Congratulations to Dr Jennifer Buckingham OAM on the publication of her Churchill Fellowship report into literacy policy and practice in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Read more here hubs.la/Q02whRwJ0 #ChurchillFellow #literacy #research

Michel Thomas first came to attention of Hodder who published my book, The Learning Revolution, through the BBC documentary, The Language Master (t.ly/ui7PD). MT demonstrates & explains his methods. Head of French hugely impressed with what pupils learned in a week.

Announced today, The Academy offers educators the opportunity to expand knowledge and skills essential for teaching. Comprehensive courses focus on the principles of evidence-based instruction and how to apply them in the classroom. Register now! hubs.la/Q02xlJ0h0

DfE have validated 45 SSP programmes. No evidence to demonstrate that they are effective. How do schools decide which programme to buy? Why do 60% of schools use RWInc & Little Wandle? Would you give your children medication in absence of any evidence that it worked?

Note those stepping up to praise him. I can never forgive Gove for his divisive anti-blob rhetoric which has shaped the discourse for more than a decade, for the damage to GCSE English, for Ebacc & damage to creative subjects & multiple other gross distortions of the edu system

New: The top 10 education policy scandals of the past five years: educationuncovered.co.uk/analysis/analy… With the general election looming,it seemed right to collate stories over the past Parliament which have raised questions over policymaking under this government,via this personal selection.

Illustrates the problem with teaching more than one phoneme for a grapheme. Many Validated SSP programmes teach 30+ graphemes that represent more than one phoneme. instagram.com/reel/C9xynDaR0…

DfE has refused to name the panel of the four ‘experts’ who validated SSP programmes. Three members were teachers. Did they have links to RWInc. and Little Wandle?

Tried to buy Little Wandle manual for research purposes. They replied, ‘programme is only provided for schools.’ Lack of transparency is a concern. LW has received £100,000 from DfE to provide training in phonics to English Hubs for pupils needing extra support & those with SEN.

Ofsted 2004 found many pupils see reading as a chore. Ofsted 2012 required schools to promote RfP. Reading Framework 2023 only introduced RfP on P94. DfE's report on EHP indicates focus is phonics first, fast & only. Perhaps decodable texts not enjoyable & do not facilitate RFP.

The Association of Educational Psychologists submission to C&A review presented an outdated critique of behaviourism. It failed to note major developments over the last 45 years. Kevin Wheldall AM & Jonathan Solity manage behaviour through antecedents & reinforcement not consequences & punishment. BPS DECP

Skinner when interviewed by A. Clare rb.gy/vxpstf said I think I can claim to have done more than anyone I can think of at the present time in exploring alternatives to punishment, ways of getting people to learn & treat each other well, which do not require punishment

SSP can be taught without decodables. Teach too many low frequency GPCs. Little Wandle teaches 45 GPCs that account for just 1.60% of phonically regular words in 1,500+ real books. Same with RWInc. Pupils spend too long on decodables instead of reading real books for pleasure.

The inimitable Dr Nazam Hussain presenting an inspiring and thought-provoking session about how we conceptualise learning needs, and the powerful role of direct instruction in supporting equitable and inclusive education. #decp2025 British Psychological Society #twittereps

Recently Nick Gibb wrote giving teachers autonomy was best way to drive up standards. Katharine Birbalsingh feels a rigid & robotic NC, that prevents heads meeting needs of their pupils is horrifying. But schools not trusted to amend how failing readers taught to respond to their needs.

Fabulous immersive trail helping to develop the social and emotional skills in the under 5s through portraits & stories. A school or family visit to NPG would be richly rewarding. National Portrait Gallery The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood Tes magazine EEF Jon Severs @DamsonEd

Dont miss Dr Jonathan Solity Jonathan Solity at the Advancing Effective Education Summit. His keynote, 'Sold a story: Teaching reading through synthetic phonics and decodable texts in the UK', will offer timely insights for the Australian education context. 🎟️ hubs.la/Q03csJ2d0

Looking forward to talking at the MultiLit conference. Will discuss how schools have been 'sold a story' about how to teach reading that is not supported by the evidence. Explains why children experience difficulties & why increasing numbers do not read for pleasure.