@EllenCounter

Primary English Adviser @HertsEnglish | Writing & Reading for Pleasure ✍️ 📚 | MA Children’s Lit | NPQSL | Mum 👨‍👩‍👧 | All views my own

 London, England
writing4pleasure.com/2021/07/07/reluctant-writers-where-do-we-start-by-ellen-counter/
Joined September 2020
  • Tweets838
  • Following646
  • Followers560
94Media
'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…
1
4
1
6
720
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…

The National Primary English Conference 2026

An unmissable conference for primary educators, featuring leading experts in national policy and international research to deepen understanding of writing and enhance classroom practice.

hfleducation.org
1
1
4
336
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…
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

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

7
1
8
821
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…
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

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

7
9
690
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
12
27
1,314
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
1
2
3
134
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
7
1
12
830
Teaching the writing processes to children By @lit4pleasure and @EllenCounter writing4pleasure.com/2025/10…
8
13
962
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
6
2
16
3,242
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…

Allan Ahlberg, beloved children's author, dies aged 87

Working first with his wife Janet, and later with illustrators including Raymond Briggs and Bruce Ingman, he wrote more than 150 books

theguardian.com
239
806
93
6,091
409,576
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
#WritingRocks✍️😍☺️ writingrocks.bsky.social@WritingRocks_1718 Jul 2025
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…

Bringing pleasure to reading lessons through writing

DOWNLOAD THIS ARTICLE 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
1
9
9
6,998
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
3
19
2
71
6,171
🤯 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 🧵 >>>>>
1
2
7
677
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
©️Ruth Swailes@SwailesRuth30 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 !
2
4
17
1,870
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 !
©️Ruth Swailes@SwailesRuth30 Jun 2025
Some worrying statistics from National Literacy Trust here:
7
31
1
106
9,036
Well worth reading the new @Literacy_Trust report on writing literacytrust.org.uk/researc… Their graph below (p.7)shows the decline in enjoying writing in free time 8-18yr olds …@TheWritingWeb @EllenCounter @The_UKLA @FirstStory
2
25
2
42
5,397
Ellen Counter retweeted
UKLA@The_UKLA13 Jun 2025
NEW in the critically acclaimed and internationally bestselling ‘Unknown Adventurer’ series! 3 signed copies of THE LOST BOOK OF UNDERSEA ADVENTURE! By Teddy Keen are the UKLA Lucky 13th prizes for June. UKLA Members RT to be in with a chance to win. @QuartoKids
11
2
12
1,325
I feel a blog coming on, on the teaching of writing. I can't quite believe how the chunking up of writing into separate components has been taking hold, as if writing is something entirely different from & disconnected from thoughts. So 'the sentence' is taught as a thing 1/
7
11
3
60
20,135
"There is surely no lower educational expectation than believing a child has nothing to say for themselves. That they are empty – devoid of any thoughts, knowledge, ideas or experiences that readers would feel worth hearing about." 👇 writing4pleasure.com/the-wri…

The writing lives of working-class children

download this article ‘We can’t give children rich lives, but we can give them the lens to appreciate the richness that is already there’ – Lucy Calkins The writing lives of working-cla…

writing4pleasure.com
6
2
16
3,077
Hooray! 🎉 Our new book is out! @DrSarahMcG Can’t wait to get my hands on a copy… 26 contributors from across the world! Sharing #readingforpleasure evidence around texts and contexts, readers and practices and more! Do please share!
1
35
1
73
4,398
Load more