'Closing the Reading Gap' with Alex Quigley and 'Courage in The Classroom' with Dr Catherine Lee

This week we are treating you the listeners to another bumper double edition. We are delighted to have interviews with the authors of 2 new education books , namely Alex Quigley and Dr Catherine Lee . Alex is interviewed by Bernie Kaye, a fantastic new addition to our NN team , Bernie is an English teaching uber geek with a passion for cooking, reading and festival going. AHT - ITT, research & literacy. We have all our usual features including  our TDT section http://tdtrust.org/and Lockdown Learning. 

About Alex

I am National Content Manager at the EEF, supporting teachers to access research evidence. After over fifteen years in the classroom, I now support from outside the school gates.

Closing the reading gap 

So, what is the reading gap? It is a teacher knowledge gap, but more importantly, it is the gap that exists between reading access, reading practice and reading ability for the pupils in our schools. It marks out the ‘reading rich’ and the ‘reading poor’ populate all of our schools.

The gap is writ large when we explore the evidence. Take reading access. Recent research from the National Literacy Trust shows that 1 in 11 children own a book of their own. A mere 1 in 8 disadvantaged children own a book. I think about the impact of those empty bookshelves (in all likelihood, there is no bookshelf at all) for pupils.

Then when you explore school attainment, you can see the gap and the daily damage that is suffered by many pupils. When you consider that only 73% of pupils leaving primary school reached the expected level for reading in 2019, it is clear that many of those pupils will struggle to access the secondary school curriculum.

I never expected two years ago that this book would be published during a global crisis that would see pupils impacted by school closures. When you wed closures to limited book access, limited teaching, along with limited support at home, the prospect for the reading gap is massively challenging.

I hope that this book – and the free related resources – offer some useful guidance for teachers and schools during this challenging time. It should provide handy CPD, now and as schools bounce back to support our pupils.

You can purchase the book from the following.

• Amazon link HERE

You can find 5 free resources to go with the book on my RESOURCES page HERE.

About Catherine

UK Pride Power List 2019. Diva Award finalist 2020. Deputy Dean at Anglia Ruskin University.

Courageous Leaders 

We are all at our most effective when we can be ourselves at work, but more than half of LGBT teachers hide their sexual identity within their school workplace. For LGBT teachers, vigilance, concealment and assimilation, take a great deal of energy, on top of what is already a very demanding job.

Through personal testimonies, advice and a rousing call to arms, this book shows how LGBT School Leaders are often amongst the most inclusive, creative, adaptable and intuitive colleagues, when they are able to flourish and be their authentic selves. 

The book is available here: https://www.johncattbookshop.com/courage-in-the-classroom

Coming Soon- John Tomsett and The Power of Culture by Michaela School  

promo code of PSF40 for listeners to get 40% off Putting Staff First by John and Jonny Utley , our previous guest .