Research School Network: Did you know? Anne Harvey, Primary Phase ELE discusses tsunamis, elephants and the updated Improving Literacy in KS2 Guidance Report

I well remember a recent conversation with a 5‑year-old on the terrible tsunami in Tonga. It was liberally punctuated with his staccato of wide-eyed, almost breathless comments, each starting: ​‘And did you know…?’ Some of the initial facts may have needed small adjustments but, once we were talking, that could be remedied. We were quickly able to establish that there hadn’t actually been a salami in the sea. He remains intrigued and amazed by the Ring of Fire.


I loved that conversation as I do all those with ​‘Did you know…?’ beginnings. The exploration and sharing of research-evidence is at the core of the Education Endowment Foundation guidance reports and the recently updated ​‘Improving Literacy in Key Stage 2’ is no exception. In this second edition the seven recommendations remain the same but there are now additional examples alongside updates of the evidence. New vignettes offer support for professional development, recognising that, to be effective, this means working ​‘with’ colleagues rather than presenting ​‘to’ them.

Experience, alongside research evidence, completes the picture. What a moment when, finally, a ​‘very reluctant’ Y3 reader opens a conversation with her own, very excited: ​‘Did you know…?’ She had knowledge that she urgently needed to share. ​‘There are other Daisy books in the library!’ And she did go on to read them all.

The report looks to ​‘a culture that puts reading and text discussion at the heart of the school day’. I would add my own hope that libraries, too, are seen as the heart of a school. Reading is deeply personal and there were many reminders of that in the BBC TV documentary in which Jay Blades from The Repair Shop was ​‘Learning to read at 51’. I was struck by his observation: ​‘This is stupidly simple but also insanely hard’. We must surely call on all the research-evidence we can to help.

Perhaps I should end – as I often do – with a recommendation for a children’s book that has added to my personal journey as a reader in this last week. It is William Grill’s latest – ​‘Bandoola: The Great Elephant Rescue’. In advance I knew nothing of the story of James Howard Williams (Elephant Bill). Now, amazed by both the book and the story, I too have found myself punctuating conversations with many a ​‘Did you know…?’ It was a reading experience that simply had to be shared.


Which is how we continue to learn – sharing what is known…