Transform English
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English Language teacher-trainer, interactive learning and CLIL specialist. Hi, I’m Catherine. I know how busy you are and how hard you work. WHY WORK WITH ME?
I help primary and middle-school teachers in Italy who want to:
👏grow professionally
👏 improve/practise English
👏inspire students
I’ve worked with LOTS of teachers. Your time is limited, and preparing lessons or teaching in another language can be difficult, especially if English isn’t ‘your’ subject. But of course, you want to do your best for your students
I can:
✅Work with your school to cr
I saw this sign in a school this week and it pretty much sums up the mood in schools at the moment.
(For non-Italian speakers: “esaurito” can mean “finished” or “sold out”… but it’s also used to talk about feeling exhausted 😅)
So here’s some very real British English for late May / June:
👉 knackered
👉 absolutely shattered
👉 running on fumes/empty
👉 completely frazzled
👉 ready to drop
Or, if you want very British slang:
👉 cream crackered 😅 (From Cockney rhyming slang: cream cracker = knackered)
One thing I’ve noticed in the Transform English Project conversations recently is that teachers across every age group are feeling the same at the moment.
Tired… but still trying to create meaningful learning right to the end of term.
Nearly there 🎯💪
The question is something like: what would students need to say, read, write or discuss to really engage with this content?
Once you start asking it, it's hard to stop.
It changes how you look at a history task, a science experiment, a geography project. Not because you're adding English on top - but because language is already there, embedded in the thinking the subject requires.
That's what makes CLIL interesting to teach, and genuinely useful for students. It's not a separate layer. It's what thinking in a subject actually sounds like.
If you're curious about what CLIL training looks like for a school team, there's more here: www.transformenglish.com/schoolteamtraining
Participation in the classroom isn't really about confidence. Or not only.
It's about conditions.
This has been coming up a lot in the Transform English Project conversations with teachers - and it keeps coming back to the same idea: when students feel safe, have a clear task, the language they need to do it, and space to think, participation tends to follow.
Not always. But more consistently than when we hope for it without building those conditions in.
That's what good CLIL tends to create. Not a higher bar - a clearer structure.
If your school is looking at CLIL or cross-curricular work for next year, you can find out more about how I work with schools here: www.transformenglish.com/schoolteamtraining
19/05/2026
A question that helps me a lot when I'm planning CLIL and cross-curricular learning is this:
What language does the task create, and where are the opportunities to use it?
Students can be active, busy and engaged… without necessarily using much purposeful language.
A strong task gives students a reason to describe, compare, justify, explain, ask questions.
That’s often a much better starting point than trying to “add English” afterwards.
If any of this is relevant to your school context, I'd love to chat - send me a message and say hi.
16/05/2026
End of year. Not sure what to give as holiday homework? This might help.
Big holiday homework packs rarely get done. This is something different - small, daily ways to use English that don't feel like homework.
Perfect for upper primary and lower secondary learners:
✅ Encourages autonomy and good language habits
✅ Flexible enough to adapt for your class
✅ Ready to download and use straight away
✅ Free
No long worksheets. No huge homework pack.
Just simple ways to keep learners noticing, using and enjoying English.
Download it free here 👉 https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/720915/156019017366111629/share
You'll also join the Transform English newsletter, where I share ideas on language learning, CLIL and classroom practice 😊
14/05/2026
When a lesson falls flat, it’s easy to think:
“That activity just didn’t work.”
But usually, there’s something more useful to look at.
Was the language new?
Was the task structure clear?
Were students trying to manage too many things at once?
Small adjustments can make a big difference - especially in CLIL and cross-curricular learning, where there's that extra communication barrier.
More about my CLIL and cross-curricular training for schools here: www.transformenglish.com/schoolteamtraining
12/05/2026
One thing that really helps when planning CLIL or cross-curricular activities is separating:
content
language
procedure
What are students learning?
What language do they need?
And do they actually understand what they’re being asked to do and how to do it?
If all three elements feel demanding at the same time, students can easily get overwhelmed.
That’s when it helps to slow down and zoom in.
Focus on the most important element, and make the others as accessible as possible.
If your school is thinking about CLIL or cross-curricular learning for next year, get in touch or find out more here: www.transformenglish.com/schoolteamtraining
A little Friday reflection from the Transform English Project.
One thing that’s really stood out over the last few weeks is how many of the same themes matter across completely different age groups — from infant school right up to high school.
Routines, clarity, structure, space to think… and space for teachers to talk about what’s actually happening in their classrooms.
I’ve appreciated these conversations a lot.
Follow along for project updates over the next few weeks.
05/05/2026
This is CLIL.
(Well, not exactly. This is an enormous bear - tiger? - belonging to my son, who is also called CLIL. The bear, not my son - more about that story in my newsletter!)
My son has no idea what CLIL actually is.
And most teachers recognise the term but many aren't sure what it looks like in practice.
Understandable - it can sound like a full rethink of everything you do.
It usually isn't.
It tends to start with small shifts in how tasks are structured and how language gets a purpose.
Simpler than it appears.
If you're thinking about bringing more cross-curricular teaching into your school for next year, send me a message - let's chat about team training.
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