Violetta di Parma
@1cvteach.bsky.social
Primary teacher - loving KS2, after some glorious years in EYFS. MA Ed. Passion for language, stories and music. Lover of books, films and walks in woods.
Views, my own. Name, borrowed from a long-forgotten book.
Views, my own. Name, borrowed from a long-forgotten book.
Reposted by Violetta di Parma
I have a book out in two weeks. So....one repost of this and I'll drop one fact/spoiler/detail about the book. @walkerbooksuk.bsky.social www.walker.co.uk/978152951581...
Loki: A Bad God's Guide to Causing Chaos - Walker Books
PRE-ORDER NOW! THE BRAND-NEW HILARIOUS DOODLE-PACKED DIARY IN THE BESTSELLING LOKI SERIES.‘Tom Gates and Wimpy Kid fans need look no further than this laug...
www.walker.co.uk
August 29, 2025 at 7:33 AM
I have a book out in two weeks. So....one repost of this and I'll drop one fact/spoiler/detail about the book. @walkerbooksuk.bsky.social www.walker.co.uk/978152951581...
Reposted by Violetta di Parma
Back to school, and once again I spend a lot of time thinking about this poem ❤️
August 28, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Back to school, and once again I spend a lot of time thinking about this poem ❤️
Reposted by Violetta di Parma
Today's mood:
August 26, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Today's mood:
Reposted by Violetta di Parma
#SundayMorningBookChat Have to agree with @hfj0108.bsky.social and nominate the #UtterlyDark trilogy by @philipreeve.bsky.social They are beautifully written and deserve far more attention than they’ve received.
This was my review of final book: vsviewfromthebookshelves.home.blog/2023/09/04/m...
This was my review of final book: vsviewfromthebookshelves.home.blog/2023/09/04/m...
MG Review & Author Q&A: Utterly Dark and the Tides of Time by Philip Reeve, illustrations by Paddy Donnelly
Cover image and inside illustrations by Paddy Donnelly, Publisher David Fickling Books, 7th September 2023 The conclusion of the Utterly Dark trilogy is an adventure woven through with the ancient …
vsviewfromthebookshelves.home.blog
August 24, 2025 at 2:37 PM
#SundayMorningBookChat Have to agree with @hfj0108.bsky.social and nominate the #UtterlyDark trilogy by @philipreeve.bsky.social They are beautifully written and deserve far more attention than they’ve received.
This was my review of final book: vsviewfromthebookshelves.home.blog/2023/09/04/m...
This was my review of final book: vsviewfromthebookshelves.home.blog/2023/09/04/m...
Reposted by Violetta di Parma
#SundayMorningBookChat
Great question as always Tom. My two childhood favourites: #WinnieThePooh & #TheWindInTheWillows then was put off animal stories after reading #WatershipDown as a kid, until reading #Hoot by @carlhiaasen.com as a bedtime story, many years later! #AnimalStories
Great question as always Tom. My two childhood favourites: #WinnieThePooh & #TheWindInTheWillows then was put off animal stories after reading #WatershipDown as a kid, until reading #Hoot by @carlhiaasen.com as a bedtime story, many years later! #AnimalStories
August 17, 2025 at 2:25 PM
#SundayMorningBookChat
Great question as always Tom. My two childhood favourites: #WinnieThePooh & #TheWindInTheWillows then was put off animal stories after reading #WatershipDown as a kid, until reading #Hoot by @carlhiaasen.com as a bedtime story, many years later! #AnimalStories
Great question as always Tom. My two childhood favourites: #WinnieThePooh & #TheWindInTheWillows then was put off animal stories after reading #WatershipDown as a kid, until reading #Hoot by @carlhiaasen.com as a bedtime story, many years later! #AnimalStories
Reposted by Violetta di Parma
Always the most popular read-aloud with my Year 5/6 class.
August 17, 2025 at 10:17 AM
Always the most popular read-aloud with my Year 5/6 class.
Reposted by Violetta di Parma
And a few more…very excited for the final Podkin in September
August 17, 2025 at 10:37 AM
And a few more…very excited for the final Podkin in September
Reposted by Violetta di Parma
Love a good animal story, here are a few standouts…
August 17, 2025 at 10:32 AM
Love a good animal story, here are a few standouts…
Reposted by Violetta di Parma
I love Varjak Paw, too. Also loved Wind in the Willows as a kid and again with my own child. But my all-time favourite is Silverwing by Kenneth Oppel, a kind of bat David vs Goliath tale.
August 17, 2025 at 7:51 AM
I love Varjak Paw, too. Also loved Wind in the Willows as a kid and again with my own child. But my all-time favourite is Silverwing by Kenneth Oppel, a kind of bat David vs Goliath tale.
