It’s not every morning that you are invited to a meeting with the infamous Pie Corbett, to discuss perspectives on literacy teaching for students with SEND & complex learning needs. As a primary school teacher, Pie’s work inspired my passion for literacy teaching, and particularly story writing with my pupils, and Jonathan was no exception.

A little star-struck and not sure what to expect, we joined the online meeting organised by Dr. Sarah Moseley, educational consultant, who has been providing training to professionals, sponsored by us and Ann Sullivan , who specialises in the teaching of phonics to pupils with SEND. It was wonderful to hear of Pie’s experiences of teachers using his Talk for Reading scheme in special school settings and some of the creative approaches that have been taken.

Sharing ideas, expertise and experiences is a huge part of our charity’s mission and, with that in mind, it was incredibly uplifting to be involved in a discussion with like-minded individuals who believe passionately in the work that they are doing. Pie shared the following thoughts on teaching students with SEND:

“I just believe that everybody can learn, and we need to ask ourselves - are we are the barrier?”

A thought-provoking question and one that every teacher should be asking themselves when faced with challenges. We are really looking forward to continuing this discussion at our next meeting and as Jonathan summed up towards the end of the discussion…

“Our message is stronger together!”