Dear colleague
At last week's Summer Leadership Summit, leaders came together to take stock, to step back from the day-to-day and think clearly about what's changing, what it means, and what to do next. During one of the breaks, I found myself in conversation with a headteacher and a deputy, from two different schools, and what struck me was how much the Summit had given them space to name what they were actually grappling with. They could see the landscape clearly. What they were turning over was the how: how to move beyond policy and into practice. One of these key areas was phone use, how to bring staff and parents with them, how to create something that shifted behaviour rather than just adding another layer of consequence. They wanted to hear from someone who'd already navigated it in a real school, in a real context.
On 2 June, we're hosting a free, practical, discussion-based session on phone-free implementation, delivered in partnership with Yondr and led by school leaders who are already ahead of the curve. The session explores what effective whole-school implementation actually looks like, how to ensure consistency across the school day, reduce staff burden, and create a positive cultural shift rather than a compliance exercise. There'll be real examples you can adapt, space for honest conversation about the challenges, and clear takeaways to bring back to your setting or trust.
It's a pattern I've noticed across our events this year. At Annual Conference and at our Literacy and Oracy Conference, I had similar conversations with leaders asking for signposting and support around reading at KS3, keen to move beyond generic approaches and find ways to genuinely support pupils who can decode text but struggle to understand it. With this being the National Year of Reading and inspection focus on literacy across the curriculum sharpening, it's a question that feels increasingly urgent.
Running across 11 and 25 June, our Reaching Readers at KS3 webinar series asks exactly that question: why do pupils arrive at KS3 able to read, yet still struggle to understand? Drawing on research from Tim Rasinski and the Open University, alongside practical approaches like echo reading, structured talk and story-led learning, the two sessions move from diagnosis to action. Session one helps you identify the root causes of reading difficulty with greater precision. Session two focuses on translating that into targeted strategies that build both fluency and reader identity. By the end of the series, you'll have a clearer, more confident approach to leading reading at KS3, one that goes beyond generic literacy strategies and responds to what your pupils actually need.
Both events came from listening to you and from sourcing the right people to share their realities and their approaches.
Best
wishes
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