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Jill Pirrie's phenomenal success in teaching mixed ability children to write remarkable poetry has been the subject of many press articles, a television feature on The Late Show, and a chapter in Edward Blishen's autobiography. She has already published a book on her teaching methods, On Common Ground (Hodder). This anthology brings together the best poems written in her classes since 1987, illustrated with pictures from Halesworth's art classes. 'I teach to the top,' she says, 'and...
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Jill Pirrie's phenomenal success in teaching mixed ability children to write remarkable poetry has been the subject of many press articles, a television feature on The Late Show, and a chapter in Edward Blishen's autobiography. She has already published a book on her teaching methods, On Common Ground (Hodder). This anthology brings together the best poems written in her classes since 1987, illustrated with pictures from Halesworth's art classes. 'I teach to the top,' she says, 'and that lifts up those of lower ability. What I do is literature-based. It has been a relentless quest for ideas over three decades, based on a belief that the surest route to literacy is through literature, and that through poetry you can gain access to all forms of expression...I want to give each child a heightened awareness of life.'