The Deathwood Letters
Three tales with a twist
By Hazel Townson
Resources for The Deathwood Letters
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Transition support material
o A new start
o Pastoral focus
o In favour of academic transition
o The problems
o How to make transition work
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How the Hazel Townson collection can be used for successful transition
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Resource sheets
o Note taking tips
o The Deathwood Letters: writing Frame
o Diamond Hunt: Storyboard frame
o Two Weird Weeks: Writing frame
o Tables from The Deathwood Letters activities
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Matching Chart: Year 7 and Year 8

Matching Chart: Year 6
The following pages can be downloaded and printed out as required. This
material may be freely copied for institutional use. However, this material is
copyright and under no circumstances can copies be offered for sale. The
publishers gratefully acknowledge permission to reproduce copyright material.
Transition support material
A new start
The move from Year 6 to Year 7 can be an exciting time for students. They have the
opportunity to make new friends and apply and expand the knowledge they gained
previously. It can also be very daunting. Students may initially have fewer friends in their
new environment and must adapt to strange surroundings and unfamiliar teachers. The
organisation of the school day is different and teaching approaches may not be the same.
Pastoral focus
As a consequence, most schools have instigated transition programmes for students. Among
the variety of activities that occur are visits to a new school, open evenings and meetings
between parents and new tutors. Having arrived in Year 7, students are then faced with a
‘settling-in’ programme. As valuable as these transition programmes are, they tend to have a
wholly pastoral focus. Now there is rightly more emphasis on academic transition.
In favour of academic transition
The case for academic transition is strong. In many primary schools the academic focus
wanes somewhat following the Key Stage 2 SATs. In secondary schools it can be several
weeks before regular, uninterrupted teaching commences. The consequence is that students
often go for several months without sustained academic input. Transition projects also
produces recently assessed material from KS2 for their new KS3 teachers. This material is
often of more value than raw KS2 SAT scores.
The problems
Without doubt there are some excellent teaching materials in the ‘official’ transition unit
provided by the DfES, yet for many reason its take-up by schools has been relatively patchy.
Most teachers who have implemented successful transition packages argue that the teaching
materials employed are of less significance than the logistics of setting up the project:
 Communication is difficult. Teachers are difficult to contact via telephone and messages
can often go astray.
 Some staff are ‘initiative-weary’.
 Primary school teachers often look forward to the post-SAT period, a time when the
curriculum falls more under their control. It is often at this time of year when activities
tend to be a little more fun and Primary teachers may not welcome such initiatives.
 Students from a single primary school do not all go to the same secondary school.
Implementing several different transition packages in Year 6 is extraordinarily difficult.
 Primary school classes are often made up of students from more than a single year group.
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How to make transition work
Here are some ideas that have proved successful in setting up transition projects around
the UK.
 Senior management support for transition initiatives is important. It is well worth trawling
the DfES and Standards Agency websites and obtaining copies of the case for academic
transition. There is a strong link between successful transition projects and healthy
performance in the Year 7 optional tests.
 Track down any money that has come into schools in support of transition. Often project
monies have the habit of disappearing into larger budgets. If the school’s finance manager
cannot help, try an LEA advisor, who should be able to tell you what money came into
school, when it came in and what it should be used for.
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Some transition projects have received local sponsorship. Companies are usually very
keen to forge partnerships with schools as it provides advertising access into many homes.
Schools have had reading logs purchased for them, for example, with the sponsors name
printed on the rear.
It is essential to foster the good will of primary school colleagues. In reality, the
secondary school should be the driving force behind a successful transition project.
Consequently many schools organise meetings with primary colleagues and fund the
supply cover for them. Some schools even organise teacher swaps, where Year 6 students
get to meet their new teachers while their current teachers meet about transition. Pub
lunches and evening meals have often slipped into the equation too!
Purchasing materials for primary schools is always a winner. No matter how tight a
secondary school department thinks its budget is, their feeder primaries will always have
less to work with. Providing folders for materials to be carried between schools, for
example, is not overly expensive but always gratefully welcomed.
Primary schools are always providing information for secondary schools, yet the process
is rarely reversed. Primary teachers appreciate catching up with old students, especially as
the relationships are different to those found in secondary schools. This simple gesture is
an excellent way to promote enthusiasm for transition. An ideal opportunity could be the
‘Open Evening’, an event many schools run to attract new students.
Clear project objectives can be set in KS2, and it is helpful to sell the idea to students that
this material will be going to their new teachers. The importance of first impressions
produces positive responses among students.
Start small and foster good working relationships and build on projects year by year. The
simplest of transition projects could be just and exchange of student work. It can be
displayed in new classrooms upon arrival in Year 7.
Involve the LEA advisory team. They may be aware of other projects that could be on use
to you. They are often able to conjure financing under certain circumstances.
How the Hazel Townson collection can be used for successful transition
Hazel Townson’s work is perfect for transition projects. It is accessible for younger ages and
lesser abilities but it has structural interest to engage the older and extend the more able.
The activity section has been designed with an approach that can be used for transition. A two
part structure means the activities are ideal for local transition projects between secondary
schools and their feeder primaries. Having read the appropriate stories as the primary teacher
sees fit, Year 6 students complete Section A activities. After brief recapping exercises or even
re-readings, Section B can be attempted at the outset of Year 7. The same stories can be read
by both Year 6 and Year 7 classes, thus strengthening the notion of academic continuation.
The activities do not come as a package to necessarily be followed in entirety and is not
overtly prescriptive. In acknowledging that circumstances differ widely in schools from
different areas, the collection has a distinct advantage over the materials available from the
DfES. The ‘dip-in’ approach is possible and Year 7 students can quickly pick up on anything
missed if they have moved into the area.
