Research School Network: #literacybites Aspirer ELE, Sarah Izon, talks about the ELE work with the North Yorkshire Coast Research School.

Two Aspirer Evidence Leads in Education (ELEs), Emily Crumbleholme and Sarah Izon, have been working with the North Yorkshire Coast Research School to deliver training on the KS1 and KS2 literacy guidance reports. They have planned and delivered training over a few months in Whitby. Here, Sarah reflects upon the ​‘bitesize’ approach that they took to the training.

The aim of the training was to look at each recommendation within the two reports and to look at ways of turning the evidence into classroom practice. Each session was an hour and a half and they delivered two sessions a week. 

The feedback was that this bite-sized approach to training allowed the delegates time to process the information and to try the ideas with their class before the next session. Those who attended found the structure clear and progressive and felt that it allowed them time to implement one idea before learning about another. 

From a trainer point of view, the structure allowed us to really communicate in detail the messages from the report and to look at them in more depth. It also meant that the dynamics of the training turned into more of a working group as delegates were keen to feedback the ideas they had tried and the impact they had had on their class. The regularity of the sessions also helped to build up a rapport so that we, as trainers, could add in extra ideas to meet the needs of the teachers attending as we got to know them and their classes better. 

The schedule of the training ran as follows:

Strand 1: Oral Language:

Session 1a – Evidence into practice: Language and communication
Session 1b – Evidence into practice: Reading as a social activity (Reading for Pleasure)

Strand 2,3 and 4: Reading

Session 2a – A balanced approach – decoding
Session 2b – A balanced approach – comprehending

Strands 4 and 5: Writing

Session 3a – Writing – transcription
Session 3b – Writing – composition

Strand 6: Assessment

Session 4a – Diagnostic Assessments – Writing
Session 4b – Diagnostic Assessments – Reading