Tag: scottish publishing

Textbook Stuff by BrightRED Publishing- English with Dr Chris Nicol

Published on by brightredpublishingLeave a comment
Textbook Stuff by BrightRED Publishing image

This month we launched something new for BrightRED, our new podcast Textbook Stuff. It will shine a light on our Study Guides and offer the inside story on our books.  We have interviewed our expert teacher authors who have spent many months (and sometimes years) writing our Course Books and Study Guides.

Below you will find snippets from the discussion we had with our English author, Dr Chris Nicol. We discussed his frustrations at school and university, his journey to becoming an English teacher, advice for the English course and its exam and finally his career advice that has carried him through his impressive career.

You can find the full transcript here.

Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Well, I went to a very good Scottish high school up in Arbroath many many years ago. I enjoyed school but I often got very frustrated by my teachers who were very intelligent men and women. But I often got exasperated by the fact that so many of their nuggets of wisdom were clouded in language that was very opaque which was difficult to get through for a 12- or 13-year-old, so my little hand was always going up in class and there was a lot of sighing from my friends, and the teachers, by asking questions like, ‘Oh what do you mean there? What are you saying?’ It was quite an exasperating process. This frustrating process went on all the way through my education.

Can you tell us about how you transitioned into a teaching career?

I had this idea that teaching might be of interest to me, but I wasn’t going to be a teacher like the ones I’d had at school. So, I took myself off and did a teacher training course and found myself a job in a girl’s public school. I immediately put to work what I learned at my own school that I wasn’t going to be that kind of teacher. I made my lessons directly constructed to talk to the students rather than talk at them and I really enjoyed the process very much.

What is the process of going back and editing your work like?

I think it’s a very very useful device to have someone whose judgement you trust listen to yourself reading it. And be prepared for much more critical comment than you would get if you just handed them a text and asked for their opinion.

How would you suggest students could improve their portfolio writing?

I think also you’ve been picking up a lot of writing skills without knowing it by your work for reading, for understanding, analysis and evaluation. All these techniques you’re pinpointing for the examiners, minor sentences, inversion, figurative language, word choice, parallel structures. You’re ready to talk about them in an exam, so why not make them work for you in your own writing? A lot of students just completely overlooked that they have wonderful techniques in their grasp which they could use to great effect for in their own writing.

And for school leavers what advice do you have if they are unsure what career path they want to take?

I think career wise nothing is set in stone and my own career such as it is, has been a path of serendipity. Really, I’ve always been in the right place at the right time. I have picked up knowledge from all kinds of areas. I haven’t been frightened to change career path when I felt I was getting bored or exhausted by a process. I think the world has many, many opportunities for young people and every job has something to teach you.

If you enjoyed these snippets of our conversation with Dr Chris Nicol you can read the whole transcript here or listen to the podcast here!

Thank you to Chris for taking the time to speak to us and we hope you are looking forward to our podcast guest for next month!

Links mentioned:

New Edition Higher English Study Guide: https://www.brightredpublishing.co.uk/shop/cfe-higher-english

Other Books in the BrightRED English range:

BGE Level 3 English Course book (Publishing March 2023): https://www.brightredpublishing.co.uk/shop/bge-level-3-english

National 4 English Study Guide: https://www.brightredpublishing.co.uk/shop/n4-english

National 5 English Course Book: https://www.brightredpublishing.co.uk/shop/national-5-english-course-book

National 5 English Study Guide: https://www.brightredpublishing.co.uk/shop/n5-english

Advanced Higher English Study Guide: https://www.brightredpublishing.co.uk/shop/cfe-advanced-higher-english

The pandemic and publishing

Published on by brightredpublishingLeave a comment

We were really thrilled to be a sponsor of the SYP Scotland Conference this year and had the opportunity to write a post about how the pandemic has affected our publishing and how we are refreshing our plans and looking ahead to the future. We thought we’d share this post here too so you can find out more about what’s been happening behind-the-scenes over the last year.

Control?

