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Gareth Davies - English Consultant and CEO

Ready Steady Read Together: From Reading Access to Meaning-Making

What helps children understand a text when reading itself is hard? This keynote explores that question through whole-class shared reading that is built around quality literature, explicit teaching and rich classroom talk. The session will examine how oral language, vocabulary, teacher modelling, fluency and metacognitive strategy instruction can help children move from access to understanding. This session will show why whole-class shared reading matters for learners who struggle with reading, and why being present in the same rich reading lesson as their peers is not something to be earned after accuracy improves. Whole-class shared reading can be a powerful route to comprehension, confidence and belonging when it is carefully structured, language-rich and responsive to need.

Target audience: Primary and Secondary

Gareth Davies (MSc, BEd, NPQH) is a nationally recognised literacy leader with a career dedicated to improving outcomes for children across the UK. He has held senior leadership roles in schools and has worked extensively as an English Consultant, supporting schools to raise standards through high-quality teaching and curriculum design. As a former Regional Adviser for National Strategies, Gareth has led and supported large-scale school improvement work, helping schools implement sustainable, evidence-informed practice. He is also the author of school improvement and intervention resources.

Gareth is CEO of Literacy Counts, a leading provider of award-winning, research-backed literacy programmes used by schools and multi-academy trusts nationwide. His work centres on creating inclusive, ambitious approaches to reading that ensure every child, including those who struggle, can access and succeed in the curriculum.

Dr Sarah Moseley - Educational Consultant and CEO

From Talk to Text: Unlocking Reading Comprehension through Oral Language and UDL

Reading comprehension doesn’t begin with text, it begins with talk. This session explores how rich oral language experiences lay the foundation for understanding, particularly for learners who struggle with traditional routes into reading.Ìý

Drawing on Universal Design for Learning, multimodal ways into print, it will show how to design classrooms where speaking, listening and meaning-making are central, not additional.

Expect practical strategies to build vocabulary, develop thinking and widen access to comprehension for all learners.

Target audience: Primary and Secondary

Dr Sarah Moseley is an author, consultant and international speaker specialising in inclusive education, literacy and neurodiversity. She works with schools, trusts and organisations across the UK and beyond to support the development of inclusive, high-quality teaching that improves outcomes for all learners.Ìý

Her work focuses on removing barriers to learning through Universal Design for Learning, adaptive teaching and the effective use of assistive technology. With particular expertise in reading and writing, Sarah supports educators to create meaningful, accessible pathways into literacy for learners at all stages, including those with complex and additional needs.Ìý

Sarah is the author of Teaching Reading to All Learners Including Those with Complex Needs and co-author of the forthcoming Writing for All. She is known for bridging theory and practice, delivering engaging, practical sessions that equip educators with strategies they can implement immediately.

Sarah Bagshaw-McCormick - Associate Director Learning Design - Bagshaw-McCormick Education

Supporting Reading Fluency

The presentation will give an outline of what reading fluency is. Outlining the link between reading fluency and comprehension. Then we will consider strategies for developing reading fluency in primary and secondary classrooms.

We will make links to reading for pleasure and explore the importance of positive reading experiences for all pupils.

Target audience: Primary and Secondary

Sarah Bagshaw-McCormick has 25 years experience in schools, professional development and leadership. She has spent the last 5 years working in teacher-education, with a focus on teacher and leader professional development as a learning designer.Ìý

Over her career, Sarah has developed expertise in literacy, English, and school leadership.

Anita Janjua and Alix Mumford - Specialist Literacy Teachers and Co-Directors - Access to Literacy (A2L)

Using Assistive Technology to Support Reading and Comprehension Skills

This presentation briefly looks at the skills and components involved in reading development including accuracy, fluency and comprehension.Ìý

It then goes on to look at some of the assistive technology tools and touch on some uses of AI in order to support reading access.

Target audience: Primary and Secondary

Anita Janjua and Alix Mumford are co-directors of Access to Literacy. They are Lambeth-based specialist teachers and assessors with over 15 years’ experience in these roles, as well as over 25 years’ experience as class teachers and SENCOs.

They have worked for both Wandsworth and Lewisham local authorities as specialist teachers. The Access to Literacy team now works in over 20 Lambeth schools, across both primary and secondary settings (mainstream and specialist provision). They are passionate about teaching pupils with dyslexia and supporting parents and teachers through a wide range of training.

ÌýThey have delivered training for local authorities and spoken at events such as the annual Bell House Dyslexia Fair, as well as to students training to become specialists at UCL. They strongly believe that teaching pupils to read opens doors and has a life-long impact
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