#Autism
specialist teacher. Writes about
#Autism
strategies. Tweets about books. Trying to be the best teacher I can be. Proud mum of Elizabeth and Mateo.
Twitter please can you help by sharing and tagging anyone who might help?
Liz is 16 and lives to take photographs. She has a rare and aggressive cancer which doctors have told her means she has between 6 months and 3 years to live. We hope every day for a lifetime for her but if
The yellow paper in
@BarringtonStoke
books is a game changer. I’ve been a teacher for 20 years. I have an English degree from Cambridge. I am Dyslexic. When you do it daily you don’t realise how hard you work at it - until you see an alternative. If only all books were like this.
We have been absolutely bowled over during the last few days by the incredible responses from people and the amazing photography offers they have given Liz. She is beyond delighted and I’m not sure I have seen her smile so much EVER! To those of you who have shared, liked,
I normally use quiet critters made out of pompoms, so I set my eldest (12) the challenge of making Covid safe critters that could be cleaned and would appeal to year 6. Idea to tie them into Pride values magpied from
@Teacherglitter
I think she’s done a lovely job!
@sueperkins
@beckyboopta
Oh wow! She would have absolutely loved this. Beyond her wildest dreams. Unfortunately she has a scan in Leeds on Monday that can’t be moved. Thank you from the very bottom of our hearts for offering though. It means the world that you did.
@emmahoneybone
Thank you so much! We are in Yorkshire but originally from Lancashire - any help in any part of the UK appreciated more than we can say. We are so very grateful for your kindness!
Any recommendations for year 5/6 novels set in different countries? I want to make a passport for my class for January that I’ll stamp when they read a book set in a new country.
@MrHtheteacher
@richreadalot
I know you will both have ideas I have missed :-)
If you give blood - thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Without you our daughter wouldn’t be alive. If you don’t already and are eligible to do so, please do consider it. The impact you can make is huge. In the last week Liz has had 5 lots of red blood cells and she’ll be
I’ve worked in primary and secondary, independent and state, mainstream and special. A friend asked me this week which I’d recommend. My answer: It isn’t about the type of school. The children are always fab. It’s about sharing a vision and beliefs with the people you work with.
Our incredible 16 year old daughter was diagnosed with a rare sarcoma 5 weeks ago. Chances of survival are small. Please read, share, react to this tweet or donate if you can. We are determined to give her the fullest life we can for as long as possible:
The BBC very kindly wrote about Liz and published one of her photographs. Her first photograph to be published outside her Instagram. Thank you
@JonesSteve93
for being so kind during the process.
My mum truly is the best. We get married tomorrow. Just us, the children and two witnesses. Just got these sent to our log cabin from my mum with a note telling us to have a lovely day and that she would love me to carry them with me tomorrow.
Looking for people who might be able to help us to create memorable moments for our 16 year old daughter whose rare cancer is currently incurable. She is a keen photographer (especially portrait, fashion and theatre) and would love to travel both inside the UK and abroad. Liz is
The difference it makes when you work somewhere where staff and children are valued is incredible. I have long held my first school as a shining example of this. My new school may have just surpassed it though. One week in and I already know I never want to leave.
This weekend Liz was invited by
@jimpowell2002
and
@PurplePRFashion
to photograph the
@_charlesjeffrey
London fashion week show. Despite having the worst nausea she has had throughout the chemo this round she had the most incredible time. We cannot thank either Charles Jeffrey,
We got Liz’s CT scan results today. They showed a small amount of shrinkage in all of her tumours. For Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumours this is big news. Some don’t respond to chemotherapy at all and almost all become resistant over time. Now we hope that when the surgeons
@AidanSevers
I was secondary now primary, so a foot in both camps. I want them to happy, to be kind to each other, to know they can always ask me a question and that I will answer. To try their best. To listen to each other’s answers. To be brave with their own answers.
