My top 20 book recommendations for literacy interventionists #NationalYearOfReading Day 7: This is a fantastic book by Misty Adoniou. It’s a short, informative, practical, no-nonsense introduction to how to teach spelling, suitable for parents and educators. tinyurl.com/2x4hefsj

My top 20 book recommendations for literacy interventionists #NationalYearOfReading Day 6: The Reading Mind by Daniel Willingham explores decoding and comprehension, and then examines the wider context of what makes a successful reader. tinyurl.com/yr3cnpnx

My top 20 book recommendations for literacy interventionists #NationalYearOfReading: Day 5: Focusing on comprehension today. This is a great textbook for explaining how much is involved in the process of understanding a text! tinyurl.com/6n2a7exs

My top 20 book recommendations for literacy interventionists #NationalYearOfReading Day 4: This short book packs in a huge amount of information about the nature and causes of dyslexia! tinyurl.com/393vxt3r

My top 20 book recommendations for literacy interventionists #NationalYearOfReading Day 3: My top recommendation for an overview of the science of reading! @suchmo83.bsky.social explains the research clearly, with a view to how teachers can apply it in the classroom. tinyurl.com/z7nf7t9h

My top 20 book recommendations for literacy interventionists #NationalYearOfReading Day 2: My favourite book about how words work! If you’ve ever struggled to explain why a word is spelled in a certain way, read this! Great for those curious about Structured Word Inquiry. tinyurl.com/3cpxzpj8

My top 20 book recommendations for literacy interventionists #NationalYearOfReading Day 1: A practical introduction to the needs of dyslexic students by @louiseselby.bsky.social A great book to recommend to colleagues who don’t have a background in literacy teaching! tinyurl.com/3asx4ehc

Great ideas for increasing reading ability

Great suggestions from @alexjquigley.bsky.social. To his list, I’d add a spelling test - definitely an underrated tool! Easy to administer to a whole class, and it gives information about phonological awareness issues, grapheme-phoneme correspondences, spelling rules, word structure and more...

Wales' schools watchdog has announced today it will have a three year "enhanced focus on reading" from September 2026. Read more here: estyn.gov.wales/reading-for-...

New blog post. Some thoughts on the best ways to teach older pupils to read long words (and stop guessing them!). www.theliteracyhub.co.uk/insights/how...

New blog post. Some thoughts on the best ways to teach older pupils to read long words (and stop guessing them!). www.theliteracyhub.co.uk/insights/how...

A frank and, in places, eye-opening discussion with Elizabeth Nonweiler about her experiences on the Welsh Government's Expert Literacy Panel.

Exclusive: A member of the Welsh Government’s expert literacy panel has resigned, warning the new £8.2m national programme to improve reading is “flawed” and “not fit for purpose”. Full story below 🧵 1/

Just finished ‘Why Q Needs U’ by @dannybate.bsky.social and it’s so good that I had to update my list of Top Etymology Recommendations for Literacy Teachers to include it! www.theliteracyhub.co.uk/recommendati...

Great news! With so much focus on phonics, I think we sometimes forget the amount of reading it takes to develop fluency. Anything that will get publicity for the fantastic books out there for upper primary is a big win! www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...

Recommended listening for anyone (like me!) who is teaching reading in Wales.

Please share! Free place in Let your Words Flow Online workshop for Sat 18 Oct 10am-12pm (UK time). A regular participant has generously sponsored a place for anyone needing the assistance of a free place. Message me here on Bluesky if interested. www.writingforwellbeing.co.uk/therapy-and-...

This short paper about the decline in volitional reading is definitely worth ten minutes of your time. "In an ecosystem which supports volitional reading, young people flourish and encourage each other as readers and learners." @teresacremin.bsky.social shorturl.at/PquEf

Interesting article suggesting that making "high-low" books more mainstream might help children make the transition to reading longer books. In our school library, we certainly have pupils who are 'stuck' on Dog Man! It's inspired me to try promoting our high-low books more next year...

It's half term, which means I have a copy of Primary Reading Simplified to give away. Simply *repost* this post for your chance to win. I will choose a winner at random this Saturday (22nd February).

How to gift wrap a book… my cartoon for this week’s @theguardian.com books.

Love this (from the Literary Review):

The Welsh Government has published details of its Literacy Expert Panel. This panel has been tasked with reviewing the development of steps being taken to improve literacy in Wales. Updated guidance is expected to be given to schools in the New Year. www.gov.wales/literacy-exp...

Thread on need to fight for evidence-based policy - a response to Trump's cabinet picks. Based on new @bmj.com article by me, @martinmckee.bsky.social & @kentbuse.bsky.social TLDR: Now is the time to stand up for science, not appease those in power attacking it www.bmj.com/content/387/... 1/14

Inspired by @mmelockhart.bsky.social #SOR #PodcastPairing here are three of my recommended podcast pairings from the last month... If you can't explain English spelling through phonics, morphology or orthography, etymology probably has the answer!

Catching up on a few literacy podcasts this week... Highly recommend @suchmo83.bsky.social on Progressively Incorrect with @mrzachg.bsky.social - clear and very practical, especially on teaching reading fluency.

First post on Bluesky! Quick intro. I'm a former researcher in Linguistics/Psychology at Cambridge and Bristol, now developing and delivering evidence-based reading/spelling interventions at a Welsh secondary school. Especially interested in practical implementation of education research.