Elizabeth Draper @draperel

A close-up photo of a child's hands on an open board book plus the words: "How to use books in play"

It's #Playday today - but did you know that you can use books in play to support children's development?

Here, play expert Yesim Kunter explores the different types of play and how to find books to support them:

www.booktrust.org.uk/resources/fi...

Cultural heritage and climate change networks to drive policy change Apply for DCMS funding to maximise the international partnership brokering and networking opportunities of UK arts and humanities research, as a step towards the Horizon Europe Resilient Cultural Heri...

Keen to explore this #climateheritage & #policy grant with potential partners. Historic England on board too. Get in touch if interested!

www.ukri.org/opportunity/...

Backlisted fans, this interview with Shelagh Delaney is worth watching even if you heard the audio in the newest episode. The reporter is positively barking at her but she is impervious, self-possessed; she responds with great grace and charm.

47% of people think immigration is primarily illegal. There were 4% irregular arrivals in March

New YouGov polling. A monumental failure of our political class to educate, a monumental failure of our media to report fairly, for a generation

English 4-11 | The English Association Accessible and lively, the English 4-11 magazine is packed with articles, covering Early Years Education to the end of Key Stage 2.

🌻 Summer issue ! 🌻
English 4-11 - for the primary and early years classroom.

englishassociation.ac.uk/english-4-11/

Photo of the Lammemuirs in East Lothian - landscape of moorland valley and blue sky vista with cotton wool clouds …

East Lothian. Much beauty to be found in this land of my childhood years…

Book with purple background and white and black identifying text superimposed on red, pink and black flame like flowers placed on a multicoloured patterned background

“Sunny Singh possesses the rare ability to infuse the most harrowing depictions of war and loss, with grace, tenacity and perfectly captured moments of hope. This is an incredibly powerful collection of stories which move between place, time and perspective with utter ease.“ - Jan Carson on #Refuge

Right to buy in England ‘fuelled housing crisis and cost taxpayers £200bn’ Common Wealth report calls discounted sales of council homes one of the ‘largest giveaways in UK history’

Margaret Thatcher’s sale of 1.9m council homes cost public purse £200bn. Tories bought votes.

Policy fuelled shortages in social housing, turbocharged inequality.

One in six private tenants in England now rents a former local authority home.

Councils lack resources to build new homes.

Refuge: Stories of War (and Love) Out 7th August 2025

Preorders are essential to books and a concrete way of supporting authors you like. Link to order from chain and indies here: geni.us/RefugeWarAnd...

My University has opened a virtual scholar scheme for scholars from Gaza. Please share widely and help stop scholasticide. www.exeter.ac.uk/faculties/ha...

🫣😵‍💫😮

Valuing our treasured print history in the era of the ‘bookless’ library Today we eagerly embrace new technology for fear of being left behind. A toddler with an iPad in hand is a welcome sign of a child learning to succeed in a digital world. Remainders of the pre-digital...

"Much #digitisation is being performed by private companies operated for profit. In the future, do we want the only copies of rare and important #books and #periodicals to be controlled by businesses rather than public #libraries that are free for all?"
theconversation.com/valuing-our-...

I lost my hearing in one ear and I’m worried I won’t find a new job | Ask Annalisa Barbieri Getting back into work after a long absence, especially with health issues, can seem overwhelming. Help is available – and don’t underestimate your own internal resources

This is an important article with great advice, for anyone finding themselves in a position they didn’t want or expect to find themselves in

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

L’imagination dispose de tout. Elle fait la beauté, la justice et le bonheur qui est le tout du monde.

~Blaise Pascal

The problem is far bigger than Jeffrey Epstein | Rebecca Solnit Treating the scandal as an aberration misunderstands the global epidemic of violence against women

"One of the reasons the epidemic of violence against women is so unacknowledged is because cases like these are talked about individually, and often treated as though they are shocking aberrations rather than part of a pervasive pattern that operates at all levels of society."

😎☀️☔️🌧️🤗 whatever the weather, summer! 😊 love the pic M !

The Promise That Changes Everything What if all it took to counter political polarisation, relationship problems and workplace rivalries was a single promise? For the past few decades, Nancy Kline has been investigating the optimal co...

www.penguin.co.uk/books/314723...

#DecolonisetheCurriculum

ImperialAI: the empire strikes back An essential conversation with journalist and author, Karen Hao, about OpenAI and its ambition to dominate and conquer all before it

I interviewed the brilliant @karenhao.bsky.social this week who called out the UK government’s AI deals as misguided & dangerous.

I’m just one woman not a newspaper or think tank but thank you to everyone who’s supporting this work🙏

open.substack.com/pub/broligar...

This is a billionaire-funded Tony Blair lobbying project being funnelled unchallenged onto the front page of a national newspaper.
1/

Bridport Prize starter pack @bridportprize.bsky.social with winners & shortlisted writers including
@kitdewaal.com @dreenawriting.co.uk @marcellenewbold.bsky.social @esloudon.bsky.social Please follow & repost the pack & tell me if you want to be included #booksky #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity

Unsolicited Writing Advice, no: 167: SELF PUBLISHING.
As trad publishing becomes increasingly unsatisfactory for many, with advances plummeting and authors being asked to do more and more of what was once the publisher's job, more and more people are looking at self-publishing.

The good news: self-published books are gradually getting more attention and respect. It's easier to self-publish now than it ever was. There are numerous online resources to help you achieve your aim. And it allows the author a greater degree of control over the process.

This ⬇️ #Oracy #SpokenLanguage #ListeningSkills ⬇️⬇️

“The Literary & Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne…founded in 1793, created the library as a forum for sharing ideas in the early yrs of the Ind. Rev…the initial development grant wd help to expand its outreach programme to communities & schools, as well as improve its digital presence.” ⬇️

The English Association:a subject association for people passionate about lit, lang, creative writing -from all sectors of education & all areas of English studies.Our publications, events, networks, promote dialogue, distribute knowledge, celebrate the discipline. Join! 🤗

englishassociation.ac.uk

📣Membership of the EA gives you access to cutting-edge research, high-quality teaching resources; timely, relevant & action-focused professional development events; provides a route to participation in national & international debates on teaching & learning of English lang, lit, creative writing 🌻⬇️⬇️

The EA joins open letter to Prime Minister on oracy in the curriculum | The English Association We support the teaching, learning, and enjoyment of English at all levels of education, from early years to further and higher education and beyond.

On #Oracy, spoken language & listening skills, more on this plse ! @mrjamesob.bsky.social (from 42.06 - on ‘verbal communication’ ; what it’s like to struggle with ‘articulating yourself’ ). Yes. Opportunities to learn such skills & confidence essential!

englishassociation.ac.uk/the-ea-joins...

@voice21oracy.bsky.social @englishassociation.bsky.social
@robdrummond.bsky.social
@realgeoffbarton.bsky.social
Haven’t listened , but will do …maybe you are on it!
#oracy #spokenlanguage #ListeningSkills

@thebrokenspine.co.uk #PoemsAbout
#Glamour

She wore them for her wedding,
those perilous red shoes.

Now from the depths of a wardrobe they still chivvy

the memory of a slender wisp of a woman
dancing, dancing, dancing

as she paints her vermilion toenails

and laughs.