News, tips and advice

Got your results? Don’t be sad – don’t be mad – take positive steps for the year ahead!
I’m a bit sad actually that it isn’t clear what high school English is really about, and sad that so many people don’t take advantage of the subject. At its core, English is all about learning useful life skills.
Read my blog to find out how to make the most of English at school:
https://thewritecoach.nz/how-to-survive-high-school-english/

#thewritecoachnz #loveenglishstudies #schoolresults ...

Results are out! Are you jumping for joy or a feeling a bit disappointed?
If your grades in English aren’t what you need or hoped for, I’ve got some great ideas on how and why to fix this. Read my 'How to Survive High School English' blog on why English is in fact really important for most career paths – and life in general – and how you can get the skills you need to succeed in your chosen field of study.
https://thewritecoach.nz/how-to-survive-high-school-english/

#thewritecoachnz #loveenglishstudies #schoolresults ...

In the news today - and on RNZ at 8ish tomorrow morning, if anyone’s up! ...

24. And finally one of my all time favourites...
A Visit from St Nicholas by Clement Clarke Moore
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43171/a-visit-from-st-nicholas
Happy Christmas to all! ...

23. I love this poet’s response to yesterday’s 12 gifts.
On the thirteenth day of Christmas my true love phoned me up . . .
By Dave Calder
Well, I suppose I should be grateful, you’ve obviously gone
to a lot of trouble and expense – or maybe off your head.
Yes, I did like the birds – the small ones anyway were fun
if rather messy, but now the hens have roosted on my bed
and the rest are nested on the wardrobe. It’s hard to sleep
with all that cooing, let alone the cackling of the geese
whose eggs are everywhere, but mostly in a broken smelly heap
on the sofa. No, why should I mind? I can’t get any peace
anywhere – the lounge is full of drummers thumping tom-toms
and sprawling lords crashed out from manic leaping. The
kitchen is crammed with cows and milkmaids and smells of a million stink-bombs
and enough sour milk to last a year. The pipers? I’d forgotten them –
they were no trouble, I paid them and they went. But I can’t get rid
of these young ladies. They won’t stop dancing or turn the music down
and they’re always in the bathroom, squealing as they skid
across the flooded floor. No, I don’t need a plumber round,
it’s just the swans – where else can they swim? Poor things,
I think they’re going mad, like me. When I went to wash my
hands one ate the soap, another swallowed the gold rings.
And the pear tree died. Too dry. So thanks for nothing, love. Goodbye. ...

22. Pentatonix – The twelve days of Christmas
Another a cappella group – and a masterpiece, if you ask me!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UHmQANFtNs ...

21. The school Christmas play is evoked here by Clare Bevan, who pretty much sums it up.
Just Doing My Job
I'm one of Herod's Henchmen.
We don't have much to say,
We just charge through the audience
In a Henchman sort of way.

We all wear woolly helmets
To hide our hair and ears,
And Wellingtons sprayed silver
To match our tinfoil spears.

Our swords are made of cardboard
So blood will not be spilled
If we trip and stab a parent
When the hall's completely filled.

We don't look very scary,
We're mostly small and shy,
And some of us wear glasses,
But we give the thing a try.

We whisper Henchman noises
While Herod hunts for strangers,
And then we all charge out again
Like nervous Power Rangers.

Yet when the play is over
And Miss is out of breath
We'll charge like Henchmen through the hall
And scare our mums to death. ...