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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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
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:
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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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
Specialism:
Early Years and Primary
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Personal Information
Specialism:
Curriculum Design, Reading and Secondary Literacy
Website:
https://lucyfloyer.wixsite.com/education
Profile
I have over 25 years of experience as a teacher, including 18 years of leadership and advisory work in schools. I have led on Literacy and English at school and trust leadership level across primary, secondary, alternative provision and special education, delivering whole school and trust INSET including keynotes and conferences; supporting middle leaders with curriculum design and in integrating subject-specific literacy development; and training subject teachers in implementing literacy strategies in the classroom. I have a particular interest and expertise in English curriculum design and developing English teachers' pedagogic content knowledge. I am also an expert in teenage reading support and have worked on reading projects for GL Assessment, FFT and the DfE.
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Personal Information
Type of work offered:
Writing
Social media:
@WritingRocks_17
Website:
www.writing4pleasure.com
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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, Curriculum Design, Oracy, Primary, Reading, Secondary and Secondary Literacy
Region available:
International, National, North and UK
Social media:
www.linkedin.com/in/laura-buczko-5b4318124
Website:
www.oneeducation.co.uk
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Personal Information
Type of work offered:
Assessment, Consultancy and Writing
Specialism:
Assessment, Cross-phase English, Curriculum Design, Handwriting, Primary, Reading and Writing
Region available:
Midlands and North
Profile
Catherine works across the country to support maintained schools and Academy Trusts to enhance the teaching, learning and assessment understanding of staff, and develop the English curriculum and whole school offer. She is a Moderation Manger and end of Key Stage 2 external moderator, as well as supporting the moderation process for all year groups. Catherine works with the National Literacy Trust as an associate consultant, and is involved in the construction and delivery of research informed projects.
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