Literacy Impact Educational Services

30/10/2025

I dont nornally do this but there are exceptions to every rule, right?!
Are you an Early Childhood teacher in WA looking for an inspiring school to be your home next year (0.7FTE)? Do you have an understanding of the science of learning and if not, ready to embrace evidence based research and quick to learn? If so, I have a possible contact for you, for a CEWA school that has transformed their instruction and student data in the last 2 years and have an incredible leadership and staff group.. it is in Perth metro area.. send a quick email to [email protected] with your deets!!
Happy Friday All!!!

30/10/2025

It’s a privilege to be the recipient of the Bruce Wicking Award from Difficulties Australia. Thank you to the Wicking family, LDA Council and General Manager, Hema for the nomination 🫶🏻
https://lnkd.in/g23Sqb3B
https://ldaustralia.org/about/awards/current-award-recipients/

29/10/2025

New for 2026! 📚

Literacy Impact™ is helping schools make every staff meeting or PLC count. Based on requests and school based constraints, we have listened and added a new layer to our support for schools.

Our One-Hour Staff Meeting Sessions bring high-impact, evidence-based professional learning straight to your weekly meeting—perfect for time-poor teachers.

Choose between Information Sessions for schools in the building awareness phase, or our Action Learning Series for teams ready to apply and see change in classrooms in a specific school improvement focus.

Topics include structured literacy, the science of writing, Vocabulary Instruction, Cognitive Load Theory, and more.

Includes access to the free literacy teaching health check survey to identify your literacy teaching strength zones.
Reserve your dates! → [email protected]

More info in the brochure below!

15/10/2025

Three spelling groups with different spelling lists each week is common in many schools but even if we think it’s a good thing to do, here is why it’s time for a rethink.

Dividing students into three “ability groups” might seem like differentiation — but it actually reduces teaching time, lowers expectations, and limits mastery and transfer to writing.

So what is effective and backed by research?

✅ Whole-class explicit teaching
✅ Differentiation through support and outcome
✅ Twice weekly dictation, with immediate modeling and corrective feedback where students are self assessing their spelling in context
✅ Moving from memorising to mastering words

When we teach morphology, phonology and meaning together, every child gets the opportunity to succeed — not just those in the “top group.”

💡 For schools ready to make spelling instruction evidence-based and equitable, access the article through the QR code and PDF link below.

“Why Three Spelling Lists Don’t Work — and What to Do Instead.”

I’d love to hear your impact case studies if you’ve already made the shift! Several WA, Vic and NSW schools have already who are having incredible transformations for their students 🙌🏼

07/10/2025

Getting the Gist — A High-Impact Reading Comprehension Practice

Helping students identify the gist — the main idea in a single statement — strengthens comprehension and lays the groundwork for summarisation.

How to Teach This in a Routine:

1️⃣ Choral read paragraph or chapter with interspersed open ended queries (comprehension checks).
2️⃣ Students read independently or in pairs.
3️⃣ Step 1: Identify WHO/WHAT the text is about.
4️⃣ Step 2: Identify the MOST IMPORTANT detail/s.
5️⃣ Step 3: Combine into one gist statement.
6️⃣ Share with a partner, then whole class feedback.

Teacher Demo (I Do):
Excerpt — eg. from Storm Boy (p.31):
“Before long the three pelicans were big and strong… They landed heavily beside the humpy… waiting for breakfast.”
👉 Teacher gist: “Over time, the three pelicans developed a routine to get food from Hide-Away and Storm Boy.”

Guided Practice (We Do):
Repeat with the next paragraph but support students to do so (this may require many repetitions immediate corrective feedback before releasing to independent level gist statements)

Independent Practice (You Do)
Repeat with the 3rd paragraph or chapter and reduce the support again but provide ongoing immediate corrective feedback.

Once they have the skill, reduce the support and use across learning areas as a way to check for understanding.

Teacher Tips:
✔ Use sentence stems: “This text is about ___.” / “The most important thing is ___ because ___.”
✔ Address common errors: if too vague → ask “Who/what exactly?”; if copied → prompt “Can you shorten it in your own words?”
✔ Scaffold: sentence starters for struggling readers; word banks for EAL; oral gists before writing.

✨ Want more evidence-based classroom routines?
Find practical, ready-to-use strategies in my book:
High Impact Writing Instruction and Intervention in the Primary Years!

26/09/2025

Since its a Victorian kind of weekend with the GF tomorrow.. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing the incredible growth in student data at three fantastic schools in Frankston, Victoria, over the past few months.

In September we met in person! Since April this year, Mahogany Rise PS, Aldercourt PS and Monterey Secondary College have all engaged in the ‘Leading Literacy Impact’ School Improvement Program.

I’m excited for the Frankston North community with the incredible commitment, passion and evidence based change in such a short period of time.

