Training/CPD

In addition to the ‘Learning CPD’ pack, The Story Spinner now offers interactive and engaging live workshops, which include:

  • Exploring the links with key National Strategy materials, such as Talk for Writing.
  • Active engagement with the stories and an extended teaching sequence aligned to the Primary Framework.
  • Engagement with pupils’ work using The Story Spinner resource.
  • Opportunity to explore the impact of The Story Spinner on pupils’ progress as found by teacher action research groups.
  • The importance of stories: using The Story Spinner resource to stimulate storytelling and find written voice.
  • Working with planned teaching sequences for The Story Spinner will enable collection of evidence to support periodic assessment of pupil progress using Assessing Pupils’ Progress (APP) processes and materials.
  • Developing a storytelling voice: children’s responses to The Story Spinner.

The workshop can be a whole day, half day or twilight session. They are flexible and tailored to time and individual requirements.  Particularly suitable for Literacy Consultants, Subject Leaders, network groups and school staff teams.

The workshops are also ideal to run within conferences or Subject Leader meetings. Especially in the context of engagement, writing and improving literacy skills.

Please contact us for details and bookings and to check availablility in your area on 0800 088 7585 or email eilish@windmilleducation.co.uk.

“I was delighted with the recent CPD session at school. My class (KS1 Sp & amp; L) have been having great fun with the Three Little Pigs over the past two weeks! I used the reception story, rather than a Y1 or Y2 story, as my children all have a speech and language disorder and it was a good starting point for them.

I was so impressed with the planning for it too. Making story maps and exploring the story (and their imagination) through the talking points has been so effective and is such good practice. All of this fits perfectly with the ‘Talk for Writing’ initiative – our children have increased their word and phrase vocabulary and are starting to realise that their own versions of a story are of value too.”
J. Browne.  Churchill Gardens Primary School.

The workshops are run by highly experienced literacy professionals.

Rebecca Kennedy

Rebecca has worked as a teacher, consultant and regional adviser with the Primary National Strategies and is now an independent consultant. She works with GTP trainees in Birmingham where she leads the English training programme and acts as a tutor. She also works with various local authorities supporting schools and teachers. She is currently engaged in two exciting projects: one with Birmingham LA looking at how languages teaching can be linked to literacy in KS2 and one with Wolverhampton LA exploring reading on screen with Y6 and Y7. She is an active member of the UKLA and a member of the editorial board of English 4-11 and she is working with other UKLA members on research into the impact of the Reading Agency’s Summer Reading Challenge.

Pam Dowson

Pam took early retirement from Primary teaching in 2009 and has been teaching English on the Primary PGCE at Cambridge, initially as a seconded teacher, for the past 5 years where she also has the roles of personal and placement tutor. She gained an advanced diploma in Language, Literature and Literacy, and a Masters degree in children’s literature, both from the University of Cambridge. Her first book – The Really Useful Creativity Book, which she co-wrote with Dominic Wyse, was published by Routledge last year and she is currently working on several titles for Scholastic, as well as doing some consultancy work in primary schools. She is an active member of the UKLA, being on the editorial board of English 4-11 and a member of the Publications Committee, where she acts as editor for the ‘Ideas in Practice’ series.