To celebrate the Ratpack’s 21st year in production, Macrat plans to honour our regular contributors by including a short biography in this year’s issues. One of our contributors responded with the following message: “21 years of the Ratpack! Can it be? I have every issue from the first volume, filed in lever-arch binders in my study at home. While paging through the various Ratpacks, I am struck by the wealth of material that is available for English teachers.”

• A cold, domineering father
• A gentle, compliant daughter
• A mercenary, manipulative suitor
• An eccentric aunt in love with the idea of love
• A plot filled with betrayal, cruelty, suffering …
  
  The ingredients of a soapie? They certainly could be ... but they refer to a novel set for IEB 2017 ...

Looking for more language exercises for revision? Do you find that your textbooks do not have sufficient exercises to ensure that the basic rules have been understood?

Macrat has the solution …

Many teachers, parents and learners ask if we include line-by-line notes on each poem in our poetry resource packs. The short answer is ‘No’, although, as a longer answer, I would like to explain our rationale. Our purpose is not to replace the teacher and in most cases there are detailed notes to be found in libraries and on the internet. Instead, we include general notes which give learners an overview of how to understand and feel poetry.

Many learners struggle to read, or read with any speed or understanding. They may not be able to focus on the words on the page,  or to concentrate for long enough to grasp the meaning of the passage.

Reading quickly and with understanding are skills that have a ripple effect on all subjects studied. They are skills that will be useful throughout a learner’s life. We believe that through ‘practice, practice, practice’ learners’ skills will get better and better. Help them make a start today!

Thomas Hardy's classic romance 'Far from the Madding Crowd' has often been described as a ‘literary masterpiece’ but you may think that the novel is outdated for your Grade 11 learners. Not at all!

Imagine each Grade 12 or 11 learner receiving a ‘goodies bag’ that includes resources for English literature and language for the year.

It’s not difficult to make this a reality, with Macrat’s limited special offer – SELECTION FOR SUCCESS.

Our popular ‘Making the Grade’ series has undergone a makeover and the little red booklets are now also available as e-books. Because so much has changed in the ten years since the first one was published we felt that all four booklets needed to be updated and revised.