Ages 14 to 16

A change of scene can bring a fresh approach to everyday activities for your restless charges, especially for the run-up to their exam week.

To eke out personal responses to the GCSE drama text Journey’s End, I took my pupils to the squash courts viewing area and used the tiered seating as a space for a “voting with your feet” exercise. It can be adapted for any text but involves the teacher reading out statements about characters interpretations and the pupils physically positioning themselves on the seating level that corresponds with their view: “totally agree”, “on the fence”, “partially agree” and “totally disagree”.

I used statements about characters from Journey’s End such as: “I feel no sympathy whatsoever for Hibbert.” “Osborne is too squeaky clean for me.”

To add a speaking and listening angle, I ask the pupils to justify their reasons for their positio*

is head of English at The Grammar School at Leeds