Reposted by Violetta di Parma
#sundaymorningbookchat comes all the way from Mauritius this morning. Had a wonderful safari in SA and was completely inspired by the animals. Let’s celebrate animal books! What is the appeal of a great animal book or authors who write them? Here are some of my favourites @whatsfsaid.bsky.social
August 17, 2025 at 7:39 AM
#sundaymorningbookchat comes all the way from Mauritius this morning. Had a wonderful safari in SA and was completely inspired by the animals. Let’s celebrate animal books! What is the appeal of a great animal book or authors who write them? Here are some of my favourites @whatsfsaid.bsky.social
Reposted by Violetta di Parma
This is an excellent review of Nick Gibb & Rob Peal's new book: www.newstatesman.com/culture/book...
What Bridget Phillipson can learn from Conservative education policy
In a new book, the former schools minister Nick Gibb defends a strong, if controversial legacy.
www.newstatesman.com
August 14, 2025 at 12:18 PM
This is an excellent review of Nick Gibb & Rob Peal's new book: www.newstatesman.com/culture/book...
Reposted by Violetta di Parma
My wife shared this with me and I’m tellin you… it’s worth the read.
August 13, 2025 at 2:55 PM
My wife shared this with me and I’m tellin you… it’s worth the read.
Reposted by Violetta di Parma
Tommy Robinson has quite literally bemoaned a primary school where first language isn't English, by suggesting it goes against the district's proud history of serial killers and gangsters. Which is apparently better...
Get some perspective, lad.
Get some perspective, lad.
August 13, 2025 at 9:37 AM
Tommy Robinson has quite literally bemoaned a primary school where first language isn't English, by suggesting it goes against the district's proud history of serial killers and gangsters. Which is apparently better...
Get some perspective, lad.
Get some perspective, lad.
Reposted by Violetta di Parma
Teaching isn’t about “balancing” teacher-led & student-led activities.
It’s about asking which approach closes & which wides attainment gaps
If you’re mixing without knowing the answer, you’re not balancing you’re gambling with the lives of the most vulnerable.
open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...
It’s about asking which approach closes & which wides attainment gaps
If you’re mixing without knowing the answer, you’re not balancing you’re gambling with the lives of the most vulnerable.
open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...
The myth of balance in the classroom
Why the case for mixing teacher-led and student-led activities doesn’t stack up
open.substack.com
August 12, 2025 at 6:02 AM
Teaching isn’t about “balancing” teacher-led & student-led activities.
It’s about asking which approach closes & which wides attainment gaps
If you’re mixing without knowing the answer, you’re not balancing you’re gambling with the lives of the most vulnerable.
open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...
It’s about asking which approach closes & which wides attainment gaps
If you’re mixing without knowing the answer, you’re not balancing you’re gambling with the lives of the most vulnerable.
open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...
Reposted by Violetta di Parma
Hallmark 4: Effective pedagogies build on students’ prior learning and experience
(Fourth in a series exploring the Nine Hallmarks of Great Pedagogy through the lens of Imaginative Inquiry and Mantle of the Expert) www.mantleoftheexpert.com/blog-post/ha...
(Fourth in a series exploring the Nine Hallmarks of Great Pedagogy through the lens of Imaginative Inquiry and Mantle of the Expert) www.mantleoftheexpert.com/blog-post/ha...
August 11, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Hallmark 4: Effective pedagogies build on students’ prior learning and experience
(Fourth in a series exploring the Nine Hallmarks of Great Pedagogy through the lens of Imaginative Inquiry and Mantle of the Expert) www.mantleoftheexpert.com/blog-post/ha...
(Fourth in a series exploring the Nine Hallmarks of Great Pedagogy through the lens of Imaginative Inquiry and Mantle of the Expert) www.mantleoftheexpert.com/blog-post/ha...
Reposted by Violetta di Parma
It's the summer holidays, which means I have a copy of Primary Reading Simplified to give away.
Simply **repost** this post for your chance to win.
I will pick a winner on Sunday 17th August.
Good luck!
Simply **repost** this post for your chance to win.
I will pick a winner on Sunday 17th August.
Good luck!
August 7, 2025 at 11:58 AM
It's the summer holidays, which means I have a copy of Primary Reading Simplified to give away.
Simply **repost** this post for your chance to win.
I will pick a winner on Sunday 17th August.
Good luck!
Simply **repost** this post for your chance to win.
I will pick a winner on Sunday 17th August.
Good luck!
Reposted by Violetta di Parma
Tens of thousands of cornflowers in a field in Wicken. Research shows that the sight of them will help you recover from sources of stress more quickly & boost dopamine release in your brain, lifting your mood…in case you need it just now:
August 4, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Tens of thousands of cornflowers in a field in Wicken. Research shows that the sight of them will help you recover from sources of stress more quickly & boost dopamine release in your brain, lifting your mood…in case you need it just now:
Reposted by Violetta di Parma
A sunday question for the #UkKidlit gang - what's a children's book you've read recently that you push upon anyone who'll listen? The one that turns you into the ancient mariner, forcing people to listen to you about it?
