Education Today Education Today Magazine
Registration for the National Literacy Trust’s flagship secondary school conference, Changing Perspectives on Literacy, is now open. This impactful, industry-leading in-person event takes place in the Nottingham Contemporary Gallery, and follows the success of its inaugural 2022 national secondary school conference in Greater Manchester.
With over a quarter of children leaving primary school unable to read and write well for their age*, the National Literacy Trust is inviting teachers and librarians, school improvement teams and education leaders, and other professionals in the field to join them at this important event to recognise literacy as a great lever against disadvantage.
The event will feature expert-led workshops for delegates to attend and talks from high-profile figures in the field, such as Professor Jessie Ricketts, Manjeet Mann, Hannah Berry and Tommy Dixon, focusing on a range of subjects including:
- Reading in Adolescence: What do we know and what can we do? (Prof. Jessie Ricketts)
- Same Story, Different Mediums: Exploring the different masks a story can wear (Manjeet Mann)
- The Power of Comics (Hannah Berry)
- Re-imagining Literacy – How podcasts are reinventing storytelling (Tommy Dixon)
Drawing on diverse perspectives and an exciting range of academic and literacy voices, Changing Perspectives on Literacy will support education professionals to push a disciplinary literacy agenda across secondary school learning, and show that literacy is at the heart of improving academic outcomes, well-being and the life chances of young people.
Nisha Tank, School Improvement Programme Manager at the National Literacy Trust, said: “We know that low literacy levels will hold a child back at school, lock them out of the job market, affect their mental wellbeing, and even their life expectancy.
“This conference aims to provide an exciting professional development opportunity for secondary leaders and teachers of literacy. We hope it will give educators the support needed to mobilise the effective teaching of literacy so it becomes a key lever to improving educational and lifetime outcomes for all students, especially those who from the most disadvantaged backgrounds.”
In addition to this, the National Literacy Trust is hosting Reading Beyond the Page, a week-long secondary virtual event in June (Monday 19 – Friday 23). Open to all worldwide, this week will see a practitioner-facing CPD session with keynote speaker Sarah Green, a renowned figure in the school improvement space. She will explore how to best approach the development of reading fluency and comprehension in the secondary classroom. There will also be five student-facing events with authors, journalists, spoken word artists and more exploring how reading and access to engaging texts can offer meaningful and memorable experiences, providing opportunities for new thinking and fresh perspectives that resonate well beyond the page. Those who sign up for Changing Perspectives on Literacy and Reading Beyond the Page at the same time can enjoy a discounted combined ticket.
The ticket cost to attend the Changing Perspectives on Literacy secondary conference is £125 per person. This cost will include lunch and refreshments throughout the day as well as access to resources shared throughout the event.
The ticket cost to attend the Reading Beyond the Page virtual event is £40. (A single ticket purchase will allow for multiple logins from the same school or organisation).
Buy a combined ticket for a place at the secondary conference and virtual reading week for a discounted rate of £150 for both events.
