English Hubs announced

The government has announced the names of 32 schools across England that will take a leading role in supporting schools to teach children to read by improving the teaching of early language and reading.

The Learning Academy Partnership Multi Academy Trust have announced that Ilsham C of E Academy, because of its outstanding practice and excellent outcomes for pupils, has been named as one of the schools successful in being awarded the English Hub status. The government is backing the Hubs with £26.3 million of funding and this money will support children in our region.

The Hub schools were chosen through a competitive process – all 32 have a background of excellent phonics teaching and are distributed to benefit the areas that need it most. Each Hub will identify specialist literacy teachers who will get additional training to act as experts in teaching in early language and reading from reception year to Key Stage 1. Schools from across Devon will be able to access this support and training.

Dawn Ryan, Head of Academy, said “This is fantastic recognition of our success in teaching phonics and early reading. Our teachers are excited about supporting other schools across Devon and Torbay.”

The Learning Academy Partnership has been supporting schools in improving phonics teaching for the past two years and they have secured over £250K of funding which has benefited children in Torbay and Devon schools.

Lynn Atkinson, Chief Executive of the Learning Academy Partnership, added “We are committed to supporting all schools to develop great teaching and learning and to improve outcomes for children. We already have a strong track record of this through our work as a Multi Academy Trust, a National Support School and through our teaching school, All Saints Teaching School Alliance. We are being tasked with helping teachers to develop early reading in over 170 schools and to build a network on excellent phonics teaching. It is such a valuable resource for the area.”

The Learning Academy Partnership includes academies in Torquay, Kingsbridge area and most recently Dunsford Community Academy. They have also been successful in their application to open a school in Paignton which opens on the old Tower House site in September 2020.

English Hubs announced