Personal Information
Type of work offered:
Advisory work for government bodies/organisations, Assessment, Consultancy and Training
Specialism:
Handwriting, Oracy, Primary and Reading
Region available:
South
Social media:
Twitter @BabcockLDPEng
Website:
https://www.babcockldp.co.uk/english
Testimonials
"‘Thank you very much for the detailed responses and links and for your time last week. I found it very useful and thought-provoking… I really appreciated the time and it is great to know there are people on the end of a phone or email who can help. I've been really impressed with the English team at Babcock since moving to Devon from Surrey 2 years ago.’ – a primary English subject leader after a consultancy call to support post-COVID school closures"
"‘The reading was really good last week - we are looking forward to the next one! Thank you.’ – a primary English subject leader after an online training session/staff INSET"
Profile
Rebecca is a Primary English Adviser with Babcock LDP, having joined the team in 2016 after over eighteen years’ experience of teaching in Key Stages 2 and 3. She has worked as a Leading Literacy Teacher for Bath & North East Somerset, an Advanced Skills Teacher for Somerset, was Head of English and Assistant Headteacher at a middle school, alongside her class teaching. Rebecca has a Master of Arts degree in Education and is an accredited KS2 moderator.As an adviser, she supports schools and teachers with all aspects of primary English, through training, consultancy and publication. She has co-written several popular publications such as Re-think Reading!, No Nonsense Literacy, and developed a suite of CPD materials to support a whole school approach to developing vocabulary.
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Personal Information
Type of work offered:
Assessment, Consultancy and Training
Specialism:
Assessment, Curriculum Design, Oracy, Primary and Reading
Region available:
London, Online and South
Profile
I have over 25 years’ experience of teaching in secondary and primary schools, with a particular focus on English and assessment. I have helped to raise standards in schools by providing specialist English training, targeted support and coaching for teachers and senior leaders. I am currently the Moderation Manager for Brent, overseeing moderation processes for KS2 writing and providing statutory assessment/moderation training. I have delivered highly-evaluated training courses for a number of London local authorities and bespoke in-service training for schools. My training offers practical and effective ideas for immediate use and impact in the classroom.
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Personal Information
Type of work offered:
Consultancy, Training and Writing
Specialism:
Cross-phase English and Oracy
Region available:
International and UK
Social media:
Blue Sky @think_talk_leah.bsky.social
Website:
www.leahcrawford.com
Testimonials
"'I am more confident now to ‘facilitate’ when questioning and I feel more able to reinforce the ‘ease’ in which grammatical knowledge can be applied to complex tasks through talk.' Primary English Subject Leader"
Profile
Leah had 15 years experience as a Local Authority English Inspector/Adviser, working across the primary and secondary phases before becoming an independent consultant. In her school career, she held pastoral and subject leader roles. She now leads Thinktalk consultancy, is a Tutor for the King’s College Let’s Think in English Cognitive Acceleration programme and is a consultant and writer for Bob Cox’s Opening Doors publications and consultancy. She has completed a Masters in Education Degree on teacher learning and development and has supported a European Erasmus project on the Assessment of Thinking Skills. Leah has led extended professional learning courses through Teaching Schools and MATS on Mastery of Reading at primary, Writing Design and Process, Grammar for Purpose and Viewpoint, and Word Study – combining the teaching of spelling and vocabulary. She is delivering the new NPQ in Leading Literacy through the University of Winchester.
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Personal Information
Type of work offered:
Advisory work for government bodies/organisations, Assessment, Consultancy, Keynotes, Research, Teaching/working with pupils, Training and Writing
Specialism:
Assessment, Cross-phase English, Primary, Reading and Transition
Social media:
@moonmaddy
Website:
www.topsyhouse.co.uk
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Personal Information
Type of work offered:
Advisory work for government bodies/organisations, Consultancy, Teaching/working with pupils and Training
Specialism:
Early Years, Phonics, Primary, Reading and Writing
Region available:
Midlands and South
Social media:
@Julie_Sargent1
Website:
www.innovateducation.co.uk
Testimonials
"Thank you once again for yesterday’s training session. It was just what the team needed: non-threatening, encouraging and full of practical suggestions."
"We have had some real success so far with the text-based planning and some lovely feedback from the children about it. It is having an impact!"
"Just a note of thanks for yesterday's training. It was incredibly helpful and very clear to follow. I appreciated every minute. It was engaging and interactive as well as relaxed and conversational. And who knew that you could do so many amazing collaborative things (break out groups and visualisers) on Zoom!"
Profile
I work with SLT, English subject leaders and staff in developing all aspects of primary English. Bespoke support could include: developing the reading and writing curriculum, progression and development of literacy skills; planning units of work with teachers; or specific subject leader support. I also offer a variety of training around aspects of literacy such as phonics and spelling; teaching grammar in context; reading for meaning; and developing writers.
