don’t allow others to dictate your worth
I’ve been living in the past for a while now. My impostor syndrome and lack of confidence is not down to my ability, but more a result of the treatment of me over a challenging career journey. For too long, I have held myself in check because a tiny handful of manipulative people have told me that I am not good enough. I have let the ghosts of my past dictate my worth and I am finally seeing that I am good enough. It has taken me four years to come to this realisation, however the recent catalyst that really sparked my reflection was when the opportunity for Co-Headship came up. My current head has made a very brave decision to protect his own health by changing to a three day week – a decision that I hugely respect and admire him for – and an interim, two day headship was on offer. When I took this initial idea home and spoke to my partner, she simply asked me “Why not?” I love a list, so I listed in my head all the reasons why I couldn’t and shouldn’t, but then as I lay there at 3am tossing and turning, I took that list, wrote it down and crossed out reasons that were someone else’s opinion with no factual backing. I then wrote a list of why I could and should take on this challenge and the contrast between the two lists was stark. Maybe this was right for me…
Reflections
I’ve been reflecting a lot on my journey and my health at present. Being in the right school with the right team has been transformative for my health, development, confidence and my ambition to grow. For a long time, I have said that there is no such thing as a bad teacher as it is often the case that the teacher is simply in the wrong place with the wrong people (detailed here: https://mrhtheteacher.wordpress.com/2020/07/29/theres-no-such-thing-as-a-bad-teacher/). I am finally listening to my own advice and I’m seeing that I am more capable than the ghosts of my past would have me believe. It has also left me thinking deeply about the impact we have on others, particularly as leaders, as we have the power to build people up or knock them down. As many of my friends have said, these awful experiences of mine will make me a better leader and I’m finally seeing that now.
A huge part of my change of heart has come about directly from the head in my school – Chris Parkhouse (@chrisparkhouse) – and his compassion, conviction and motivation to see others succeed. I will always be thankful for the way he has seen my potential then picked me up, dusted me off and stood alongside me as I try to rediscover who I am as an educator. That’s what real leaders do. This, coupled with networking with so many awesome educators and leaders on Twitter, has really boosted my confidence and self-esteem and I am now ready to take on the challenge of Co-Headship alongside my friend and mentor.
So here’s to a new chapter in 2022
Whatever you’ve got coming your way in the new year, I hope you find some exciting opportunities. I hope you take positive steps on your professional learning journey and I hope you can see – or start to see – how awesome you are capable of being. Learn from your past, but don’t let it define who you see yourself as now. Surround yourself with the right people and place yourself in the right space and – most importantly – look after yourself.
I have the pleasure and privilege to be mentoring another student teacher in the new year and it got me thinking: what advice does every trainee need to hear? I’ve collated a list of 10 useful points here, but please feel free to suggest more!
1. Treat all placements as a long-term interview
This is so important! Arrive on time, ask lots of questions, be professional, understand that great placements can lead to great jobs in the future: schools don’t let great people go! Don’t expect to be spoon-fed, get out there and show your professional independence, curiosity and intrepidity.
2. Frontload tasks to free up teaching time later
You’ll have a big list of placement tasks to tackle. Hammer out the bulk of these in your first few weeks and you won’t find yourself running around trying to meet the phonics lead, interview students or pull together policies whilst you’re juggling an increasing teaching commitment. Getting your tasks done early will leave you more time and headspace for teaching, which you’ll need. Trust me! Out of the many, many students I have mentored, only a handful have done this really successfully. Many others are left trying to shoehorn a lot into their last weeks and some have even had to request information and documents after leaving. This won’t help you to smash point 1!
3. Schedule your personal life meticulously to maintain balance
Block out your time: work hard, play hard. Teaching can easily take over your life and it’s so important to look after yourself whilst you’re learning. Make sure you book in time to see friends, go out, neet family or just have some ‘you time’. This leads me on to my next point…
4. Maintain a hobby throughout
Hobbies can be a great distraction and they’re a brilliant way to look after yourself, meet new people and relax. If you’re at university, then sign up for teams or groups and make sure you have things to look forward to on a regular basis.
5. Get up front ASAP
Your teaching schedule will have you observing a lot at first. Ask if you can read stories, take registers and deliver short sessions from the front of the class as early as you can. Every student I’ve mentored – and there’s been well over 100 – has had a small wobble their first time in front of a class if they have never been there before. It’s much better to have that experience whilst doing the register than when trying to get through a maths lesson!
6. Team teach
Ask your mentor if you can deliver sessions together and agree that it’s OK to join in when each other is teaching. This is a great way to build up extra teaching time whilst actively learning instead of sitting back and observing or supporting. Also, it means you can join in without fear of interrupting or being rude as it has been agreed beforehand.
