“Computer games are not a waste of time. They help me think strategically.” That is the best excuse I could come up with when my wife asked me whether I had spent the day wisely playing the strategy game Rome: Total War all afternoon, rather than tackling the pile of assignments I had to mark. In a way, this is true. I don’t run a business or manage other employees. I work alone, usually teaching online, managing my own workload and switching between a variety of self-generated creative projects. So, growing a city, managing an army, designing a profitable dinosaur amusement park: these activities demand a different kind of mental engagement than my usual work. And, yes, gaming is also fun and, as a career in professional football management is unlikely at this stage in my life, it offers a simulated experience for things I am probably not cut out for (although, at 39, I still feel I have a season or two in me as a non-league reserve goalkeeper). Classic city bulding game, The S

To celebrate the date of Shakespeare's birth and death on 23rd April, we are sharing some tips from our book to help teachers get to grips with Shakespeare in the primary classroom.  In this video, Stefan explains how to read Shakespeare with primary school children.  

To celebrate the date of Shakespeare's birth and death on 23rd April, we are sharing some tips from our book to help teachers get to grips with Shakespeare in the primary classroom.  In this video, Stefan explains why Shakespeare should be part of your primary school curriculum.    

Writing a book is hard work... but worth it! What began as a retirement project for my mom, Maureen (yes, we say 'mom' in Wolverhampton) ended up as a self-published book of 44 pages in 2017, and is now on its way to become a 250 word pager with a proper publisher. Like I said, worth it. So, over four years of writing, writing, rewriting and more writing, this is what we learnt. Teaching Shakespeare in Primary Schools: All the World's a Stage by Stefan Kucharczyk and Maureen Kucharczyk (David Fulton publishers) is due for release on 28 September 2021. 1.          Shakespeare is really good. Shakespeare loved language and he used it to retell classic, timeless stories that his audience knew and loved. The difference? His versions are definitive – they have not endured for 400 years by accident. 2.           Empathy. Shakespeare deals with the big stuff: life, love, death and all the rest of it. His characters are heroes, villains, lovers, victims, brawlers and lowlifes. The

I'm delighted to share that our new book, Teaching Shakespeare in Primary Schools: All the World's a Stage (David Fulton publishers) is due out in September 2021. The book, written together with Maureen Kucharczyk, is an essential guide for battling the Bard with primary school learners. First a confession: we are not Shakespeare scholars, nor do we have a background in the dramatic arts. Instead, we are teachers with a love for Shakespeare. Yet we both felt that a suitable, beginners guide to teaching Shakespeare with primary children didn't exist. So we set out to write the book that we wished we had been given at the start of our teaching careers. Yes, we've both overcome bad memories of learning Shakespeare at school. That is why we adopt a creative, flexible and child-centred approach to teaching Shakespeare. If you've always wanted to give Shakespeare a go but don't know where to start, this is the book for you. Here's a quick summary of what's in