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Personal Information
Type of work offered:
Consultancy, Training and Writing
Specialism:
Phonics, Primary, Reading and Secondary Literacy
Region available:
London
Social media:
@phonicsandbooks
Testimonials
"Thank you so much for a great session. Our teachers thoroughly enjoyed the session. It was very informative and gave everyone a good understanding of the structure for teaching the different phases. "
"Thank you so much for the staff training yesterday, it was pitched perfectly and really useful. Interestingly, staff who have been using MLS already said that it was helpful doing the training as they could relate to what you were talking about and it gave them some ideas to try out. "
"Thank you so much and once again, the training was excellent "
"The course was fantastic and we are already starting to implement ideas I got from it into our teaching. "
Profile
Passionate advocate of high-quality teaching and learning for all children, raising standards in phonics, reading and writing and other curriculum subjects in schools. Phonics expertise, working for several validated schemes and publishers.Improving leadership and teaching in schools. Expertise in delivering high quality training to a wide range of audiences. Comprehensive knowledge of teaching and developing literacy skills in all pupils from preschool to Year 8 . Author and trainer.
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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 on the NPQ programmes 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
Type of work offered:
Consultancy, Initial Teacher Education and Writing
Specialism:
Assessment, Cross-phase English, Early Years, Handwriting, Higher Education, Oracy, Phonics, Primary and Reading
Profile
A primary teacher of 20 years, leader of English, English advisor, consultant and ITT lecturer - I have a keen interest in supporting pupils, students, teachers and leaders in embedding the most up to date, evidence informed approaches to English across the entire primary and secondary range:
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Personal Information
Type of work offered:
Advisory work for government bodies/organisations, Assessment, Consultancy and Training
Specialism:
Handwriting, Oracy, Primary and Reading
Region available:
Midlands and South
Social media:
Twitter @BabcockLDPEng
Website:
https://www.babcockldp.co.uk/english
Testimonials
"‘An Introduction to Teaching Vocabulary’. I found the course to be extremely relevant, informative and easy to follow as well as incorporating useful strategies, supported by credible references. I have been very impressed by the Babcock courses and am looking forward to the new ones appearing. I have recommended your courses to my colleagues and also alerted our SLT to the value of the content."
"Useful practical ideas, information that feels like it will work in the classroom"
"Excellent PRACTICAL advice. Very clear answers, lots of useful information"
Profile
Alison is a member of the Primary English team for Babcock LDP. The team offers a wide range of training, consultancy and publication Alison is a qualified teacher with a Masters Degree in Literacy and Literacy Learning Difficulties with 30 years’ experience in education as a teacher and an adviser. She is also an accredited KS1 lead moderator.Alison provides support for schools as a literacy specialist with the English Hub, she is trained in a broad range of literacy interventions and is an accredited Reading Recovery Teacher leader. The Babcock LDP English team have developed some extremely popular and well respected publications, most notably No Nonsense Spelling, Grammar and Literacy. The team are currently developing extensive materials and cpd to support schools with developing vocabulary.
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Personal Information
Type of work offered:
Consultancy, Teaching/working with pupils, Training and Writing
Specialism:
Cross-phase English, Curriculum Design, Initial Teacher Education, Primary and Reading
Region available:
Midlands, National, Online and UK
Social media:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/lauraspargo Bluesky: @lauraspargo.bskysocial Substack: https://substack.com/@lauraspargo
Website:
www.lauraspargo.com
Testimonials
" 'Having Laura in to our school has transformed the way we teach English lessons and given the teachers the confidence to adapt planning and lessons to the needs of their class.' Rachel Boswell, Executive Headteacher, Tibshelf Infant School, Derbyshire."
" 'It’s always a joy to collaborate with someone who brings such clarity, depth, and heart to the work. I very much hope we’ll find more opportunities to work together in the future. Thank you once again for helping to make the session so memorable.' Nadine Abeng, Education Partner, Birmingham Education Partnership."
" 'We recently received training from Laura and have already booked her in for a return visit. It has sometimes proved difficult to find someone with the right skills, knowledge and passion to really engage our staff during training days but she provided us with the best training we have had for a long time!' Nikki Ingram, Literacy Coordinator, Dame Allan’s Junior School. "
Profile
Having led Primary English across the UK, Spain and Dubai, and with a career in education spanning over 16 years, Laura is an experienced practitioner and subject specialist. Passionate about inspiring and supporting educators in cultivating reading and writing experiences which are inclusive and ambitious, Laura has presented at a number of conferences and works with a range of educational organisations. She is a member of the Opening Doors team, supporting schools in creating a quality English curriculum, rooted in providing inclusive learning experiences and promoting equity and excellence for all. She is a also a Just Imagine trainer and content contributor, providing bespoke training and consultancy opportunities for schools, academy trusts and wider organisations on all aspects of teaching English, literacy and dialogic pedagogy. Laura is a proud member of the English Association's Primary and Early Years Education Committee.
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