7. Keep a mixture of teaching and non-teaching friends
Teaching friends will understand your elation and frustration. Non-teaching friends don’t talk about teaching 24/7. You’ll need a balance of both so you can offload or escape from time to time.
8. Ask for PPA in school
I’ve mentored a lot of trainees who seem surprised when I give them PPA time. I always give half a day planning and prep time (at the same time as mine, so we can plan together) and another half day to observe, complete tasks / assignments and meet people. Often, this is an expectation from your training provider, so know about it and insist on it. Also, ask for more time if and when you need it – have you got an assignment due? Ask for half a day to crack on with it so you’re working in school and not at home. This will really help you to maintain points 3 and 4.
9. Venture into other classes, departments and phases as much as possible
You might be based in one class, but it’s so important to see how a whole school works: it will usually be stated in your placement tasks, but you need to make sure it happens. Find out who leads what and get involved, ask around and seek out new information and challenges. Make sure, as I said earlier, to have time out to focus on this and you’ll learn so much more than you would from staying in one class with one person. I’d also recommend asking that a range of people observe you, such as subject leads and other senior leaders, so your feedback is broader and more useful. We all have our own ways of doing things and our feedback will be framed around that, so more diverse support will really help you to develop and progress as an educator.
10. Expect support
Teachers are busy, however they have agreed to take on and mentor a trainee and there are certain things you should expect. These will be defined by your provider in your placement / course files and you need to make sure you get them. If your mentor is going above and beyond, then let them and your course leaders know. If they’re not giving you the support you need, then manage up and ask for help. Your training provider will always help in this instance, as will the leadership team in school. Sometimes, this can lead to positive change, moving classes, changing mentors or even changing placement schools. This might sound scary at first, but it’s worth it to get the support you need to develop in a well-rounded way.
My advice isn’t groundbreaking, but I promise you it will help. I give all of my trainees these 10 tips and they have always worked. I try my best as a mentor, but my brain is full and I have a lot to juggle – as we all do – so trainees, if you take anything from this, take my golden rule:
If you don’t ask, then you don’t get
Ask for help. Ask for more. Ask for opportunities. Ask for time. Ask for feedback challenge and critique. Ask for change and support. Take lead of your placement and get the most out of it that you can. Good luck, and happy learning!
Teaching is a job where you need to have incredibly good noticing skills. So much of what we have to deal with isn’t given to us on a shiny plate: we have to find it and actively discover more. Noticing, in my opinion, is one of the most valuable skills in a teacher’s toolbelt and we cannot underestimate the impact it can have on safeguarding, wellbeing and happiness.
Sadly, it isn’t something that features a great deal in teacher training and it’ll only really get discussed after that from a safeguarding perspective (which is obviously incredibly important, but there’s a lot more out there to notice too!). It can be so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle if the school day and little things can pass you by if you’re not on the lookout. You won’t notice things if you’re not looking and listening – and I mean really listening, not just waiting for your turn to speak.
Have you noticed…
That chatty child has come in unusually quiet today?
The dirty clothes and fingernails of the child over there quietly keeping their head down?
The colleague who has a shorter fuse or is engaging less than they normally would?
That parent or carer who hasn’t picked up their child in a while?
The tired lines around the eyes of your line manager?
The length of time a child takes in the cloakroom before putting a smile on and coming into the classroom?
The child who keeps looking at the clock and asking about lunch?
The expressions on peoples’ faces when they think nobody is looking?
The children who are steering clear of each other?
The child who doesn’t want to play out or join in with PE?
The child whose lunchbox is lighter than usual?
Patterns in absence or lateness?
The teacher who seems to be working later and later?
The colleague who seems to be struggling?
Teaching can be an overwhelming balancing act, however we all know the huge impact that early intervention can have on any situation. Take the time to notice others and, most importantly, ask yourself “So what am I going to do about it?” Do this with everyone you meet, not just the children in your care, and you’ll soon see and hear a lot that you might not have noticed before: strained relationships, changes in happiness and wellbeing, changes in body language and patterns in habits
Notice. Actively listen. Find out more. Help and support where it’s needed most.
In the depths of night, you awake with a start in your dusty room at the top of the Grand Nautilus Hotel. You’re exhausted from a full day of beachcombing, yet you can’t shift an uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach. Something’s not right… why do you feel like you’re being watched? There’s movement in the corner of your eye, yet when you look there’s nothing. Was it your imagination, or did that shadow just move? Was that a sound by the door? Best turn on the light so you feel safer…
Wait! Don’t turn the light on!
