Alice Bradbury is Co-Director of the HHCP and Professor of Sociology of Education at IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society. Prof Bradbury specialises in research on the impact of education policy on classroom practices and inequalities, with a particular focus on issues of assessment in early years and primary schools. Her work has included studies on the impact of the Phonics Screening Check, reading policies, and Ofsted inspection.
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12/18/2023
Farrah Serroukh, Research and Development Director at the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE), UK.
CLPE’s Research and Development Director, Farrah Serroukh will discuss the rationale and context that informed the initiation of CLPE’s annual Reflecting Realities Survey. Colleagues will have the opportunity to learn more about the findings by contemplating the implications of the headline figures and delving into the patterns and insights from the qualitative data generated. Through the exploration of the data and themes attendees will be introduced to key considerations for determining some of the defining features of high quality ethnically representative and inclusive literature. In considering what it means to reflect realities within children’s literature, the session will touch on the implications for classroom book stock and provision.
Farrah Serroukh is the Research and Development Director at the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE). Throughout her care
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12/18/2023
Frank Cottrell-Boyce, a children's novelist who won the Carnegie Medal for his first book - Millions - in 2004 and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize for The Unforgotten Coat in 2013.
The phrase comes from a talk by Mem Fox “The fire of literacy is created by the emotional sparks between a child, a book, and the person reading.” We often talk as though reading were a solitary and silent activity. But it has not always been so (St Augustine found St Ambrose’s habit of silent reading puzzling and possibly anti-social). Some of our most important reading experiences are shared and social and … spoken. My own love of writing came from hearing my year six teacher read out something I had written. It was a transformative experience. I went on to work in film. It takes a lot of money and technology to make a film. But until the film is finally shot, the most alive it ever is, is in the writer’s verbal “pitch” - a piece of storytelling. I would like to celebrate and point to the tra
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12/18/2023
Teresa Cremin, Professor of Education (Literacy) at The Open University, UK, and co-Director of the Literacy and Social Justice Centre.
In order to develop a love of reading, research indicates the marked value of ‘informal book talk’. Often spontaneous and child-led, such relaxed book blether, combined with book recommendations on the part of children and adults is highly motivating. It helps to build connections, affinity networks and relationships that both develop and sustain children’s pleasure in reading. In this keynote, Teresa highlights the benefits of reading for pleasure and the value of such apparently casual conversations about ‘books in common’ or children’s self-chosen texts. Teresa also offers a range of strategies for use in school that can help nurture informal book talk and recommendations and contribute to the creation of engaged communities of readers.
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12/18/2023
Dominic Wyse, Professor of Early Childhood & Primary Education, Founding Director Helen Hamlyn Centre for Pedagogy (0 to 11 Years) (HHCP), IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society.
Reflecting on research over more than three decades, Dominic Wyse’s talk proposes a new direction for national curriculum development.
Dominic Wyse is the Founding Director of the HHCP. Dominic is Professor of Early Childhood and Primary Education at IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society. The main focus of Dominic’s research is curriculum and pedagogy including the teaching of reading and writing.
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12/18/2023
Steve Graham, Regents and the Warner Professor at Arizona State University, USA.
Writing is essential. We use it to communicate and persuade others, record and share information, entertain and create imaginary worlds, express feelings and heal psychological wounds, and chronicle experiences and explore their meanings. Writing about information heard or read makes it more understandable, and teaching students to write makes them better readers. So how can teachers maximize students’ development as writers? To answer this question, I draw upon multiple lines of evidence to propose five essential features of an effective writing program for students. First, if students are to become better writers, they must write. At least one hour a day should be devoted to writing and writing instruction. Second, as students write, we must support them by establishing clear writing goals, engaging them in prewriting activities and inquiry to gather and organize writing information, allow them to use 2
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12/18/2023
Fiona Maine, Professor of Language and Literacy in Education at the University of Exeter, UK.
Much has been written about talk for learning and the important role that language plays as a tool for thinking. Dialogue is more than just talk, however. It is about learning to listen to other ideas, to consider and critique them and to build mutual understanding. Sometimes it is about disagreeing or accepting that there are many differing perspectives about an issue. Classrooms where authentic dialogue is valued involve teachers and children working actively to include each other, to tolerate the ambiguity of not having definite ‘answers’, and to empathise with other positions. In these classrooms, emphasis is not only on the presentation of ideas but on ‘thinking in action’, the process of collaborating and creating new thinking together.
As such, dialogue can be seen as a social practice, following the seminal work of Brian Street who emphasised the fluid and culturally-bound nature of
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12/18/2023
Words from Lucy O’Rorke, Director of Projects and Research at the Helen Hamlyn Trust. Lucy worked in physical theatre for 13 years producing, designing, performing and teaching before joining the Helen Hamlyn Trust as Projects and Research Director at the start of 2004. Lucy was responsible for the development of the Trusts Open Futures Learning Programme for primary aged children, with John Storey leading the programme with over 150 schools between 2004 and 2015. She is an experienced teacher and ran many projects in design and performance for professional companies, drama schools, youth theatres, colleges, special schools and schools. Lucy learnt a huge amount working in forensic psychiatric units, with young offender institutions and with adults with profound and multiple learning difficulties.
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12/18/2023