Watch this space!!

12/09/2025

Great things are happening in the Wheatbelt of late! 🐏 🌾 🚜

We had the wonderful Margie Backhouse visiting Newdegate Primary School to deliver network-wide professional learning in the science of learning and reading.

In attendance were staff from Newdegate PS, Hyden PS, Lake King PS, Pingrup PS, Nyabing PS, Lake Grace DHS.

Margie has a wealth of teaching and leadership experience in literacy and learning difficulties in a variety of roles; including university lecturing and SSEN:D.

We are thrilled to be supporting the schools in the Wheatbelt in embedding structured literacy practices in multi-age contexts!

20/08/2025

This Learning Difficulties Australia online series will undoubtedly be fantastic for any educators wanting to know more about language and language based difficulties. The presenters are the authors of the language based CUBED assessment. All sessions will be recorded too. Looking forward to it!

14/08/2025

Igniting Writing Instruction: 4th September- Victoria

Text level writing is the most complex thing students will learn to do in all their years of schooling.

Why? Because of the multiple layers of skills, in addition to the cognitive load on the brain and the limited capacity of the working memory (or our mental work bench).

To be an effective writer, it’s like being an effective driver (and we all remember how tough and overwhelming that was in the early days dont we?! Hello clutch, indicators, gears, mirror check, speed, road rules and parallel park… lets not go there 😵‍💫)

If you’re keen to learn about how we can teach students to be automatic in some of the higher level writing skills (at the text level) and also how to apply the most effective approach to text level writing of all research studies over the past 20 years.. aaaannndd you’re in Victoria- join Jacinta Conway and I for a fantastic day of learning, followed by action learning and group coaching afterwards.

We would love to see you!

*Undergrad teachers.. 20% discount for you!

13/08/2025

These look fantastic!!

Check out our SALE on Readers' Theatre and Fluency Passages (Limited Time Only): https://www.decodablereadersaustralia.com.au/collections/readers-theatre-fluency-passages

Supported by research Readers’ Theatre is a fun and engaging way to improve students’ reading fluency through repeated reading. It helps build confidence by allowing students to perform without memorising lines. By focusing on expression and intonation, students deepen their understanding and make reading more natural. Working in groups also develops collaboration and social skills.

Find out more about the teaching of Fluency in our Instructional Teaching Guide: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0452/9848/3366/files/Instructional_Teaching_Guide_-_Fluency_15.10.24.pdf?v=1728973274

13/08/2025

Looking forward to jumping online this morning with the school leaders of Australian Christian College to unpack what school improvement in literacy really looks like on the ground.

Like any successful change — a house renovation, a fitness program, a road trip — it begins with a plan. But in schools, that plan has to be rooted in a clear understanding of the starting point: student progress, staff confidence, student voice, and an audit of current systems and culture; as well as a clear understanding of the science behind the road ahead.

Too often, school change is prescribed before it’s diagnosed, leading to cracks forming early, staff frustration and a lack of progress where it really matters- in the students.

Every school’s journey is different. While there are non-negotiables, each school improvement roadmap (Action Plan) must reflect its unique data, strengths, goals and challenges.

After many years teaching in the UK and Australia, a decade in leadership, and now working alongside schools across multiple states every week, I’ve seen firsthand what it takes to make lasting change and I can't wait to share these insights today.

Anna Plant Jade Baker
hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag

02/08/2025

🌟 Happy World Principals’ Day 🌟

A belated celebration and knowledgement of the incredible impact of school Principals—and Deputy Principals- the heart of every school community.

Behind every thriving classroom is a principal/DP who wears a hundred hats:

✅ Instructional leader
✅ Student champion
✅ Family connector
✅ Staff coach
✅ Curriculum guide
✅ Crisis manager
✅ Community builder

And beyond the role, they are often:
✨ Answering calls after hours
✨ Stepping in for teachers due to relief shortages
✨ Mentoring new staff
✨ Navigating complex parent conversations
✨ Keeping the school culture strong
✨ Leading school improvement—one conversation, one classroom, one strategy at a time, following evidence based research with a sense of urgency to make a difference for students

To all the principals and deputy principals who go above and beyond—not just in timetables and analysis of student data with strategic action, but in the quiet, courageous decisions made daily for the wellbeing, learning, and futures of children—thank you.

Your dedication, leadership, and heart matter more than you may ever know. 💙

It’s a privilege to work with so many school leaders of this calibre every single week. You are doing life changing work.

Aaron Johnston from Mr J’s Learning Space shares a fun (but real!) take on the life of a teacher/DP/Principal: https://www.instagram.com/stories/mr.j.learning.space/3689454065064327282?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&igsh=MXZiNmY3eDA1a204bg==

Happy weekend to you!

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