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What a Year for Roade English Hub - 17th Jul 2026

As another school year comes to an end, we’ve been taking a moment to reflect on everything we’ve achieved together. Looking back through the data, the feedback from schools and the conversations we’ve had over the past twelve months, one thing stands out above everything else - this has been a year built on collaboration, dedication and a shared commitment to ensuring more children become confident, successful readers. It’s always easy to focus on numbers, and we’ve certainly got plenty to celebrate, but behind every statistic is a teacher who’s gained confidence, a leader who’s strengthened reading across their school and, most importantly, children who now have a better chance of becoming lifelong readers. This year alone, we completed 67 primary audits and 10 secondary audits, giving us the opportunity to work alongside schools to identify strengths, provide tailored support and help leaders make informed decisions about their next steps.
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The Case for Slowing Writing Down at KS2 - Jodie Matthews - 29th Jun 2026

I many classrooms, writing can begin to feel like a race. We move quickly from stimulus to plan, from plan to draft and from draft to finished piece, often within a week. There are curriculum pressures, assessment pressures and the ever present feeling that there is never quite enough time. Yet when we look closely at the writing children produce and, more importantly, the process they experience as writers, it is worth asking an important question…have we accidentally started valuing speed over depth?
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When Talk Comes First: Why Language is the Real Engine of Learning in EYFS - Jodie Matthews (Strategic Lead) - 15th Jun 2026

There’s something deceptively simple about Early Years practice that can lull us into underestimating it. Children talking, playing, narrating, arguing, laughing. It can look like “just talk”. But if you spend any time in a great EYFS setting, it becomes very clear that this everyday talk is not a warm-up activity for learning.
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When KS3 Reading Clicks: Building Confidence Through Fluency - Jodie Matthews (Strategic Lead) - 25th May 2026

KS3 is often talked about as a bridge to GCSE, a holding stage where we get pupils ready for the “real” content that comes later. But the more you look closely at reading in KS3, the clearer it becomes that this is where the real work of becoming a reader actually happens. Not in a vague, incidental way, but in the deliberate building of fluency, confidence and understanding that allows everything else in the curriculum to open up. When reading clicks in KS3, you can see it immediately.
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Teaching Secondary Pupils To Read In 3 Simple Steps - Hayley Pyrah (Hub Lead) - 7th Apr 2026

Teaching pupils to read, particularly those who have reached secondary school with ongoing reading needs, can feel like a very complex task, however, it doesn’t need to be. With a clear approach, is can be simplified into three key steps. Step 1- Find out who Many secondary schools have systems in place for screening pupils as soon as they enter Year 7. Whichever screening assessment you decide to use, the first step is to identify which pupils are not meeting age-related expectations in reading.
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Why Spelling Deserves a Whole School Approach - Jodie Matthews (Strategic Lead) - 30th Mar 2026

In many schools, spelling is still one of the least aligned areas of the English curriculum. Walk into different classrooms and you might see completely different approaches. One class might be learning a list of words for a Friday test. Another might be investigating patterns.
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Throw the Whiteboards in the Bin!? Why EYFS Children Do Not Need to Sit at Tables All Day - Hayley Pyrah (Hub Lead) - 16th Mar 2026

“I can’t have 30 chairs in EYFS!” “EYFS children still need to play!” Since the Writing Framework was released in July 2025, many schools have voiced worries that it signals the end of play and the beginning of more formal, table-based learning for our youngest children. The idea of filling an EYFS classroom with rows of tables and chairs understandably feels at odds with everything we know about early years practice. And schools are right to question it, because the Writing Framework never suggests this. In fact, it makes the opposite point.
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What Does the DfE White Paper Mean for English Hubs? Jodie Matthews (Strategic Lead) - 6th Mar 2026

The recent DfE white paper, Every Child Achieving and Thriving, sets out the government’s long term vision for education. While English Hubs are not mentioned explicitly throughout, many of the priorities described feel very familiar. In many ways, the direction of travel set out in the white paper reflects the work that English Hubs have been doing with schools for a number of years. For schools working to improve early reading, there is a clear message running through the document, strong foundations in literacy matter, and early success in reading opens the door to success across the curriculum.
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Spring into Reading. Going All In for World Book Day and the National Year of Reading - Jodie Matthews (Strategic Lead) - 2nd Mar 2026

March brings longer days, the first signs of spring and a renewed sense of energy across schools. It’s the perfect moment to celebrate growth, renewal and, of course, reading. This spring, we encourage schools to embrace the National Year of Reading and its Go All In theme, making reading visible, exciting and a central part of everyday school life. World Book Day provides the ideal opportunity to combine these celebrations, bringing stories, books and shared reading to the forefront of school life.
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A love letter to early reading and writing - Jodie Matthews (Strategic Lead) - 14th Feb 2026

Valentine’s Day is often associated with cards, flowers and expressions of love, but in education, care is shown in quieter and more lasting ways. It appears in the choices we make every day, in the time we give to children’s language and learning, and in the belief that early reading and writing matter deeply. For those working in literacy, this commitment to early literacy is a reflection of what we value most. Early literacy is not about rushing children towards formal outcomes.
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