Round 7 of chemo started today and Liz is doing incredibly as always. Her camera is in tow. She’s recruited two patients as models tomorrow- photoshoots will be occurring whist attached to her IV infusions. In the meantime here is her photo that
@BBCLookNorth
shared yesterday
Last night Liz was lucky enough to be able to shoot photos backstage at
@grandoperayork
. She had an incredible time and we are very grateful to the whole team. She’s still busy editing photos but I’ll share a couple when I can. In the meantime she has shared more photos from
If you haven’t read Show Us Who You Are then you need to. It should be in every year 5/6 classroom and every school library- primary or secondary. This is a book that will change not only hearts and minds, but lives.
@BooksandChokers
it is absolutely brilliant in every way!
Liz has now got her pictures from the
@_charlesjeffrey
London fashion week shoot on her Instagram. Her bloods have started to fall today which resulted in a trip to the hospital. We’re back there tomorrow morning but her joy is still going strong. I’ve never seen her happier than
The incredible
@jimpowell2002
made not just one, but two of Liz’s dreams come true. With help from
@PurplePRFashion
and
@_charlesjeffrey
he arranged for her to photograph a catwalk at London fashion week. He then went on to publish not just one but three of her photographs.
@Katy_primary97
If it helps our eldest was a 31st of August birthday (two teacher parents - terrible timing 😂). She just got her GCSE results, 5 9s, 4 8s, a 7 and a 6. Not always a negative xx
@LouisEverett1
Put a dab of glue on the back of pieces before putting them on the laminating sheet. It will stop them sliding around when going through the laminator and won’t show when it is finished.
I’ve just finished
@BooksandChokers
A Kind Of Spark. Utterly incredible! I can’t wait to share it with my class. If you haven’t read it already then you really need to.
Do any authors or
#IndieBookshops
have signed copies of books suitable for 9-12 year olds for sale? If I don’t already have it on my class bookshelf I would love to buy a few signed editions for my class to read in September.
#ChildrensBookAuthor
#childrensbooks
Has anyone made story sacks with novels in aimed at Upper Key Stage Two? On a mission to give it a go but would love to see other people’s ideas before I start. (
@MrHtheteacher
please could you retweet)
@CarlBovisNature
That is so incredibly kind of you, thank you. We live every day in hope because we refuse to live them in fear, making the most of every moment whilst hoping for a lifetime.
Someone at the hospital this week asked why we always look so positive. The answer is simple 1) We live in denial and clutch to the 0.1% chance that someone will invent a cure before it is too late 2) We don’t think any further ahead than the next three week treatment cycle - we
@JenniferKillick
There is nothing I love more than a handwritten note/ card. I’ve been teaching 20 years and still have them all. One year several parents grouped together to buy me vouchers. I bought a large jellycat dragon for my classroom. Every time it gives a child comfort I think of them.
So wonderful to be in school today with my incredible class. We ‘flew’ to Norway, listened to a video by the fabulous
@HGold_author
, read the first five chapters of The Last Bear and then drew and named our very own polar bears. We also had hot chocolate and lots of chat time.
@ThinkReadTweet
@londonteacher_
@sainsburys
The first time I used an overlay I was 18. I still remember how incredible it was that the letters sat still on the paper. My mum asked why I had never said they moved - my answer ‘I thought they moved for everyone’. They don’t work for everyone but for those that benefit - huge!
#prrequest
#journorequest
Looking for anyone who might be able to help our daughter Liz to make her dream of being a professional photographer come true. Liz has a rare cancer and is not expected to survive. She is 16. She would love more followers and interaction on her
@ruthtopham
@AidanSevers
I’m a teacher but both my children are autistic and I’m dyslexic. As schools and teachers we can do better.I definitely don’t always get it right. But each day I try to do better for all of my pupils. If children feel happy and wanted in school, they have the best chance to learn
This time last year I was filling in an application for a job. Despite being terrified it was the single best decision I have ever made. Our school is incredible, I am lucky to work with some of the most talented people I have ever met and I believe in everything we do.
Incredible, beautiful, powerful and magical. I can’t imagine anyone reading this and not falling in love with it. And the book itself is almost as incredible as the story. Very happy to have bought two because I’m not sure I can part with my copy to take to school
@HGold_author
@BBCLookNorth
Thanks so very much for sharing our girl’s story and even more importantly for publishing one of her photographs- that means the world to her.
