The picture above, many will recognise, is the Severn Bridge. It is also the view from my friend’s back garden. It’s a magnificent view and connects England with Wales across a huge and extraordinary expanse of water. Bridges connect places: some are huge, others exceedingly small. Some are incredible feats of engineering, others a plank across a muddy gap. We use the word ‘bridge’ as a verb. Something we do. We ‘bridge the gap,’ and it is the gap that interests me more than the bridge. We ‘abridge’ books, shorten them into easier to access chunks, and it is the parts we choose to include, and exclude, that draws my attention.

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This article was first published in the 2025 Best Practice Guide - Raising Standards

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