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Rooted in Reading: 10 things you need to know about the original green passport
1. The green passport was the first one in the series. Indeed, when I wrote it I thought it would be the only one but then when my...
steve246253
Jan 12, 20202 min read


Gaps – vocabulary, reading and NATE Conference
I am updating this blog, which dates from July 2018, in January 2022. The issues it highlights have been considerably exacerbated by...
steve246253
Jul 27, 20185 min read


The Rooted in Reading Award and student attainment
The Rooted in Reading Award passport was originally designed to be reading’s equivalent to the Duke of Edinburgh Award. The tasks are...
steve246253
Oct 13, 20175 min read


Personal Best Academy – the planning stage
So, after not posting anything for several months, I now plan to start on a series of posts outlining the setting-up, training stages and...
steve246253
Oct 29, 20152 min read


Personal Best – growth mindset and literacy
On Thursday 16 July we will be holding a launch party and press event for Personal Best at LA Mare de Carteret High School, Guernsey at 9...
steve246253
Jul 12, 20152 min read
Literacy, meaning making and social and cultural capital: six thoughts
Earlier this month I had the opportunity to spend a morning listening to David Didau talking about literacy. Like all good inset, this...
steve246253
Apr 17, 20153 min read
Becoming a Reading school – Ofsted case study
Kirk Hallam Community, Technology and Sports College, Derbyshire has embraced Rooted in Reading as a central plank of its whole school...
steve246253
Apr 28, 20138 min read


Question Fans
My ex-colleague, @JaninLincoln first came up with the idea of the Question Fan about 3 years ago. She put together a set of question...
steve246253
Apr 14, 20133 min read


SPAG, GAPS, GASP – a whole school literacy approach for primary and secondary schools
I will need to be very wary while writing this post as any failing in spelling, punctuation or grammar will be seized upon by readers and...
steve246253
Mar 2, 20133 min read
July Newsletter
Our monthly highlights Steve Willshaw July Newsletter Welcome to the July edition of my newsletter! I've had a busy and rewarding few weeks, full of deep-dive conversations into school culture and the launch of some brilliant new resources for the classroom. Here is a look at what’s been happening. Functional Fluency I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Paul Collin for the latest episode of the Headship after Hours podcast. It was a fantastic opportunity to u
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June Newsletter
We’ve made it to June! Between the relational fatigue of the summer term and the high-stakes pressure of finalizing next year's curriculum, it’s incredibly easy to drop into pure survival mode. But June is actually where the magic happens. It is the bridge where your grand strategic intent meets next year’s classroom reality. If we want next year to feel different, the work starts now—not in September. In this, my first monthly newsletter, I’ll highlight some key develo
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The Mission of Intellectual Equity
The Functionally Fluent Teacher and The Ambitious Years The core mission of The Functionally Fluent Teacher aligns perfectly with the work I’m doing with The Ambitious Years: the pursuit of intellectual equity. We believe that every learner has a unique potential, and it is our mission to empower those who teach them to unlock it. But we cannot achieve intellectual equity if our "operating systems"—our relationships—are broken. Central to Functional Fluency is Accounting
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