August 3, 2025 at 7:51 AM
A sunday question for the #UkKidlit gang - what's a children's book you've read recently that you push upon anyone who'll listen? The one that turns you into the ancient mariner, forcing people to listen to you about it?
Reposted by Violetta di Parma
We think the teacher crisis is about recruitment.
It’s not.
We train thousands every year then watch a third leave within 5 years. Almost half of trained teachers are not teaching.
The real crisis is retention.
And we’re losing many who could have become great.
open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...
It’s not.
We train thousands every year then watch a third leave within 5 years. Almost half of trained teachers are not teaching.
The real crisis is retention.
And we’re losing many who could have become great.
open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...
If great teaching matters, why are we so bad at keeping great teachers?
Why do so many teachers leave teaching and how can we keep them?
open.substack.com
August 4, 2025 at 5:54 AM
We think the teacher crisis is about recruitment.
It’s not.
We train thousands every year then watch a third leave within 5 years. Almost half of trained teachers are not teaching.
The real crisis is retention.
And we’re losing many who could have become great.
open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...
It’s not.
We train thousands every year then watch a third leave within 5 years. Almost half of trained teachers are not teaching.
The real crisis is retention.
And we’re losing many who could have become great.
open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...
Reposted by Violetta di Parma
#Sundaymorningbookchat this week is about celebrity authors. What are your thoughts on celebrities writing children’s books - even if they have a background in writing? Are there any that you’ve enjoyed? Are they books that you avoid? Do you think it’s good for the industry? the children?
August 3, 2025 at 8:46 AM
#Sundaymorningbookchat this week is about celebrity authors. What are your thoughts on celebrities writing children’s books - even if they have a background in writing? Are there any that you’ve enjoyed? Are they books that you avoid? Do you think it’s good for the industry? the children?
Reposted by Violetta di Parma
Good morning! #SundayMorningBookChat this week is all about the Summer! Which books have really brought the summer alive for you? Great summer reads… I always think of Waiting for murder by @fleurhitchcock.bsky.social Tales of Truthwater Lake by Emma Carroll or ship of shadows by Maria Kuzniar
July 13, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Good morning! #SundayMorningBookChat this week is all about the Summer! Which books have really brought the summer alive for you? Great summer reads… I always think of Waiting for murder by @fleurhitchcock.bsky.social Tales of Truthwater Lake by Emma Carroll or ship of shadows by Maria Kuzniar
Reposted by Violetta di Parma
Gordon Brown on the lessons of 2008 for the new challenge of strengthening multilateral institutions when they are under attack from the government in Washington DC
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com
April 10, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Gordon Brown on the lessons of 2008 for the new challenge of strengthening multilateral institutions when they are under attack from the government in Washington DC
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Violetta di Parma
*** NEW POST ***
@greeborunner.bsky.social explores why you sometimes just need to get out of teachers' way...
wp.me/p7mhqT-OI
@greeborunner.bsky.social explores why you sometimes just need to get out of teachers' way...
wp.me/p7mhqT-OI
Getting Out of the Way
Much of my adult identity was bound up in being a teacher. For over 20 years I had lived my life by bells and terms and assessment deadlines. Most of my friends were teachers (that is still the cas…
wp.me
February 22, 2025 at 7:37 AM
*** NEW POST ***
@greeborunner.bsky.social explores why you sometimes just need to get out of teachers' way...
wp.me/p7mhqT-OI
@greeborunner.bsky.social explores why you sometimes just need to get out of teachers' way...
wp.me/p7mhqT-OI
Reposted by Violetta di Parma
Thanks, Sam. That means a lot coming from someone with your expertise.
January 28, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Thanks, Sam. That means a lot coming from someone with your expertise.
Reposted by Violetta di Parma
Lots of people gave me useful feedback on my first draft, but none more so than this gent. He'll claim otherwise, but his insightfulness and honesty improved the book significantly.
If you want to know how to teach reading, lead reading, or have reading taught well in your school: get this book.
I rarely recommend things but this is ace...
I rarely recommend things but this is ace...
My new book, Primary Reading Simplified, is released this Monday.
Briefly, I'd like to explain why it exists, who I think will find it useful and where you can find it.
>>
Briefly, I'd like to explain why it exists, who I think will find it useful and where you can find it.
>>
January 28, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Lots of people gave me useful feedback on my first draft, but none more so than this gent. He'll claim otherwise, but his insightfulness and honesty improved the book significantly.