360 Learning Lab
Michelle Swallow, Amanda Leary and Louise Dean, from Bradford College, are developing the innovative 360 Learning Lab which aims to use immersive technology to boost engagement and literacy skills among disadvantaged students. The project brings outside environments into the classroom using 360-degree videos and virtual reality (VR) headsets. It will create a free online library of 360-degree videos that can be used to immerse students in real-world settings. By virtually ‘placing’ students in these environments the project hopes to spark pupils’ imagination, and provide the sensory inspiration needed for creative writing tasks.
ALP Advantage
The Advance Learning Partnership in County Durham is enhancing parental engagement during the primary-to-secondary transition to boost student reading fluency and raise attainment. The project inolves daily reading interventions and monthly parent-child events for Years 6 and 7 to foster home and school reading habits. Collaboration between schools will also strengthen teacher expertise and ensure smoother transitions for students.
Are You Really Reading?
An innovative toolkit designed to help pupils to read for meaning. After a successful 3-year grant delivering high-quality training to over 250 Key Stage 2 and 3 teachers across 40+ North West schools, the Three Saints Trust aims to expand to 100 more schools across the North. The project seeks to improve attainment and ensure a consistent approach to reading instruction during the transition to secondary school.
Better on the Big Screen
Better on the Big Screen is the brainchild of Matt Harte, from Leeds City College. The project, which combines the magic of movies with the convenience of AI, aims to inspire students resitting their English language GCSE. The project blends communal cinema trips and online clips of famous films with AI-generated prose to spark the imagination of students who may have otherwise struggled to engage with the subject.
Fixing Fluency
Fixing Fluency, led by Jessica Mellor from the Great Heights Academy Trust in Halifax, has been designed to develop the fluency of primary-age pupils – particularly those aged between 7 and 11 years. Fluent readers can read aloud accurately, and quickly, in a natural way, without stumbling or hesitating. The project involves teachers leading their whole class in daily activities based on that week’s chosen text, culminating in Readers’ Theatre – a performance of the text.
Fluency First
Led by Biddick Academy, ‘Fluency First’ is an exciting evidence-informed programme of structured fortnightly reading lessons during English curriculum time for all pupils for students aged 11 to 14. Students will read out loud from ambitious sequenced anthologies that develop the wider background knowledge needed for great English attainment. Also, training will be given to help improve teaching, with a focus on how to use reading methods effectively. The project aims to develop students’ reading fluency, comprehension and vocabulary.
Fluency For All
This project, led by the North East Learning Trust, aims to improve reading fluency in secondary education through peer tutoring, especially for vulnerable pupils, by collaborating with primary and secondary schools for early diagnosis and effective programmes.
Mind Wandering Cards
Penelope Melville, an English teacher at Christopher Whitehead Language College and Sixth Form in Worcester, has developed an innovative teaching method that aims to mitigate mind-wandering and improve students’ learning. The concept uses colour-coded cards to boost students’ listening, understanding, and debating skills.
Reading Champions
This project, led by Nicola Crompton, aims to train social workers to use reading during home visits to help young children build their confidence and improve literacy skills. The project aims to equip social workers to be ‘Reading Champions’ by providing them with resources and training to model quality shared reading to parents.
Reading on Your Head
A website by Doncaster teacher Richard Cowie and developer John Applin, offering online reading comprehension resources. It engages pupils with subjects they enjoy, gamifies learning through reading games and rewards, and lets them create and share quizzes. Richard aims to expand to 100 schools over three years.
Improving Literacy in the Classroom in Sunderland
This project, led by the Northern Education Trust, aims to upskill teachers, enabling them to feel knowledgeable and confident in addressing literacy within their subject disciplines. By collaborating with Red House Academy, Hetton Academy, and Farringdon Community Academy, the project will identify each school’s strengths, challenges, and goals. Based on these insights, a tailored training programe will be developed to promote and support teachers and leaders in effectively addressing literacy barriers in the classroom. The ultimate goal is to improve student literacy levels and help them to better access the curriculum.
The Oracy and Reading Project
Wingfield Academy in Rotherham leads The Oracy and Reading Project to improve speaking skills and reading fluency for disadvantaged children transitioning from primary to secondary school. Year 6 students are mentored by Year 12 and 13 peers in sessions celebrating each child’s background, aiming to build self-confidence and raise aspirations.
Ready, Let’s Read
This project, created by Rachel Ward, a passionate teacher from a Manchester primary school, is designed to rapidly improve young children’s reading and writing skills through bespoke daily sessions.
Roots to Writing
Southmoor Academy is developing a writing intervention for the first three years of secondary to enhance student literacy by connecting writing skills to the students’ own experiences of life in Sunderland. that allows students to feel ownership, enjoyment and achievement in their work. Over the next 5 years, this innovative approach By focusing on local stories and themes, the ‘Roots to Writing’ initiative aims to build both enjoyment and confidence in writing, helping to bridge the literacy gap that affects students’ academic success. and raise outcomes in GCSE English across 6 Sunderland secondary schools.
The Story Project
Olivia Richards is developing a programme in Bradford schools to address both literacy and wellbeing, recognising that children in deprived communities are less likely to meet literacy expectations and more likely to face mental health challenges. Through carefully selected stories, teachers encourage children to discuss interpretation, vocabulary, and character emotions, helping them build literacy skills while connecting with their own feelings and experiences.
Vocabulous
Classics teacher Lucy Huelin is developing an engaging online resource, which trains students to work out unfamiliar vocabulary using their pre-existing knowledge of word parts such as prefixes and roots. The website is predominantly used by 9- to 14-year-olds to learn 26 word roots and more than 1,000 English words.