Shadowghast lurking in my class Flotsamporium
I am delighted to be part of the Shadowghast blog tour. I loved Malamander and Gargantis, so much so that I renamed my class Taylor class! We also added Malamamder to the ‘Our School in Books’ section of our website.
Now, Shadowghast has materialised from the darkest recesses of Eerie-on-Sea and I am absolutely delighted with Thomas Taylor’s latest offering. As a reader, I am always worried when a sequel to a book I love comes out as I don’t want to feel disappointed. Gargantis was a huge relief – I loved it just as much, if not more, than Malamander. The further development of the core characters alongside unpicking more of Eerie-on-Sea’s mysteries with Thomas’s marvellous wit and phrasing made for a corker of a book. Then came the worry of a trilogy…
So many books and films fail with the third installment in my experience (let’s not talk about Jurassic Park 3 and The Matrix Revolutions!) and I had my fingers, toes, arms, legs and eyes crossed that Shadowghast would live up to the expectations of the first two books. Yes, I got some funny looks trying to teach like that, but it was worth the wait: this is more of a Lord of the Rings: Return of the King type of trilogy!
Shadowghast is a real adventure, with just the right amount of scare thrown in. Thomas’s trademark wit is back again and he chucks us right in with my greatest fear: missing breakfast. From there, we are dragged kicking and screaming into the deepest, darkest shadows of Eerie-on-Sea. We revisit old friends – like Mrs Fossil – for a cuppa and cake and Erwin makes a very welcome return for a scratch on the chin. The Mermonkey continues to lurk hairily and scarily in the background and Dr Thalassus’ eyebrows are wigglier than ever. Herbie and Vi’s friendship has more storms to weather and Herbie finally has a chance to find out more about who he really is.
I was reading Malamander in class whilst reading this to myself and it was really interesting to see how Thomas’s storytelling has refined and matured. He seems to have really settled into a writing rhythm here and the opening chapter of book 4 at the end of Shadowghast shows he has really hit his stride. His unique world has grown alongside his characters and the subtle hints throughout each book suggests there’s so much more to come.
I always struggle to write reviews as I hate to spoil stories. I’ll leave it here with a simple summary, then you can check out part of Chapter 2 and decide for yourself.
Shadowghast is a fantastic third visit to Eerie-on-Sea. It’s darker, scarier and filled with even more danger than its younger siblings – yet there’s plenty of light shining through to make you chuckle. It’s perfect for the Halloween season and it belongs on every Year 5 and 6 bookshelf.
Below is a section of Chapter 2, make sure you check out the rest of the first three chapters from my co-bloggers below:
This is best read with a streaming pile of Seegol’s chips in hand.
Throughout the pandemic, one thing I have really missed in my personal professional development is visiting other classrooms and schools. Seeing how other educators do things is such a great way to learn and magpie new ideas and unfortunately this hasn’t been possible for a while now. Towards the end of the 2020-21 academic year, with this in mind, I launched the #ClassroomTours project with the aim of encouraging people to share their environments and ideas to create a bank of diverse, unique videos that would help others. We launched with the fabulous trailer below:
11 videos were compiled from a range of schools. We have lovely libraries, cracking classrooms, powerful provision and awe-inspiring offices included. There’s baths to hunker down and read in, more books than you can count, American diners to explore and forest schools to stomp through.
If you would like to share a #ClassroomTours video, then all you need to do is get in touch with me (@MrHtheteacher on Twitter). A short intro or walking commentary would be lovely – or just a nice, clear video of your learning spaces. I shared mine first to show that we’re not looking for anything in particular; I’d say my classroom is very normal, with a few different ideas thrown in, so I hope it helps you to feel more intrepid about sharing your own. We aim to add 10 more #ClassroomTours videos by Christmas 2021.
This blog has been created to compile the video collection in an easy-to-peruse format. Huge thanks to Penny (@pennywpennyw) for the tech support and encouragement. The 11 videos are below, so take a look and start to magpie ideas for your school spaces! Please remember that classrooms are ever-changing, so these spaces will be different in the future to meet the needs of the learners. Huge thanks to everyone who has shared so far.
