Primary English Adviser @HertsEnglish | Writing & Reading for Pleasure ✍️ 📚 | MA Children’s Lit | NPQSL | Mum 👨👩👧 | All views my own
Joined September 2020
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Pinned Tweet
10 Oct 2024
Sometimes I wonder whether some difficulties we might face in schools now is due to an increasing disconnection between us all. One way to gain that authentic connection back is through writing for pleasure. I hope this is useful:
hfleducation.org/blog/writin…
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Ellen Counter retweeted
Feb 12
'Writing Matters: Bridging Research and Policy into Primary Classroom Practice'
Our conference is next month! This is sure to be a rich day of learning with expertise shared by our keynotes and workshop leads. Check out the agenda - it speaks for itself! hfleducation.org/events/nati…
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Ellen Counter retweeted
Very excited for the forthcoming HFL English conference. Such a great programme! It's going to be hard to choose! 😍 ✏️ @HFL_Education @EllenCounter
hfleducation.org/events/nati…
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Jan 13
Enjoyed writing this with my brilliant colleague Penny and hope it’s helpful!
Jan 13
Writing for a purpose – Why the reader matters from day one | via Penny Slater & @EllenCounter teachwire.net/news/writing-p…
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Ellen Counter retweeted
Our National Primary English Conference is always a great day. Don't miss out on the early bird pricing for this year's event, valid until 16/1/26!
We're excited to bring you these amazing speakers! Check out the agenda & book your discounted place here: hfleducation.org/events/nati…
ALT Hurry, Early Bird Offer! National Primary English Conference 2026 Writing Matters: Bridging Research and Policy into Classroom Practice Tuesday 17th March 2026 9am-4pm Online Early Bird Price: £135 VAT
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Ellen Counter retweeted
8 Dec 2025
Have you seen the incredible speakers we have lined up for our 2026 Primary English Conference? Join us in March for an insightful day, with sessions from experts in the field of writing.
Early bird prices are available now - don't miss out!
hfleducation.org/events/nati…
ALT Hurry, Early Bird Offer! National Primary English Conference 2026 Building Excellence in English: Foundations for Flourishing Tuesday 17th March 2026 9am - 4pm Online Early bird price £135 VAT
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Ellen Counter retweeted
16 Nov 2025
If you’d value some short poetry explorations this term do check out my brief blog @kidspoetsummit - All tried and tested! childrenspoetrysummit.com/20… @PollSimon @MissS_Kimble @DoncasterRwm @MrsRLSaunders
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Ellen Counter retweeted
10 Nov 2025
English: ESSENTIALWRITING from @HFL_Education. The judging team from @The_UKLA called it “a high-quality, accessible resource that supports effective writing instruction across a range of classroom settings” #TeachAwards
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Ellen Counter retweeted
10 Nov 2025
ESSENTIALWRITING is the WINNER of the Teach Primary English category in the @TeachPrimary Awards 2025!
And ESSENTIALWRITING for Early Years was highly commended in the Teach Early Years Communication, Language & Literacy category of the @TeachEarlyYrs Awards!
A massive thank you to everyone involved in the development, roll out and delivery of these programmes❤️And a big thank you to all who have implemented them! Try out the award-wining ESSENTIALWRITING for yourself: hfl.mobi/EssentialWritingX
@HertsEnglish
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Ellen Counter retweeted
Teaching the writing processes to children
By @lit4pleasure and @EllenCounter
writing4pleasure.com/2025/10…
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27 Aug 2025
Having read the DfE’s writing framework several times over the summer hols, I feel better prepared to comment on it.
Having been a reception teacher for many years, I feel compelled to share my scans of this excellent handbook of writing research (wonky highlights are mine):
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27 Aug 2025
This has been a real labour of love for all involved… so proud of my colleagues @HFL_Education @HertsEnglish 🥰🙌
A writing curriculum that puts children’s ideas and agency at the heart, using books to study writing craft, to write for authentic purpose & audience ✍️🎉
27 Aug 2025
We're delighted to share that ESSENTIALWRITING has been shortlisted for a @TeachPrimary award and ESSENTIALWRITING for Early Years has been shortlisted for a @TeachEarlyYrs award!
We want say a big thank you to all colleagues who were involved in the development and implementation of these programmes - you are superstars❤️
And a massive congratulations to all other #TeachAwards shortlisted candidates🎉
@HertsEnglish @hertsearlyyears
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Ellen Counter retweeted
19 Aug 2025
ICYMI: A blog from the EMC Archives
'The Writing Paradox - Starting with the Whole', in which EMC's director, Andrew McCallum, explores the teaching of extended writing and the possible problems with component-led pedagogy.
Read here: buff.ly/HrRUynn
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Ellen Counter retweeted
31 Jul 2025
Goodbye Allan. You were a pioneer of great children's literature, both in picture books and poetry. You were clever, funny and wise. My children loved your books. So did and so DO I.
theguardian.com/books/2025/j…
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Ellen Counter retweeted
Writing in reading lessons can be a great way to bring pleasure to proceedings. Please consider sharing: @sam_creighton @jonnybid @TeresaCremin @Mat_at_Brookes @alwriting @MichaelRosenYes @son1bun @EllenCounter @charliehacking @AHTMrsD @jotregenza @mrspennyslater @aimee_durning
Bringing pleasure to reading lessons through writing
“If we want to attract children like bees to the idea of writing for pleasure, we must treat our classroom as a field and fill it with the sweetest of nectar – good literature.”
writing4pleasure.com/2025/07…
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Ellen Counter retweeted
8 Jul 2025
Today the Writing Framework was published @educationgovuk - 🖊️ worth sharing and planning in time to discuss this Autumn 🖊️ gov.uk/government/publicatio… @TheWritingWeb @kashleyenglish @son1bun @EllenCounter
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2 Jul 2025
Come and work with a great team!!
Take a look and share 🙌
2 Jul 2025
The HFL Primary English Teaching and Learning team are recruiting. Find out more ⬇️
teachinherts.com/find-a-job/…
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Ellen Counter retweeted
🤯 What I love about FRAN BONAFEDE @Literacy_Trust is she doesn’t just share the writing data but she suggests how we can bring about a brighter writing future for children and young people @The_UKLA
🧵 >>>>>
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30 Jun 2025
Join me, Ross & Phil @WritingRocks_17 for this training on 16th October, at @ElmhurstPrimary for ‘Getting Writing Right’ - what does the evidence say? Perfect for primary teachers, subject leads and school leaders! Book here 👇
hub.hfleducation.org/shop/Ge…
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Ellen Counter retweeted
THIS! The secretarial skills take a long time to fully develop - they’re not ‘the basics’ before anything else can happen, that should be allowed to hold back all else - the pleasures of intentional, creative composition. Some children will get stuck on these if that’s all …1
30 Jun 2025
When we reduce writing to a set of secretarial skills and focus too heavily on the mechanics, we can lose sight of the purpose of writing. To communicate. Young children need to see themselves as writers and have their emergent writing celebrated !
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Ellen Counter retweeted
30 Jun 2025
When we reduce writing to a set of secretarial skills and focus too heavily on the mechanics, we can lose sight of the purpose of writing. To communicate. Young children need to see themselves as writers and have their emergent writing celebrated !
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