Mr Mahoney
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mahoneyiam.bsky.social
Mr Mahoney
@mahoneyiam.bsky.social
Curric. Leader of English | Literature graduate @Oxford_Brookes | MA Early-Modern Lit @SussexUni | CTeach @CharteredColl | NPQLT & NPQLL @Ambition_Inst
Reposted by Mr Mahoney
It's Stir Up Sunday!

A tradition that dates back hundreds of years, many households stir a sweet plum pudding on the Sunday before Advent. Silver charms often added including coins, a ring to foretell a marriage, a horseshoe for luck and a thimble for a life of blessedness.

Do you still do this?
November 23, 2025 at 8:21 AM
Reposted by Mr Mahoney
‘Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pen rests.
I'll dig with it.'

Listen to Jarvis Cocker read ‘Digging’
youtube.com/watch?v=KRgyIWYMy8g
October 11, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Reposted by Mr Mahoney
From the Archive. Seamus Heaney writes to Faber editor Charles Monteith in May 1965 with a ‘selection of poems for your consideration.’ This selection of poems would become the groundbreaking collection, Death of a Naturalist.
October 11, 2025 at 10:01 AM
"We will need writers, artists and actors who can help us to imagine what these futures can look like by helping us to understand our present."

#hope #education #amen
April 22, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Simnel cake and the final blossom at Bateman's #blossomwatch #nationaltrust
April 13, 2025 at 3:08 PM
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It's here, it's here, it's finally here - #BlossomWatch season is back! Camera, phone, painting, we don't mind how you do it, but share the blossom-y goodness near you with #BlossomWatch so everyone can enjoy it 🌸
March 20, 2025 at 7:11 AM
Reposted by Mr Mahoney
‘History says, Don’t hope
On this side of the grave.
But then, once in a lifetime
The longed-for tidal wave
Of justice can rise up,
And hope and history rhyme.’

Seamus Heaney was born on this day in 1939.
April 13, 2025 at 11:01 AM
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Here’s a poem about going for a walk to clear my head of all the news.
April 7, 2025 at 8:18 AM
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*NEW* What is teaching? open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...
What is teaching?
Can we agree a useful definition or is it already blindingly obvious?
open.substack.com
April 5, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Reposted by Mr Mahoney
The struggle for control of the national curriculum is a fight for the soul of English education.

🖋️ Pippa Bailey in this week's cover story: What is school for?
What is school for?
The struggle for control of the national curriculum is a fight for the soul of English education.
www.newstatesman.com
April 2, 2025 at 9:43 AM
Reposted by Mr Mahoney
Recently taught this, one of Hopkins’ so-called “Terrible” or “Desolation” sonnets.
An astonishing, shattering poem; the self splitting & re-splitting; self-invigilating, self-flagellating.
A syntax of contortion & depression; words eliding, consuming—until, oh, that wild (“betweenpie”!) ending…
March 29, 2025 at 4:58 PM
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📖 In one of our most-read articles this week, @greeborunner.bsky.social offers some short, sharp, 10-minute activities to help your students with the final push towards their GCSE exams
English literature GCSE: 5 strategies for the final push
As exam time hurtles nearer, Zoe Enser offers her favourite quick and effective approaches to help students feel ready
www.tes.com
March 30, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Reposted by Mr Mahoney
NEW ‘Power and Conflict - The Interpretations’ revision booklet. I always get students to consider 3 interpretations of each poem & ask them to consider which they agree with the most. Great springboard for debate/new ideas. I’ve collated these into a booklet here 👇🏻

www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/h5hi3...
March 30, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Reposted by Mr Mahoney
🚨🚨 NEW TODAY

For the last 18 months, I've been working on a top secret documentary to capture & deconstruct some of best teaching in UK.

Why We Made It & How To Access It (For Free):



www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SQ0...
(Why And How) We Made A Documentary Unpacking Great Teaching
YouTube video by Peps Mccrea
www.youtube.com
January 22, 2025 at 6:50 PM