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the first thing that seemed to disappear for most people was control.  There have been titanic changes to social interactions, approaches to working and how businesses operate.  The publishing industry has not been untouched by this – the effects of COVID-19 have ricocheted throughout our sector, affecting both SME and conglomerate businesses nationwide with disruption permeating everything.  Businesses have been forced to adapt, to reflect on why things have been run in a certain way and question whether they could be run differently in order to survive and flourish.  All in an attempt to take control of what had suddenly become a very uncertain present and challenging future.

Alternate

Small publishers are perfectly placed to change what they do and innovate quickly.  They are also often built on the idea of doing things a little differently.  An ability to alter business models has been crucial for the survival of all publishers during the pandemic. With schools shut, exams cancelled and all learning moved online, Bright Red transitioned to home working and a more digital approach in order to meet the new learning demands. Fast-tracking our digital mindset has been pivotal to navigating through the many, ongoing challenges the pandemic has created. With trade establishments feeling the full force of national lockdowns, having our own online shop and independent warehouse in Fife meant we could continue supplying learning materials to the thousands of students in need of our resources. We approached social media with renewed gusto, highlighting our award-winning (and free) online learning platform that in turn saw an uplift in print sales, which are so crucial for a small, independent, business.

For Scottish publishers, there’s been a definite shift towards becoming digital content creators and experience providers. In educational publishing, there has been an increased demand nationwide for learning material and entertainment for children/young adults and therefore, a call to meet those needs. Posting daily challenges, creating playlists of video content on our YouTube channel and updating our Digital Zone saw a surge of website traffic and sales, and also a wave of appreciation for providing resources that could help students remain on track. With our loyal customer base and support, we reshuffled our publishing plans, focussing on getting our backlist fully updated before we pushed forward with new titles (and exciting new product launches).  

Refresh!

Although schools and shops remain closed (and exams have also been cancelled this year), we are looking forward to the months ahead with renewed hope and continuing with what we do best – publishing high-quality, bespoke books for the Scottish curriculum that fulfil a pressing need. As a small publisher, we are able to publish into niche subjects or subjects that have historically had smaller cohorts, making us stand out from our competitors. Our books are unique in their features and presentation – they put the student at the very heart of the content and we feel that shines from the pages of our books. We are thrilled to be in the process of producing sets of revision cards for National 5 subjects – something new for Scotland and a direct response from teacher feedback.

As Scotland navigates its way out of the pandemic, it is companies that have been able to adapt, to change their outlook and move with the times, utilising the benefits of a digital community, that will be most likely to survive and, ultimately, thrive.

Image of our Revision Cards (the jacket covers which are red for Biology, orange for Chemistry, yellow for Physics and purple for Mathematics and all have jumping outlines of students on them).
Bright stationery, including pens, pencils. rulers, highlighters etc

Back-to-School with Bright Red

Published on by brightredpublishingLeave a comment

It’s hard to believe just how quickly 2019 is whizzing by. While schools have been on holiday, the Bright Red office has been buzzing with activity as we prepare for the new term. This year, we are back with a particularly large bang as we publish New Editions, new Study Guides and launch an entirely new series of Course Books! Continue reading “Back-to-School with Bright Red” →

Publishing student sitting at a desk in Bright Red office

A Warm Welcome from Bright Red

Published on by brightredpublishingLeave a comment

Although we are a wee company, we try and support those who are just starting out in their publishing career whenever we can and offer work experience to students. For the past ten weeks, we’ve had the pleasure of having Emma in our busy but friendly office. She has been helping with both marketing and editorial tasks and has been getting a flavour of what it is like to work in the book industry.

Continue reading “A Warm Welcome from Bright Red” →

A teacher at the front of the class in a roomful of students

Everything’s Changing

Published on by brightredpublishingLeave a comment

What’s not changing at the moment?  The world seems to be in a state of flux.  Zoom right in on Scottish education and it is a similar picture.  Teacher workloads and salaries are often in the spotlight, the introduction of primary testing is a hot topic and the challenges around increasing attainment are never far from the headlines either.  It can be quite hard to keep up with it all.

Continue reading “Everything’s Changing” →