Have any people in English teaching jobs across London or the south-east seen evidence of a gender divide when it comes to writing? 

A new poll conducted by the National Literacy Trust found that boys are more than twice as likely as girls to say they hate writing and find it embarrassing. The research revealed that slightly more than a fifth (20.9 per cent) of boys surveyed said writing was not a classroom activity that they enjoyed, which compared with just 8.6 per cent of girls.

The study assessed the views of 35,000 pupils aged between eight and 16 and also found that a third of the boys said they never or rarely wrote outside lessons, while only 17.3 per cent of girls did not do some form of writing at home.

Other findings include that a fifth of the boys admitted that they "would be embarrassed" if their friends saw them write and nearly one in three boys said they failed to see the benefit of learning spelling and grammar when a computerised spellchecker could perform the function automatically.

Speaking about the results to the BBC, broadcaster and children's author Simon Mayo said he himself struggled with writing at school comparing the process to "chiselling rock with a spoon". 

He explained he had gone through school "without showing any aptitude" for writing until a teacher's intervention, when they read out the opening paragraphs of his essay "because I had actually got it right for once".

Mr Mayo told teachers and parents that children should be encouraged to write about what they like as this will "grab" their imagination and "then the whole story-writing world is open to them".

The National Literacy Trust also responded to the study by publishing some tips to help teachers encourage boys to write. These included choosing subjects boys enjoy, laying out stories visually and thinking about character and location prior to plot.

As somebody looking for an English teaching job, do you have any plans to help boys embrace writing?