Effective Early Literacy: Examining the Current Educational Landscape
In this webinar, Julian Grenier shares highlights from recent high-quality research evidence, with a focus on practical implementation.
Early literacy is a key part of an effective early education.
- How can we can put evidence about early literacy into action, when there are so many other priorities and pressures in the early years?
- How can we focus more on improving equity, so that children’s backgrounds don’t become a barrier to their success?
Dr Julian Grenier works for an educational charity, supporting practitioners and leaders in the early years to access research evidence and put it into action.
Previously, he was the headteacher of Sheringham Nursery School and Children’s Centre in Newham, East London. During that time, he was a National Leader of Education and was also the Director of East London Research School. Sheringham led the Brighter Start Stronger Practice Hub, the Mayor’s Early Years Hub for East London, and the East London Early Years and Schools Partnership, a National Teaching School.
Other roles include senior Early Years Adviser in Tower Hamlets and one of His Majesty’s Inspectors of Schools (HMI) and Early Education Lead at Ofsted.
Julian is a member of the editorial board of Impact, the journal of the Chartered College of Teaching. He is a member of the Expert Advisory Group for Mobilise, an innovative project from PEDAL at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, and a trustee of the charity Thrive at Five. He has also served as a member of the Early Education route panel at the Institute for Apprenticeships.
He is a best-selling author and well-known public speaker. His interests include travel and walking with his partner Caroline and grown-up daughter Maisie, reading, and cycling.
Julian was awarded a CBE for services to Early Years Education in 2022.
Date: Thursday 23rd January
Time: 4pm to 5.30pm
Location: online
Cost: Members plus one guest free. Non-members £5
Please book through Eventbrite: here
Why children need to write for pleasure now more than ever: how to approach implementing WfP in the primary classroom with Ellen Counter
Ellen will discuss some of the writing for pleasure approaches that she has implemented in her own teaching practice, since taking part in the ‘Teachers as Writers’ project with Teresa Cremin in Newham (2010), up to the present day within her role as English adviser. Practical strategies will be discussed, along with evidence from teachers and children she has worked with for the past 14 years.
Ellen Counter is a Senior Primary English Teaching & Learning Adviser at HFL Education (formerly Herts for Learning) and has an MA in Children’s Literature. She has taught in three different London boroughs since 2007 and now enjoys working with colleagues in Hertfordshire schools and beyond.
Date: Thursday 28th November
Time: 4.00 pm to 5.30pm
Location: online
Cost: Members plus one guest free. Non-members £5
Please book through Eventbrite: here
Teacher Narration in English: Pedagogic Literary Narration with John Gordon 
John will share research and join discussion about teaching and guiding literary reading in English, and introduce a way to describe and understand it based on classroom research and collaboration with English teachers and teacher educators. He has developed resources and activities that can support teacher development and teachers’ independent professional reflection.
This webinar provides a perfect opportunity for secondary colleagues and those working in the field of secondary English ITE to learn about this research and the associated approach for elaborating teachers’ ‘pedagogic literary narration’ with texts for study. John will also outline his recent activities to put research into practice in ITE programmes and in English departments across an academy trust.
John Gordon (University of East Anglia, Norwich) is Professor of Language Arts and Learning and Academic Chair for CreativeUEA. His research explores relations between voice, text and place. His recent publications include Researching interpretive talk around literary narrative texts: Shared novel reading (Routledge, 2020) and Libraries for living, and for living better (UPP, 2023). His other books include Teaching English in Secondary Schools (Sage, 2015) and A Pedagogy of Poetry (IOE Press, 2014). Following English teaching posts, John led the Secondary PGCE for English at UEA between 2000 and 2018. He is currently a co-convenor of the BERA English in Education Special Interest Group, and Principal Investigator for the ESRC Education Research Programme project, Enhancing teacher agency with technology (2023-2025).
Date: Thursday 7th November
Time: 4.00 pm to 5.30pm
Location: online
Cost: Members plus one guest free. Non-members £5
Please book through Eventbrite: here
Oracy Workshop with Topsy Page
This workshop will provide an introduction to Oracy.
Three questions will be asked:
· What is oracy and why is it so important?
· How can I help my pupils develop effective Oracy skills?
· What are some practical ways I can use Oracy in my classroom to enhance learning?
Many of the examples will be primary focused, but there will also be plenty of food for thought and practical ideas for secondary teachers.
Research on talk in schools in the UK in the 2000s showed that high-quality pupil talk was rare, that pupils’ thinking time was often very limited, and that most teacher questions were closed. Topsy’s experience in schools suggests that – sadly – this is often still the case, even in schools regarded as good and even in schools which are broad-minded with regard to their curriculum. Topsy is convinced that developing a culture of productive talk which truly values pupil explanations, questions and reasoning, can change the way pupils view teachers, and the way pupils see themselves. It can completely transform the learning environment.
Topsy works with schools to develop a culture of high-quality dialogue and reasoning across the curriculum. She believes high-quality talk is a vital ingredient in narrowing the gap and improving outcomes. As a qualified teacher, former Assistant Head, Writing Lead and SLE in primary education, Topsy is passionate about transforming classrooms by using pupil-to-pupil dialogue – too often a wasted resource.
Topsy delivers fun and active training, speaks on the subject of Oracy, provides hands-on classroom coaching, and carries out Talk Audits. She is an Oracy Cambridge Associate and accredited P4C (Philosophy for Children) trainer with SAPERE and DialogueWorks. In addition to teaching Topsy has worked as a lecturer, trainer and facilitator in the UK and internationally.
To find out more about Oracy and Topsy Page please go to https://www.topsypage.com/
Date: Thursday 11th July
Time: 4pm to 5.30pm
Location: online
Cost: Members plus one guest free. Non-members £5
Please book through Eventbrite: here
NAAE in conversation with Jeffrey Boakye, author of ‘I Heard What You Said’
Jeffrey will be joining us to discuss what it means to be a black male teacher of secondary English.
Jeffrey will be joining us to discuss what it means to be a black male teacher of secondary English, providing useful insight into the role and identity of POC teachers of English, navigating a white education system. A thought-provoking depiction exploring marginal perspectives, teaching of the secondary English curriculum and ways in which such learning spaces can become a platform for addressing some of the stereotypes associated with race.
Jeffrey Boakye worked as a teacher of English in Secondary Schools and is now a writer, broadcaster and journalist. He is the author of Black, Listed, I heard What You Said and Musical Truth. Jeffrey provides talks and training to schools, universities and organisations on race, masculinity and education. He is Senior Teaching fellow at the University of Manchester’s Institute for Education and was awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of Leicester in January 2023.
NAAE is proud to present Jeffrey in a session focusing on his biographical account, I Heard What You Said, which considers the teaching of English in Secondary schools and insights into the ways in which race impacts teaching and learning in English classrooms.