Video 1: Christopher Harrison @MrHtheteacher
Video 2: Janet Malik-Aziz @JMA368
Video 3: Monsieur Durrant @DHTDurrant
Video 4: Lucy Griffiths @LucyGriff76
Video 5: Toria Bono @ToriaClaire
Video 6: Kyrstie Stubbs @KyrstieStubbs
Video 7: Penny W @pennywpennyw
Video 8: Gemma Davis @edadventuresm
Video 9: Dr Clare Campbell @ClareCampbell7
Video 10: Paul Hume @TeacherPaul1978
Video 11: Claire Filtness and Lily Cambridge-King @Oaklands_Autism
Welcome to the Back To School Bonanza 2021! This blog launches the giveaway and shares the 3 prize bundles. Terms and conditions are at the end of the blog.
So what’s the deal?
It’s super simple: I wanted to organise a huge back to school give away to kick off the 2021-22 academic year in style. It all started with a Tweet:
How do I enter?
All you need to do is like, retweet and/or be tagged into the main Twitter post. Winners will be chosen and named throughout the day on Monday 6th September, so keep your fingers crossed and your eyes peeled!
There’s only one catch really: you must work in a school. As the prizes are so heavily focused on education, I’d like to send them where they would have the greatest impact. If you’d like to enter, but you don’t work in a school, then why not tag in friends who do or the schools your children attend? I’m sure they will be incredibly grateful! If you are selected as a winner, then I will check your bio to see if you work in a school. If you are anonymous and it does not say, then I will contact you directly to check.
Who will choose the winners?
It would not be fair for me to select the winners as I will have friends entering the draw. Therefore I have asked three incredibly kind individuals to select the winners at random:
John Magee (@KindnessCoach_) is the UK Kindness Ambassador for Schools as well as a mentor and author. He will select one person at random from the list of ‘likes’ on the main Tweet.
Richard O’Neill (@therroneill) is a story teller, writer, co-founder of Diverse Book Week and founder of National Men’s Health Week. He will select one person at random from the list of ‘retweeters’ on the main Tweet.
Rashmi Sirdeshpande (@RashmiWriting) is, in her own words, a ‘lawyer-turned-storyteller’ with a real drive to champion diverse authors via social media. She will select one person at random from the people tagged into the main Tweet.
That means you have a number opportunities to give yourself a chance of winning. As there are three prizes, if the same name is selected twice then we will contact that individual, ask which prize they would like, then redraw for the remaining prize. There will be 3 different winners in total!
How will I know if I won?
I will contact you directly on Monday 6th September to give you the good news. You will also be tagged into the thread on Twitter, but I appreciate you might miss these so I shall keep nagging you until I get in contact! Prizes will be sent directly from the donors, therefore they will come within a number of weeks after you are notified about winning. Please contact me directly via Twitter (@MrHtheteacher) if any of your prizes have not arrived within 30 days.
I donated a prize. What do I do now?
If you donated a prize, then I will send the email address or postal address of the winners directly to you via DM so you can send things directly to them. If an individual is anonymous on Twitter and does not want to share their contact details, then I will ask them to nominate a friend to collect their prizes for them
What are the prizes?
Prizes have been generously donated by approximately 40 individuals and businesses. Below, I have listed the prizes in 3 bundles (1st, 2nd and 3rd prize). It’s hard to put a financial value on the donations, however it totals well in excess of £3000 so it’s a cracking opportunity! I have listed business names, donors and Twitter handles next to the prizes, so please give everyone on the lists a follow if you’re here:
Prize bundle 1, drawn by John Magee
£70 voucher from IRIS Connect @IRIS_Connect
£50 sports voucher from ActivAll @ActivAll_
£30 voucher from Strength Cards @StrengthCards_
Three 1 hour coaching sessions with Matt Dechaine @mattdechaine
Free primary dance CPD from Eve Murphy @dancetoschool
Signed copy of Kindness Matters book from John Magee @KindnessCoach_
Big Dance, Roller Coaster Ride, Bea by the Sea and New Shoes, Red Shoes books from Child’s Play @ChildsPlayBooks
Signed The Man Who Was Different from Tagtiv8 @tagtiv8
Ultimate membership from Twinkl @twinklresources
Annual subscription from Picture News @HelpPicture
Skywake book and 30 minute virtual visit from Jamie Russell @JamieRussell_74
100 ways your child can learn through play book from Georgina Durrant @senresourceblog and JKP Books @JKPBooks
Personalised teacher bundle from World of Personalisation @worldofpersonal
Solo subscription to fredsteaching.com from Fred’s Teaching @FREDsTeaching
Online self-care and wellbeing course from Nic Owen @sphoenix78
