Great resources are hard to come by. The quality of textbooks is erratic. TES resources can be great: often they are one-off lessons based on performance. The kind of materials necessary to promote thinking need to link in to a wider programme of work.
Not just that, but extended resources are often divided in ways suitable for exam boards (which change as often as current conservative party leadership challenges).
Like I have mentioned elsewhere amongst the poorest (and most expensive) was the EdExcel iGCSE textbook. Each poem had minimal analysis of language, form and structure while the same copy/paste text of ‘what do you think the links are?’ was placed errantly to fill space.
What I like about the English Media Centre (EMC) resources is that they are based around knowledge of the text: they aren’t led by an exam board. They are universally aspirational, which is necessary for a field where popular materials can (understandably) be aimed at a low common denominator.
The support from their shop is superb; there are real people who respond promptly and positive to requests, a necessity for busy teachers.
Having experienced their training from the recent NATE conference, I was impressed with its practical application of precise concepts: using databases to predict and explore language use in Shakespeare attracts students in a culturally analytical way.
You can find their resources from https://www.englishandmedia.co.uk. As the TES forum proclaims, they are worth their weight in gold.