Of course, an off-the-shelf transition project is not possible. There will still be a need for local
adaptation and consultation. These materials, however, are more appropriately chosen, have a
precise textual focus and build upon those skills most likely to be somewhat rusty.
This collection can also be used as a Year 6 or2 a Year 7 classroom reader. The structure of the
activities can also be used within a single year group’s scheme of work.
Resource sheets
There are resource sheets for students to provide additional support in the activities that
appear in the back of the book. These include:
 a writing frame
 a storyboard frame
 a diagram showing note taking methods.
There are also additional sheets in Word that can be adapted to suit the needs of your school’s
programme. They include:
 an objectives matching grid – for Year 7 and Year 8
 an objectives matching grid – for Year 6
 all tables that appear in the activities.
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1
Note taking tips
Brainstorming
This is a very good idea for description. It helps you to remember things and put your
thoughts in order. Study the brainstorming example below before you start your own.
Skimming
This is reading text very quickly. You could do this if you have already read something once
and want to refresh your memory. It is also a good technique for getting the main ideas from
a larger piece of writing.
Of course, you should never do this all the time. There are many occasions when you have
to read things far more carefully.
Scanning
This is when you are looking for a particular word (or small group of words) in a text. You can
even do this backwards through the writing because you are searching for something, not
trying to understand it.
Highlighters
It is always a good idea to use highlighter pens to make important ideas stand out.
(IMPORTANT - you should always check that it is ok to do this.) Underlining in different ways
is another way of achieving the same effect.
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2
The Deathwood Letters:
writing frame
Activity 4: Collecting Evidence (pages 201-203)
6
3
The Deathwood Letters:
writing frame
Activity 1: Making Readers think (pages 204-205)
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4
Two Weird Weeks: writing frame
Activity 2: Collecting Evidence (page 209)
The Grandada Palms Hotel
Sunset Strip
Malaga
Spain
Dear Sonia,
Let me say first that …
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5
The Deathwood letters
Activity 1: Reading between the lines (pages 197-198)
9
Page
Clue
Information
4
dog
George believes people ‘must be
mad’ to risk themselves for a dog.
6
mistake
6
employment
8
cellar
11
education
11
watching TV
14
Killer
17
secrets
17
car
6
The Deathwood Letters
Activity 2: Putting the pieces together (pages 198-199)
10
Page
Clue
Information
22
Blackpool
George had to thumb lifts home
from Blackpool. Dex was arrested
as the car he was driving was
taken without the owner knowing.
Dex claims he forgot.
24
memory
27
night activity
31
hole
33
late nights
33
Megsy
33
Killer
7
Diamond Hunt
Activity 2: Character profiles (pages 205-206)
Pages
Evidence
What is learned about the
character
72, 80
Conversation about living with
Gran
Adam is not happy to be away from
home. He misses his friends and is
worried about starting a new
school.
75
Not speaking or smiling
73, 81
Thinking about Jenny
80, 81
92, 93
105, 106
107
108
109, 110
116, 117
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8
Diamond Hunt
Activity 3: Character development (pages 206-207)
Question from Lucy Melling’s Mum
Lucy Melling’s reply
When did you meet this Adam?
He started at school last month. He was
a new boy in my class.
You made friends right away?
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9
Two Weird Weeks
Activity 1: Believing characters (page 208)
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Page
What Sonia says/thinks
The truth
141-142
Owen is just dawdling when
tapping his fingers on car door
handles.
Owen is choosing a car to break
into and on the lookout for
valuables.
Matching activities to Framework Objectives – Year 7 and Year 8
Activity
Year 7 objectives
Year 8 objectives
The Deathwood Letters
Task 1
R8 – inference and deduction
Wr6 – character portrayal
R4 – review inference and
deduction
Wr5 – narrative description
Task 2
R8 – inference and deduction
Wr6 – character portrayal
R4 – review inference and
deduction
Wr5 – narrative description
Task 3
W5 – homophones
W1 – homophone
consolidation
Task 4
Wr10 – text organisation
Wr2 – assembling ideas
Wr10 – presenting information
Wr1 – approaches to planning
Task 1
Wr7 – narrative devices
SL1 – clarifying ideas
Wr7 – imply meaning
Sl10 – talk for evaluation
Task 2
Wr6 – character portrayal
Wr16 – evidence
R12 – character
Wr13 – evidence
Task 3
Wr8 – infer and deduce
Wr5 – structure
SL16 – script
Wr6 – sense of character
Task 1
Wr8 – infer and deduce
Wr15 – personal view
R7 – irony
Wr17 – evidence
Task 2
Wr8 – infer and deduce
Wr6 – sense of character
Task 3
SL10 – main points
Wr6 – character portrayal
SL10 – talk for evaluation
Wr6 – sense of character
Task 1
R12 – structure
R10 – structure
Task 2
Wr5 – story structure
R8 – different forms
Wr5 – narrative
Task 3
R12 – structure
R 10 – structure
Task 4
Wr5 – story structure
R8 – different forms
Wr5 – narrative
Diamond Hunt
Two Weird Weeks
The Author’s Craft
14
Matching activities to Framework Objectives – Year 6
Activity
Year 6 objectives
The Deathwood Letters
Task 1
T17 – effective text appraisal
Task 2
T17 – effective text appraisal
Task 3
W1 – identify mis-spelt words
Task 4
T17 – effective text appraisal
Diamond Hunt
Task 1
T17 – effective text appraisal
Task 2
T17 – effective text appraisal
Task 3
T17 – effective text appraisal
Two Weird Weeks
Task 1
T17 – effective text appraisal
Task 2
T17 – effective text appraisal
Task 3
T17 – effective text appraisal
The Author’s Craft
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Task 1
S1 – narrative revision
Task 2
S1 – narrative revision
Task 3
S1 – narrative revision
Task 4
S1 – narrative revision