Please see below for an overview of network opportunities that are running during the 2025/26 academic year.
Early Reading Hub
Cost: Free for Leicester City maintained schools. £255 per delegate for non-maintained and Leicestershire schools.
Course Lead(s): Jo Puttick, Emma Spiers & Monika Singala
No. of sessions: 3 x half day sessions
Audience: Early reading leaders, reading leaders, EYFS lead and EYFS/Y1 teachers
Overview
During 2025-26, the Early Reading Hub aims to:
- Continue to develop teacher and leader understanding relating to best practice in reading development.
- Focus on meeting a wide range of reading needs for children in the early stages of school and who may be in the early stages of reading development in KS1/KS2.
- Support leaders with their knowledge and skills in monitoring and evaluating their current practice and making decisions about change and embedding change.
Session 1:
- Building strong foundations in reading: What has been the impact of your phonics scheme on early reading development?
- New developments in national expectations of the teaching of early reading.
- How does autism impact on learning to read and how can you support these learners?
Session 2:
- What is dyslexia, how might it affect early readers and what strategies support progress?
- Texts to support SEND learners.
- Motivating children to want to read.
Session 3:
- Supporting EAL learners to read.
- Interventions to support vulnerable children to learn to read.
Gap tasks will be provided after each session.
Session dates
Session 1: Tuesday 14th October 2025, 8.45am-11.45am
Session 2: Tuesday 20th January 2026, 8.45am-11.45am
Session 3: Thursday 7th May 2026, 8.45am-11.45am
If you have any questions about the Early Reading Hub or would like to book on, please email hayley.carter@sdsa.net
KS2: Read to Succeed
Cost: Free for Leicester City maintained schools. £435 per school for non-maintained and Leicestershire schools to attend in pairs. (First delegate is full price (£290), second delegate is half price (£145))
Course Lead(s): Jo Puttick & Mel Hendy
No. of sessions: 1 x full day, 2 x half day sessions
Audience: Reading Leader plus one KS2 teacher from each school (recommended to attend together for the greatest impact), wishing to develop practice around teaching reading in small groups and how to support children’s love of reading.
Overview
These sessions provide an opportunity for Reading Leaders to work collaboratively alongside KS2 teachers to refine their teaching of reading through the delivery of purposeful small-group guided reading sessions, to ensure all pupils make progress. The training will explore, in depth, what makes guided reading effective, looking closely at each key element. Teachers will be supported in identifying and responding to the specific needs of their readers, enabling them to adapt their teaching accordingly. Throughout the programme, Reading Leaders will continue to develop their own understanding of high-quality guided reading, whilst also playing a key role in supporting their colleagues’ practice. Each session will also feature high-quality fiction, non-fiction, and poetry texts introduced by Creative Learning Services (CLS), helping to inspire children’s motivation and love of reading.
Session 1:
Exploring the purpose of guided reading in ensuring all learners make progress, with a focus on effective pedagogy and subject knowledge in key reading and fluency strategies. The session will clarify how to model essential reading skills purposefully. Participants will observe new examples of good practice and engage in planning guided reading sessions using their own texts. The use of AI tools to adapt text levels, reduce cognitive overload for pupils, and ease teacher workload will also be introduced. We will also focus on engaging parents, supporting reading at home, selecting appropriate texts, and making effective use of Accelerated Reader (AR) as part of our discussions.
Gap task: Record a video of a small-group guided reading session to bring to Session 2.
Session 2:
This session focuses on refining guided reading practice by helping teachers recognise and interpret pupils’ reading skills. Participants will use this insight to adapt their planning and teaching to better support pupil progress. Consolidation of subject knowledge in reading strategies will continue and we explore elements of diagnostic assessment of reading.
Gap task: Record a video of a small-group guided reading session to bring to Session 3.
Session 3:
Further refinement of guided reading, with an emphasis on the intentional teaching of vocabulary. Delegates will continue to deepen their understanding of reading strategies and build confidence in adapting guided reading sessions to meet the specific needs of their pupils.
Please note:
- Participating schools will be required to attend all sessions as outlined below and to engage with the gap tasks.
- This programme is replacing the ‘Reading Leaders’ Network’ for one year. By working together, this programme aims to simultaneously support and develop Reading Leaders and KS2 classroom staff.
Session dates
Session 1: Thursday 30th October 2025, 9am-3pm
Session 2: Thursday 4th December 2025, 9am-12noon
Session 3: Thursday 5th February 2026, 9am-12noon
If you have any questions about the KS2: Read to Succeed programme or would like to book on, please email hayley.carter@sdsa.net
English CPD 2025/26 offer from Professional Development Leicester
To find out about the range of English CPD on offer in the city this academic year through Professional Development Leicester, further and booking information is available here: https://www.lpp-leicester.org.uk/english-cpd-offer-2025-26/