Are We There Yet book from Lucy Griffiths @LucyGriff76
Subscription to the WelbeeUK Survey Pro from Welbee @WelBeeUK
Prize bundle 2, drawn by Richard O’Neill
£50 voucher from Accelerated Reader @AccReader
£15 voucher from Strength Cards @StrengthCards
Extra membership from Twinkl @Twinklresources
Lost Homework, Ossiri and the Bala Mengro, Yokki and the Parno Gry and Polonius the Pit Pony books from Child’s Play @ChildsPlayBooks
Mentoring in Schools and Cooking Club Detectives books from Rich @Richreadalot
Autumn term subscription with unlimited staff and student access from Mark Nicholls @MarkNichollsMP at Literacy Planet @LiteracyPlanet
Author visit from Karen Stanley @kstanleywrites
12 months subscription to YouTeachMeToo.com from @peteryouteachme and You Teach Me @YouTeachMe
This is a Dictatorship book (following upcoming publication) from Book Island @BookIslandBooks
Bespoke A5 recycled notebook from Andi Best @AndiBDesign
Teacher survival kit bag from Miss K A Collins @MissKACollins
Subscription to @Opti_Me well-being app from Bethany Ainsley @BethanyAinsley of @NuvoWellbeing
50% off subscription to fredsteaching.com from Fred’s Teaching @FREDsTeaching
Transition Talks magazine next issue from Ellie Grout @ellie_grout
Personalised bookmarks from Steph Kimble @MissS_Kimble
Prize Bundle 3, drawn by Rashmi Sirdeshpande
£20 voucher from Rani Tiwana @fidsta77
£15 book voucher from Vicky Hassall @VickyHassall
£15 voucher from Strength Cards @StrengthCards
Core membership from Twinkl @twinklresources
Good News and Castle of Tangled Magic books from Rich @Richreadalot
Best Friends, Busy Friends, Max and Xam, I’m NOT A Mouse and Astrid and the Sky Calf from Child’s Play @ChildsPlayBooks
Subscription to mammoth primary musical resources and training community from The Musical Me @TheMusicalMe
Free historical visit from Virtual School Visits @curriculumwow
Nen and the Lonely Fisherman from Christopher Harrison @MrHtheteacher
Personalised ‘greeting from’ Christmas cards from MsFB-Edu @eduMsFB
EYFS Mini Mats set from Action Mats @Action_Mats
Personalised tumbler from Miss Kray @KrayMiss
25% off subscription to fredsteaching.com from Fred’s Teaching @FREDsTeaching
Poetry book from The Headteacher Poet @duncanmrt
Resilience workbook from Sam Clark @open_youngminds
Epic Year book from Rob Crossley @RobCrossley4
Bottle and string bag from Pro Strike Fundraising Events @ProStrikeEvents
Terms and conditions
The promoter of this competition is Christopher Harrison (@MrHtheteacher)
No purchase is necessary to enter the prize draw
This prize draw is open to UK residents aged 18 years or over, with the exception of the Promotor and their family. Friends and colleagues of the Promoter are eligible to win due to the use of external prize selectors, as detailed in the release blog
Schools and individuals nominated must be in the UK
Entries must be received by Sunday 23:59 GMT 5th September 2021. The Promoter accepts no responsibility for any entries that fail to reach the Promoter by the relevant closing date for any reason
Entry is only via the main Tweet shared on Thursday 2nd September
No entrant may win more than one prize. Those who are selected more than once will be contacted directly by the Promoter to select a prize
The prize draw will take place on Monday 6th September 2021
Other prizes may be drawn at the discretion of the Promoter
The prizes are a selection of donated items detailed in the launch blog
Prizes are subject to availability. In the event of unforeseen circumstances, the Promoter reserves the right (a) to substitute alternative prizes of equivalent or greater value and (b) in exceptional circumstances to amend or foreclose the promotion without notice
The winners will be notified via Twitter by Tuesday 7th September 2021 and must claim their prize by Friday 10th September. If the prize is unclaimed after this time, it will lapse and the Promoter reserves the right to offer the unclaimed prize to a substitute winner selected in accordance with these rules
By entering this prize draw, all entrants consent to the use of their personal data (Twitter handle, address, name and email address – or those of a nominated friend) by the Promoter for the purposes of the administration of this prize draw
The promoter may disqualify any entrant whose entry does not comply with these terms and conditions (in Promoter’s sole opinion) or who, in Promoter’s sole determination, has acted in a manner that is fraudulent, dishonest, or unjust to other entrants including, without limitation, tampering with the operation of the prize draw, manipulating or rigging votes, hacking, deceiving, cheating or by harassing or threatening other entrants or a representative of Promoter
By entering the prize draw each entrant agrees to be bound by these terms and conditions. These terms and conditions are governed in accordance with the laws of England and entrants to the prize draw submit to the jurisdiction of the English courts.
Mr H the Teacher 