@IKEAUK
1/2 Two of us went into school today, on a day we didn’t need to be in to receive a large order from yourselves. Your driver rang the school number and got the answer machine. He therefore decided there was no-one on-site. He didn’t check. Just didn’t deliver. We are now
We’d love your advice if you know London :-) Lots of the amazing offers Liz has received are in London - so we’re working through the logistics in our brain. Would love advice on hotels with parking (or parking close by) that are close to an an accessible tube station (walking
What I hate the most about general election time is the level of sheer unkindness. I don’t understand why all parties can’t just tell us what they want to do and what they stand for without snarling constantly at their opponents. The example it sets for children really is
Some lovely friends and their parents of Liz’s from her old primary school are doing a sponsored walk through the
#YorkshireThreePeaks
tomorrow to raise some funds for her. We didn’t ask them to, they are just exceptionally lovely people who wanted to help. If you are out
@michael_merrick
Fund SEND properly then ring fence that funding, increase accountability of that by ensuring Ofsted check all provision on EHCPs is in place.
On a mission to find books set in other countries. I have lots of longer novels but want to add some more graphic novels, shorter novels and picture books that would appeal to year 5/6. Any ideas?
@MrHtheteacher
@richreadalot
@teacher_mr_r
So proud to work for the school I do. Our head and team are incredible. Could not feel more supported as either a teacher or a parent. Lockdown 3.0 - we have got this.
This is what it looks like when a school nails it. His amazing team get it right every single day. They go the extra mile - always. Today they created a Pikachu mask (his special interest). They have changed his life and ours. His confidence is growing every day.
Teachers never forget how powerful you are. Today our youngest made a video of his story for his teacher. At the end he told her he loved her. He meant it completely. She has shown him that she loves him for who he is. Even when he is at home he still knows how much she cares.
I have a year 6 pupil who devours ‘serious’ graphic novels. He doesn’t like the silly/ humourous ones. He has read all of mine. More suggestions desperately needed please :-)
The small boy (4) has sellotape, cardboard, scissors and string. The eldest (13) is busy reading her way through the Brontes. They are both ridiculously happy. Normally we would rush around in the holidays. On days like today the new normal isn’t always worse.
@wildandhigh
@OfficialALW
Thank you so very much for sharing. Six and Cabaret have both invited her to watch their rehearsals which is incredibly kind of them. Andrew Lloyd Webber however is the ultimate musical man so one of his musicals would definitely be the icing on the cake.
Today is another day of ringing round insurance companies in a bid to convince them to let us make memories for our girl. Her rare
#cancer
has an incidence rate of 0.05 in a million in women - apparently that means they don’t have case studies which makes it too unpredictable for
@shitscaredmum
Just a quick message to say how utterly incredible the book is. I’ve bought it digitally on Apple Books and it allows you to read the first part before it’s released. For the first time in three months I don’t feel so utterly alone. Every single thing you say rings
One of Liz’s biggest dreams is to be a professional photographer. We cannot control her cancer or how long she has to live but we can do everything in our power to make her dreams come true in the time we have. She has just set up an Instagram account to share her photographs. If
@diana_osagie
@Bookishcrick
Frank is busy changing lives one child at a time. Next term children will be reading to him, so I’m sure he would love some new stories to hear.
For those feeling like they can’t teach remotely and homeschool their own children. We have switched out two day’s homeschooling to the weekend and he has his weekend whilst I am replying and feeding back to my class in the week. It’s made me feel more like I can do both roles.
After my realisation yesterday about the difference the yellow paper in
@BarringtonStoke
makes, I decided to blog about why this matters. Surely others could also do more to make books more accessible to those who find reading challenging:
@Thinkingschool2
My youngest goes to the same school I teach it. It’s an incredible school and I wouldn’t want him to go anywhere else. They have changed his life and by default ours as a family. I would make the same decision again in a heartbeat.
Cherish the little things, you never know if they will become the big things. Chemo round 5 for our incredible 16 year old today. Proud of her and her little brother every day. Holding each day tightly - even the tricky ones. Always hoping that a treatment will be found.