Personal Information
Type of work offered:
Advisory work for government bodies/organisations, Consultancy, Initial Teacher Education, Keynotes and Research
Specialism:
Reading
Region available:
International, National and Online
Profile
Debbie has over 20 years’ experience as a teacher, school leader and consultant, specialising in English. This includes extensive experience of supporting a wide range of schools and settings with all aspects of teaching, leading and inspecting English and assessment. Her areas of expertise span strategic leadership of English, reading for pleasure pedagogy and practice, the design and delivery of CPD, leading strategic reviews of practice and the implementation of assessment and effective practice. Part of her week is spent as a Lecturer in Reading for Pleasure with the Open University RfP team, working to promote research informed practice across schools, through their flagship Reading Schools Programme and a national network of Teachers’ Reading Groups. Debbie also facilitates the NPQLL programme and delivers phonics and early reading audits for English Hubs and is the proud co-founder of the Spark! School Book Awards.
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Personal Information
Specialism:
Early Years and Primary
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Personal Information
Type of work offered:
Consultancy, Training and Writing
Specialism:
Assessment, Curriculum Design and Writing
Profile
23 years in comprehensive schools, 15 in university and 40 years in GCSE Assessment
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Personal Information
Type of work offered:
Assessment, Consultancy, Teaching/working with pupils, Training and Writing
Specialism:
Oracy, Primary, Reading and Writing
Region available:
Midlands, National, North, Scotland, South, UK and Wales
Social media:
@RuthBakerLeask
Testimonials
"'Ruth is one of the most knowledgeable, well-informed and enthusiastic people working in the field of primary English. I’ve learnt so much about education from her.' James Clements, writer, researcher and author of ‘Teaching English by the Book."
"'Ruth's training videos deliver great content. Her expertise is underpinned by a deep knowledge of what really works in the classroom, and her presentation style is clear and engaging.' Joe Carter, Head of Content, Teach Primary"
"'Ruth exudes passion and common sense which is infectious. My staff were genuinely inspired working alongside her, and she had a clear impact on us achieving outstanding in our OFSTED.' Darrell Butler, Principal, Jon Locke Academy, London"
"'Due to Ruth’s support, we have seen staff confidence grow in how to identify and use quality texts effectively. As a result, there has been a huge improvement in our writing! We now see our children enjoying writing and wanting to write and being able to self edit and improve.' Sally Robbins, English Leader, Pedmore C of E Primary School, West Midlands"
"'Ruth’s energy and expertise have led to the development of a completely new curriculum approach to the teaching and learning of English in the 6 primary schools within our trust. She has efficiently coordinated working with our subject leaders to produce clear and comprehensive resources, which encompass both the skills and content required by the National Curriculum in years 1-6. In the absence of face-to-face sessions, the videos Ruth produced as professional development for our teachers have been very well received. Engaging, motivating, inspiring, professional and responsive - we couldn’t have asked for more!' Katy Russell, Head of School Development, East Midlands Academy Trust"
Profile
As a former local authority English advisor and headteacher, I have extensive leadership experience as well as curriculum expertise. I work across the country supporting academy trusts, local authorities, schools and other organisations in improving teaching, strengthening leadership and developing curriculum. I am currently the chair of the National Association of Advisors in English (NAAE) as well as working with organisations such as The National Literacy Trust (NLT) and the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) as an associate consultant/teacher and I am a member of the United Kingdom Literacy Association's (UKLA) Awards and Members Committee. I am passionate about research-informed practice and in supporting teachers to understand how children learn to read and write.
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Personal Information
Type of work offered:
Assessment, Consultancy, Initial Teacher Education, Research, Training and Writing
Specialism:
Assessment, Early Years, Higher Education, Initial Teacher Education, Oracy, Phonics, Primary, Reading, Secondary, Secondary Literacy and Transition
Region available:
International, Midlands, North, Northern Ireland, Online, Scotland and Wales
Social media:
https://uk.linkedin.com/in/claire-mckie-1b28391a5 https://www.facebook.com/mckiemastery?__tn__=-]C
Website:
www.powerphonicsbooks.com
Testimonials
"Exceptional progress in terms of pupil achievement and engagement"
"Claire McKie's Power Teaching methods could revolutionise the way we teach. Since adopting itwe have seen a consistent level of very high results well above thenational average. The benefits have been high achievement (consistentlyTop 2% in England phonics and KS2 SAT results); great work-life balancefor teachers and spare money (we don't need any additional support).Children have become independent learners and that is the key to PowerTeaching success "
Profile
Former teacher and senior leader in primary, secondary and special provision schools in the North East, with a particular track record in significantly reducing and eliminating the attainment gap in schools operating in high deprivation socio-economic contexts.Founder and Author of DfE England and DoE Western Australia Approved McKie Mastery Power Phonics. Implementing Adaptive Power Teaching in schools nationally, Claire has worked alongside leaders and staff to radically change whole school approaches to pedagogy across the curriculum as well as implementing an Adaptive Power Teaching Infrastructure in English and in Maths. Research published in 2023 found "Exceptional progress across all schools" (Nobari et al 2023). Created a in high deprivation and high SEND classrooms in the North East, the Adaptive Power Toolkits were designed to scaffold learning, behaviour, engagement, oracy reading, writing, spelling and maths mastery for ALL pupils including those who struggle most.SEND Training Partner at SEND Station, Claire delivers online training to teachers and leaders nationally and internationally on Adaptive Teaching Tools designed to best support ALL pupils.Whole School Improvement Partner, Claire has worked nationally with Multi Academy Trusts, mainstream primary, secondary and special provision schools to implement innovative Adaptive Teaching based pedagogy, infrastructure and processes across the curriculum as well as subject-specific changes in English and Maths teaching and learning
