Monthly update - June

Dear colleague

Here are some links that I hope you find helpful:

Small schools briefing with Selby Educational Trust - online 4-5pm on Monday 14th July 2025. This will be an opportunity to hear about Fairburn Community Primary School's curriculum and how they might be able to support small schools over the next 12 months. I will be joining this session and supporting the programme. Sign up here.

26,000 Voices: What Students and Staff Really Think About Inclusion
Insightful. Evidence-based. Urgently needed. The GEC (Global Equality Collective) has released the 26,000 Voices report – the UK’s largest research study focused on inclusion in education. Based on the lived experiences of 26,000 students and staff, the report uncovers pressing issues including a lack of belonging, inflexible working conditions, and significant gaps in curriculum representation – especially for underserved learners.

This is not just another data report – it’s a tool for school leaders and curriculum thinkers committed to doing better. Grounded in authentic voices, it offers a practical, human-centred roadmap for sustainable, inclusive improvement, and for shaping a curriculum where every learner feels seen and valued.

Download the free summary version today For the next 10 days, there’s 26% off the full report with the code:  MM26KVOICES 

Because of You, This is Me - a new book from Jaz Ampaw-Farr where she shares her story  to show how the everyday heroes in our schools can transform the lives of the children who need their help the most. Well worth checking out, due to be published in the summer.

The Teacher Development Trust has a free hub for CPD Leaders with access to the resources needed to improve the way schools plan, implement, and evaluate high quality CPD. Inside, you can try out the new, free reflection tool for CPD Leadership, read key pieces of research and insights, book coaching sessions and access interactive online learning modules. Access with a free account. 

New webinars on Myatt & Co:

High challenge, low threat in the classroom: if we want all pupils to attempt demanding content, it’s helpful to think about how we create an atmosphere where difficult work is relished rather than resisted!

We can sometimes make things too easy for our pupils and students in the mistaken belief that they won’t be able to cope with demanding work.

In fact they can!

Pupils themselves say that they enjoy challenging work, as long as they feel supported. So, let’s raise the bar!

I’ll be going through the elements of creating high challenge and low threat in our classrooms, with examples for primary and secondary.

KS3 The Ambitious Years: a new project developing curriculum resources. Underpinned by the findings from the ‘Faster Read’ I make the case that it’s possible to increase challenge and inclusion.

Assessment at KS3: challenges and opportunities.

There are new webinars to show how it’s possible to provide all our pupils with gorgeous, accessible content in geography, history and RE.

You can access the webinars with an annual or group subscription to Myatt & Co.

Leadership Lobby on Myatt & Co

We’re looking to provide as much value as possible to support ongoing professional learning. In addition to the Huh Curriculum Leaders, we’re now releasing the Leadership Lobby as part of the Myatt & Co resources.

In Leading Hopefully Andrew Morrish and I outline what's involved in building humane communities. We discuss how success built up over time: the relevance of Rosabeth Moss Kanter's '6 Keys'. We go on to consider how we can lead ourselves and support others.

Leading Authentically is now available and we’ll be releasing a new session each week.

Finding my Voice: A whole school approach to oracy and personal development

If you are looking for light touch, high impact ways of developing oracy and personal development in your contexts, you’ll find these ‘Bites’ on Finding My Voice helpful.

For example, ‘What makes me shine?’. This lovely provocation for pupils from Christian Foley is one of the prompts to support personal development in primary. And a neat provocation from Manny Awoyelu on ‘The Power of an Idea’.

And if you’d like to explore the programme, there’s a 14 day free trial, to Finding my Voice and you can sign up here.

The ‘Just read’ research from the University of Sussex found that simply reading challenging, complex novels aloud and at a fast pace in each lesson, repositioned ‘poorer’ readers as ‘good’ readers, giving them a more engaged, uninterrupted reading experience over a sustained period.

While this trial was with Year 8 pupils, similar improvement in reading outcomes have been found in primary.

Once we know the impact reading aloud can have, we can’t ‘unknow’ it! In this recording I talk about how we’ve taken these insights and applied them to the curriculum in the foundation subjects in primary.

If you’d like to know more about The Teachers’ Collection, here’s a link to a free trial for two colleagues in your setting.

I’ve had several conversations recently about the tricky business of assessment! In primary there have been lots of questions about how to make judgements about how pupils are getting on in the foundation subjects. So, I’ve run a series of assessment webinars are now available on The Teachers’ Collection.

If you think there’s someone who would appreciate this update, you can forward the link here.

Until next time

Mary