Josie Sacks

English Teacher + National Curriculum Lead - OCL. Lover of vocab instruction, artful sentences + competitive hobby TV shows

[Josie Sacks @VersatileVocab1]

We know that writers often explore binary concepts: transient and permanent; concrete and abstract; constant and volatile. Teaching versatile vocabulary in pairs allows students to notice, create and analyse these patterns. This is what we want in their backpacks.

[Conor Boyle @conor2212]

It's taken a village to raise a child, but if your village has an English department like ours, that child is going to get a bloody good deal! We are so proud of @bridiemcpherson and @VersatileVocab1 who are two of the most talented people in education without a doubt!

[Tom Bennett OBE @tombennett71]

Huge congratulations to @bridiemcpherson and her colleagues for an exceptional performance. This simple number represents a huge number of children's lives made tangibly better. There is nothing better than this. Well done to Oasis Academy Southbank.

[Josie Sacks @VersatileVocab1]

@Doug_Lemov Muriel Spark, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie + Isabel Bogdan, The Peacock - both extremely good + sharp + funny in v different ways

[Josie Sacks @VersatileVocab1]

🕺🕺thank you @Mouhssin_Ismail - this is what *really* matters most to us + to our English curriculum

[Bridie McPherson @bridiemcpherson]

@VersatileVocab1 and I are delighted to be amoung these outstanding schools with +1.5 P8 for English. @OasisSouthBank English results are 12th best in the country! With a 65% FSM cohort, 120 students in the year and 95% EBACC, and a whole lot of dedicated and expert teachers.

[Josie Sacks @VersatileVocab1]

@LuMarTeach @Mrsnlaher I wanted to make something that directs students *what* they should actually write, rather than describing a skill (like ‘analyse’) or an enquiry (like ‘why’).

[Josie Sacks @VersatileVocab1]

I’m usually allergic to acronyms but ‘zoom in a BIT’ is v powerful for helping students internalise expectations of analysis. Works across Lit + Lang! https://t.co/4Z3bVb2WYM

[Bridie McPherson @bridiemcpherson]

Best day of the year at South Bank! @VersatileVocab1
and I had been dreaming of these kinds of numbers when we started implementing this English curriculum and are so proud of our team + students

9s 16%
7+ 52%
5+ 80%
4+ 93%

[Josie Sacks @VersatileVocab1]

Yesterday was bloody brilliant! So so proud of our students, our English HoD and 👑 @bridiemcpherson, our team, and our curriculum. It really really works!!!

9s 16%
7+ 52%
5+ 80%
4+ 93%

🕺 versatile vocabulary, concise, precise knowledge, explicit writing instruction 🕺

[Josie Sacks @VersatileVocab1]

So proud of our students, our staff and our bloody lovely school!

[Oasis Academy South Bank @OasisSouthBank]

We are absolutely delighted to be able to share an OUTSTANDING judgement from our recent Ofsted visit! ✨
Thank you to our brilliant staff, students and families for making OASB the special place it is.💙
The full report can be found here: https://t.co/90xp2OTrma

[Josie Sacks @VersatileVocab1]

This!!!! +versatile vocab, explicitly taught, to make those concepts:
1. Codified
2. Accessible to every student
3. Regularly recalled

[Mary Myatt @MaryMyatt]

Concepts as connections over time

The reason that the concepts and big ideas in the subjects are helpful is that they are like ‘holding baskets’ for a lot of information.

They are like the boulders across the curriculum that gather more moss over time.

[Niall Alcock @NiallAlcock]

11. Versatile Vocabulary: building the foundations of an empowering English curriculum

Josie Sacks @VersatileVocab1, Oasis Academy South Bank has been working on helping students feel successful (not alienated) in English

[Josie Sacks @VersatileVocab1]

If you’ve got a spare 10 mins and fancy thinking about curric / vocab, I made a session for @WeAreInBetaPod Curriculum Thinking Week - it’s about how to use versatile Tier 2 vocabulary to create an empowering English Curriculum that leaves no one behind https://t.co/SlIGTegPf1

[Mohamed Coach @MMohamedCoach]

🧵 Secondary school context: we use a 'sports tracker' for students athletes who are (sometimes, recently) falling below school expectation - a final chance to improve their attitude to learning around school before a fixture (they get to use this "card" once a year only).

[Josie Sacks @VersatileVocab1]

@GCSE_Macbeth To help students navigate the poem + any shifts / changes, they write about a key image at the beginning + middle + end. In each paragraph they ‘zoom in a BIT’ - https://t.co/4Z3bVb2WYM

[Josie Sacks @VersatileVocab1]

@Mrs_TMM @MrsWotsitername @FunkyPedagogy @shadylady222 @__codexterous @GCSE_Macbeth @Lit_liverbird V simple: writer, who…, presents… in order to..

For example: Priestley, who wanted to denounce capitalism, presents Mr Birling as foolish and ignorant in order to secure social and political progress and avoid regression.

[Josie Sacks @VersatileVocab1]

@JennyEllis5 @teach_smith @Team_English1 @FunkyPedagogy @AVisserFuray @Xris32 @SPryke2 @__codexterous @DoWise Pet, Akwaeke Emezi / A Wrinkle in Time, Madeline L’Engel / Binti, Nnedi Okorafor

[Josh Goodrich @Josh_CPD]

I'm proud to announce that my new book Responsive Coaching is out now 💥

It's the product of 10+ years coaching, 3 years writing, and a year testing in school, and aims to help coaches to be as impactful and useful as possible 💪

[Josie Sacks @VersatileVocab1]

@MissWalton26 @Team_English1 @FunkyPedagogy @LauraLolder @SPryke2 I’m usually allergic to acronyms but have found this super helpful to help students to internalise expectations of analysis https://t.co/4Z3bVb3uOk

[Josie Sacks @VersatileVocab1]

Work with us @OasisSouthBank !!! https://t.co/CNRpaqrlBU I really bloody love our curriculum, pedagogy, systems, staff + students. I think the English Dept are doing something really special - DM me! Come and see us teach! And apply for this corker of a job!