Full unit of work introducing Acids and Bases to KS3 classes (these lessons do also work for lower-ability KS4 classes, and higher ability if you want to break up your planned curriculum with practical lessons/check their practical skills). Covers safety in the lab, what chemical reactions ‘are’, pH scale, acids and bases and making your own indicator. Lessons here are easily digestible, colourful and contain dollops of humour where possible. Lots of opportunity for practicals, with detailed equipment list and instructions for all practicals and demos. Also instructions for a practical that involves eating sweets that I almost guarantee will make your class go mental. They love it though. Clear opportunities for differentiation. For the price of three sausage rolls you can save yourself hours of planning. Sausage rolls are amazing though I don’t blame you if you go for them instead.

This is a whole unit of the fundamentals of Chemistry, initially aimed at KS3 but I have used it as is for lower-ability KS4. I’ve also used it as a starting point for higher-ability KS4. I’ve spent a long, long time on these lessons trying to make them clear, digestible and (dare I say it) in some places funny! This unit covers everything from atomic theory, the periodic table, chemical reactions versus physical changes, methods of separation and oxides. Plenty of opportunity for practicals, and differentiation via open-ended questions and tasks. Slides contain teacher notes where it may not be immediately obvious what the hell is going on. For the price of a coffee you can have a whole unit of work! Then just put your feet up and wish you had a coffee.

Backing up all my lesson plans etc for one final time ahead of me leaving my last school, I came across these 'reflections' I wrote earlier in the year. Not entirely sure why I wrote them, but I did. One is on report writing, and one is on how I engage low-ability pupils. You may ask yourself why the hell would you want to read a reflection on report writing, and that's a good question but hush now; I'm talking. They were meant to be both (somewhat) informative and (hopefully) funny. If you are a teacher, especially early on, you might find them useful. If you are not a teacher, you may still find them funny even if you never write a report in your life. If you don't find me funny or in any way helpful then well you've probably already stopped reading and here I'm technically talking to myself. Enjoy/unenjoy

A black comedy for any teacher (or anyone really), who has felt the need to hold their tongue for fear of making things worse. For anyone who has sat through a staff meeting that could have been an email. For anyone that has been held accountable for things beyond their control. For anyone who has felt frustrated at a lack of honesty.