I love my job. I am irritatingly smug about it and feel – on a daily basis – insanely lucky to be a teacher. One of the many aspects that I am currently enjoying is learning about building an English department. The joy of being at the beginning of a school’s journey is that along the way I’m also involved in learning how to build a whole school. With this in mind, I’ve been given the chance to visit other successful schools; to get an insight into what makes a great English department and how this ties in with the creation of a great school.

My first trip took place last week, when I visited KEGS in Chelmsford. I had met the Headteacher, Tom Sherrington (@headguruteacher) when I attended my first TeachMeet, which took place at his school. I’ve since become an avid reader of his blog and have been…