Tom Sherrington

NEW: Powerful habit changes for more inclusive teaching. teacherhead.com/2026/09/24/p… via @teacherhead

I find that in the 'do you correct their grammar?' discussion, there's an awful lot of wilful conflation of the contexts where it happens. I think we all agree you need to teach formal grammar for certain contexts. I don't see anyone saying the opposite - so all the high and mighty takes on that seem misplaced. Meanwhile, if you've ever taught in Wigan for example, a student might say “I were just doin' mi graph, Sir.” They know they'd write 'I was' but this is their everyday speech. Do I 'correct' that? I don't think so! Why would you? This is not some crisis of low expectations; it's respect for dialect. Some of my students would be in a hurry after school: “Come on Sir, Ah've f'ot 'go f't' get 'buz.” There's nothing to correct here. So easy to project being the great keeper of standards but really, let's get some perspective.

Create an Oracy Curriculum by Amy Gaunt and Alice Stott is out today. It answers all the questions you might have about learning through talk and developing a knowledge-rich oracy curriculum. Oh yes! @Hachette_Learn amzn.eu/d/0dz4qgGR

Andromeda! Most distant object - a whole galaxy!! - visible with the naked eye. At least -visible with my iphone. (h/t @DrDavidBoyce ). Super excited about this.

October has now been our busiest month since we started. So many MATs and school federations signing up and renewing their three-year memberships to support their PD. Shared understanding of problems and scalable solutions for PD and teaching .. that’s the key. 🔥🙏

‘Airside’ by Tom Sherrington is on #SoundCloud 5 Electronic tracks - laptop studio. Give it a whirl. on.soundcloud.com/OI3bLkb62n…

So boringly predictable that there's a certain in-crowd mentality forming around being dismissive of teaching students to express themselves, to have their voices heard and to learn through talk. Oracy isn't that weird or complicated. Says so much about the people freaked out by it if you ask me.

I know this is niche but I’ve made something of an album this year. Riverside. 5 actual songs with piano and guitars. Mostly written on walks along a river path. soundcloud.com/tom-sherringt… Airside. 5 electronic tunes in GarageBand mostly made on travels with my laptop. soundcloud.com/tom-sherringt…

‘Parade’ by Tom Sherrington is on #SoundCloud > Made this today. Quite pleased with this one. soundcloud.com/tom-sherringt…

Just finished superb recording of MindtheGap with Kat Howard @SaysMiss and @ProfArleneHH about their wonderful book Reviving Rhetoric. Brilliant stuff - and so interesting how rhetoric and oracy intersect. The books is free to download here: taylorfrancis.com/reader/dow…