
This is chapter 3 of The Watcher and The Friend. Thomas Trelawney, aged 13, meets the mysterious Silas Cummerbund, The Watcher, for the first time
Nov 5, 2022
19 min

This is the second chapter of the YA/Childrens book, The Watcher and The Friend, by R J Barron
Oct 21, 2022
17 min

This is the first chapter of a new novel for children by R J Barron, The Watcher and The Friend, published by Burton Mayers Books on June 11th 2021
May 26, 2021
9 min

A short story about one teacher's interview to be a Secondary Deputy Head, the latest in a long line of unsuccesful interviews. Of all the questions that entails, the most important are those that you decide not to to ask....
Apr 22, 2021
27 min

A short story. When Ed starts his teacher training year he is excited and just a little worried. He was right to be....
Mar 5, 2021
25 min

A short story. When Ed starts his teacher training year he is excited and just a little worried. He was right to be....
Mar 3, 2021
30 min

Ben Marley has climbed his way up the greasy pole to finally become Headteacher. All the scams and tricks and double dealing of his ruthless pursuit of advancement come back to haunt him when he finds himself back in his old school one last time on Christmas Eve as darkness falls.
Dec 4, 2020
35 min

A reading of three poems with some commentary and suggestions for use in the classroom. The poems are: "Cultural Capital", with some thoughts on the inadequacy of OFSTED's conceptualization of that topic, "What Were They Like?" with some ideas on using this to get students to write their own version of Levertov's original, and Casting Spells and some thoughts on the power of reading aloud.
Nov 17, 2020
18 min

A new short Story by The Old Grey Owl. Anna always looked forward to September, with its promise of a new start. But new starts never last.
Nov 10, 2020
29 min

This is a short story first published on my blog at www.growl.blog. It's set in a Secondary school that has to close because of snow. A snow day is something that nearly all school staff and students look forward to, but it doesn't always end like this.
Oct 13, 2020
49 min
