This episode looks at how primary schools can teach reading well and considers the components of effective whole-school reading (and literacy) strategies, looking at how to ensure that every child leaves primary school a fluent reader.

The podcast is jam-packed with lots of teaching tips and techniques for the classroom as well as whole-school ideas from our guests to engage pupils and boost reading skills.

We touch upon the early years and early reading work, phonics, reading aloud, improving fluency, using the school library, and how to foster reading for pleasure and the kinds of books that will spark a love of reading for life.

We also discuss the best bits of the DfE's 2021 Reading Framework and the common challenges primary schools must overcome as well as how to engage the most reluctant and most disadvantaged readers.

This episode is hosted, as ever, by National Leader of Education Helen Frostick and our guests are:

  • Tenisha Jones is a teacher and assistant headteacher at Loughborough Primary School, south London.
  • Robbie Burns is a teacher and assistant vice-principal for teaching and learning at Bede Academy in Northumberland and the author of the recent Headteacher Update Best Practice Focus pull-out looking at whole-school reading strategies (January 2022): Download this here.

You can listen to this episode of the Headteacher Update Podcast above. To hear other Headteacher Update podcasts, or to subscribe for free to new editions, search for 'The Headteacher Update Podcast' in your podcast streaming application of choice. Or visit www.headteacher-update.com/knowledge-bank/podcasts/

For details about The Headteacher Update Podcast, or to suggest future topics, email editor Pete Henshaw at pete.henshaw@markallengroup.com