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Personal Information
Specialism:
Handwriting, Oracy, Phonics, Primary, Reading and Writing
Region available:
Midlands
Social media:
FaceBook - Janet Fisher Education
Profile
Janet was a highly effective teacher in primary schools in Birmingham for 15 years. She had successful experience of subject leadership and middle management. She also worked for the local authority as an INSPIRE tutor, developing workshops to help parents to support their children’s learning.In 2007, Janet joined the Staffordshire Local Authority as a Primary English Advisor. She provided support and professional development to improve teaching and learning in English. In a wider role for the LA, Janet had extensive experience of leading whole school review and improvement as a School Improvement Professional. She worked with a range of schools including those in challenging circumstances or an Ofsted category; clusters of small schools and good/outstanding schools.Since 2017, Janet was the strategic lead for Primary Statutory Assessment, moderation manager for KS1 and lead moderator for KS1 and KS2.Now working as an independent consultant, Janet continues to support schools in English, Assessment and Whole School Improvement. She specialises in: devising and delivering training; supporting the role of subject leaders; leading whole school initiatives; working alongside teachers and consultancy in all aspects of English. Her assessment work now spans across the Midlands, as Janet continues to be a LA moderator and also supports Statutory Assessment in several Local Authorities to train moderators, lead training and provide CPD through Assessment networks and moderation courses. With strong links to STA, she co-ordinates the Midlands Moderation Managers Support group.
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Personal Information
Type of work offered:
Assessment, Consultancy, Initial Teacher Education, Training and Writing
Specialism:
Cross-phase English, Curriculum Design, Drama, Oracy, Primary, Reading, Secondary, Secondary Literacy, Transition and Writing
Region available:
International, National and Online
Social media:
Instagram: @janebranson Facebook: JaneBransonLearning
Website:
https://www.janebransonlearning.co.uk/
Profile
I deliver consultancy, advice and training for primary and secondary schools. Drawing on over 30 years' experience as teacher, leader, consultant and school governor, I have a warm, practical approach which develops colleagues in creative and grounded ways. As a specialist in reading, grammar, writing and oracy, I have worked in over a hundred schools to support teachers and students aged 4-18 years. I have also written numerous student and teacher textbooks, and I have experience of working with a range of organisations include the National Association for Able Children in Education, the UK Literacy Association and the DfE.
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Personal Information
Specialism:
Assessment, Cross-phase English, Oracy, Primary, Reading, Research and Secondary
Social media:
Linkedin: Wendy Delf
Profile
Wendy has a wealth of experience in education having worked as a Secondary school leader, Senior LA Adviser and 6 years as an Ofsted Inspector. She is the Lead UK trainer for Professor John Hattie's Visible Learning programme with Osiris Educational and Corwin, working with schools nationally and internationally. She also provides bespoke training and SIP consultancy working extensively with Head teachers as a School Improvement Partner, training teachers, leaders and ECTs in all phases across the UK and in Europe. Wendy is passionate about supporting all teachers to make a difference in their classrooms and for their learners.
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Personal Information
Type of work offered:
Consultancy, Initial Teacher Education, Keynotes, Research, Training and Writing
Specialism:
Assessment, Cross-phase English, Initial Teacher Education, Oracy, Primary and Reading
Region available:
International, London, Midlands, National, North and UK
Profile
I work extensively with teachers and schools across the UK. Currently this focuses on reading comprehension across the curriculum, creative approaches to grammar teaching and effective classroom talk. I have written extensively about pedagogy and practice in primary literacy teaching. My most recent publications are Teaching Primary English: Subject Knowledge and Classroom Practice (2nd ed.2024 Routledge) with Eve Bearne, Teaching Grammar Effectively in the Primary Classroom ( 2nd Edition, 2020 UKLA) and Talk For Teaching and Learning: the dialogic classroom (2021 UKLA) with Eve Bearne, Guiding Readers: A handbook for teaching reading comprehension to 7-11 year olds (2016 UCL IoE Press) with Wayne Tennent, Nikki Gamble and Angela Hobsbaum and contributions to Teaching English Creatively (2nd Edition, 2015, ed Teresa Cremin). Other publications include, Teaching Grammar Effectively in Key Stage 1 ( 2016 UKLA), with Eve Bearne and Rebecca Kennedy, Guiding Reading - A Handbook for Teaching Guided Reading in KS2 (Institute of Education, with Angela Hobsbaum and Nikki Gamble) and Developing Writing For Different Purposes-Teaching About Genre In The Early Years (Paul Chapman, with Jeni Riley).I am former General Secretary and Past President of the United Kingdom Literacy Association (UKLA) and was a Co-Director of the Cambridge Primary Review Trust (CPRT) from 2013 – 17. Until 2014 I was Principal Adviser for primary schools in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham.
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