Like Banquo’s ghost, the National Literacy Strategy has stalked us, moving up through the primary years and now seating itself at the key stage 3 table. Some of your colleagues may be reacting with disbelief: “Another change. More initiatives. The horror.” And these are just the polite responses.

So how can you harness the best practice in your own department’s work, customise it for the KS3 English Framework, and retain all that is creative and humane about good English teaching? I suggest:

* Refuse to be cynical. Cynicism eats at the heart of our work. It constrains enthusiasm in any department, making all of us gloomy. The Framework for KS3 English is a huge incentive for reviewing the way we teach, for updating our understanding of how students improve their language skills, and for revitalising the pace, delivery, and assessment procedures we use every day.

* Hold on to baby and bathwater. The KS3 strategy is not replacing the national curriculum, or transplanting current schemes of work. Look for ways of creatively building on existing strengths, but also be prepared to talk openly about areas of weakness. There is a need for honesty and a clear plan of action. Do not try to rewrite a whole scheme of work overnight. Have a development plan of what will be achieved by which dates, and lock these into specific meetings when the work can be done and progress reviewed. This is the way to maintain the momentum of implementation, and not be tempted to leave units in place that are sub-standard after the initial build-up of steam has run out.

* In my experience English departments are strong on teaching literature, and less confident in integrating interesting non-fiction texts. Have a blitz on non-fiction. Students love reading a lively range of texts - from leaflets, instruction manuals, and advertising copy to cookery books, science evaluations, and horoscopes. They often respond to them with unexpected relish. Review your existing resources; have a departmental meeting exploring new non-fiction texts; talk about the way they might be used to help deliver objectives.

* Recognise that the Framework is not essentially about content. It is also to do with style of delivery. Too many of us freeze early on into a teaching style that is often based on the way we were ourselves taught at school. Now is our chance to explore the challenges of fast-paced lesson starters; setting students explicit objectives; using active, highly systematic group work and interactive discussion; developing shared composition; modelling and evaluation; and building towards independent writing. Until recently, most of these were notions we never contemplated. We would read a story, talk about it, and then our students would write one of their own. That was what we meant by teaching writing. Now it is time to embed new approaches within our personal suite of teaching strategies and update our own methodology.

* Go for variety. Aim to get a range of objectives into each lesson - from reading, writing and speaking and listening. Do not just base lessons on reading objectives, and try not to leave all the nitty-gritty language work in the starter activities. Aim for a sense of follow-through so students are extending their skills in more developed activities, and gaining a clear sense of progression, within and between lessons.

All of this, of course, is easier said than done. But there is something invigorating about exploring ways of teaching English better. And that is what this process is about.

So harden your heart to the cynics, shrug off the sniping about the quality of the training, and make this process your own. At a time of constant negativity and carping, we owe it to ourselves and our colleagues to find as much that is positive as we can about being a teacher - and, best of all, an English teacher.

Geoff Barton is deputy headteacher at ThurstonCommunity College, Suffolk and author of ‘The Literacy Kit’ (OUP). E-mail: geoffbarton@mac.com