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Reposted by Charlotte Hacking

Darren Chetty @darrenchetty.bsky.social · 05/07/2025

A real honour to write the introduction to The Poetry World of John Agard from @otterbarrybooks.bsky.social I shared John’s poetry with many of the classes I taught over the years. The book is a beautiful collection of greatest hits, edited by @charliehacking.bsky.social

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 29/06/2025

There was no time for speeches but for me, this work and the awards and recognition for it would not have been possible without the work of two incredible women in particular. Margaret Meek Spencer and Myra Barrs, who led the way on the power of texts and the connections between reading and writing.

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 29/06/2025

About last night… Hugely grateful to The UKLA panels for this recognition of The Balancing Act & the Double Helix of Reading and Writing by Dominic Wyse and I. Being a member of the UKLA is hugely professionally nourishing and to be recognised by them in particular means so much.

UKLA Wiley Research in Literacy Education 2025 Award Trophy

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

Absolutely - which is why I prefer communication. It has to be reciprocal.

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

Myfanwy - I’m with you on Oracy. I actually prefer communication. What about the non-verbal children?

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

Don’t forget the tutoring… Exams, tests and tutoring. That’ll fix it…🤦🏻‍♀️

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

I was having discussions with KS2 teachers in 2018 about handwriting, and with action/based research, they tracked it back to the narrowing of opportunities for physical development and gross and fine motor development lower down the school. What fixed it? Introducing these things in KS2…

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

Undoubtedly. But it’s bigger than just that. Everything you’re saying was a problem before lockdown.

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

Gross and fine motor activity before and during introduction and development of physical writing is key. COVID is only part of the issue. The formality of the curriculum and some ill advised practices post 2014 to the detriment of movement and play in Reception and Key Stage 1 adds hugely to this.

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

I really am. And Sue is extremely knowledgeable on this. Never understood pen licences. It’s actually more fluid to write in pen than pencil. Let kids write with what they want and what feels most comfortable for them. It’s the writing that matters.

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Reposted by Charlotte Hacking

Books for Keeps, the children's books review journal @booksforkeeps.bsky.social · 21/06/2025

"That’s what I want. For a child to hold their breath for a second. To feel something stir." The day after the winner of #CLiPPA2025 is announced, @charliehacking.bsky.social interviews 2020 winner, Zaro Weil about her new book, I HEAR THE TREES #Poetry #KidLitUK booksforkeeps.co.uk/article/the-...

An spread by Junli Song from Zaro Weil's new poetry collection for children I HEAR THE TREES. It contains the text of the poem and the image shows a young girl lying in grass as leaves fall down around her.

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

Thanks so much Mark. This means a lot coming from you. Am a big fan of your work!

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

Following the recent headlines from HarperCollins UK and now from the National Literacy Trust, here’s an article I wrote for Books for Keeps about the decline in Reading for Pleasure, the issues involved and what might be done about it: booksforkeeps.co.uk/article/read...

booksforkeeps.co.uk

Reading for Pleasure – Why the decline and what could we do about it? – Books For Keeps

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Reposted by Charlotte Hacking

Nick Harkaway @nickharkaway.com · 26/05/2025

Target-rich environment, this speech. 1/n

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Reposted by Charlotte Hacking

David Slack @slack2thefuture.bsky.social · 26/05/2025

If your business model doesn’t work without breaking the law, then you’re not in business. You’re in organized crime.

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Reposted by Charlotte Hacking

Lynda Graham @lyndajgraham.bsky.social · 24/05/2025

Looking forward to hearing the inimitable Dominic Wyse on Saturday June 28th 2.30pm at @uklitassociation.bsky.social International Conference in Liverpool! Not too late to buy a ticket! #thisismyukla

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Reposted by Charlotte Hacking

Letterbox Library @letterboxlibrary.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

“The blame doesn’t sit at the door of parents… It’s at the heart of the society that has been created with its ever-widening inequality gap.” The brilliant @charliehacking.bsky.social responds to the reading for pleasure decline in @booksforkeeps.bsky.social booksforkeeps.co.uk/article/read...

booksforkeeps.co.uk

Reading for Pleasure – Why the decline and what could we do about it? – Books For Keeps

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 04/05/2025

Very briefly! You were in high demand!

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 04/05/2025

Teachers, because they are diligent, try their best to make it work regardless. But it’s time to reflect on what’s not working and why and what might be better for our children. Keeping on keeping on isn’t ensuring change happens.

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 04/05/2025

Yes! There’s too much in the curriculum. It’s unworkable. It shouldn’t be leading to teacher and parental guilt. Policy needs to take account of this and the Curriculum and Assessment review ought to offer the perfect opportunity for this…

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 04/05/2025

Yes! This is so important to recognise! Don’t blame yourself though. The culture is not as supportive as it should be for parents and carers. Adding a layer of parental guilt to this is unbearable.

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

Ah! I missed this Megan. Thanks for sharing. Spot on as always…

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

Thank you. The financial equality gap needs to be addressed, rather than spotlighting individual issues that are caused by it and blaming those most affected by it.

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

Thanks. I’m livid about the positioning of certain parents and children and the continuous deficit narrative, when the gap that has NEVER closed is the financial equality gap. This is the root of the problem.

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

Oh! Exciting. Can’t wait! Was lovely to see you at the Reading Rights conference…😊

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

When our basic needs are met, we feel secure and can thrive. A prime example of why closing the inequality gap should be central to government policy. Don’t blame the wrong people.

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

A hungry child or parent, one that is displaced or financially unstable, one that doesn’t have access to basic healthcare or the opportunity to engage in a healthy lifestyle, isn’t going to be focussed primarily on reading together.

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

This isn’t just a publishing, school, or education issue either, it’s a societal issue.

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

The tidal wave from the shift in name from the Department for Children, Schools and Families to the Department for Education and the closure of Sure Start centres is marked.

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

Support families with opportunities to connect and learn about the joys and challenges of parenting, child development and about family literacy.

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

Invest in CPD for teachers and give them autonomy. Ensure schools have healthy budgets for regularly improving stock of high quality books that engage all readers.

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

Make reading for meaning and pleasure the centre of the curriculum experience. Yes, children can’t do this without knowledge and skills of how to read, but it needs to be apparent what the end result is from the very start, to provide the will to carry on when things are challenging.

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

Publish books and support creators and publishing industry professionals that allow each and every child to see that reading is a place and space for them and that speak to them authentically.

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

Make sure all children have access to books. Rebuild public libraries instead of closing them. Invest in book gifting programmes like the fantastic Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, to ensure children have a collection of books that are uniquely theirs.

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

Reading should be relaxed and pleasurable, but so many times the pressure and sheer amount of things to do in the little time you have with children makes this a challenge.

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

Make time for parents to be present. So many families are unable to operate without both parents working full time, making time they do have scarce.

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

To remedy this, we need to centre children & childhood in policy. Stop rushing children through to unreasonably demanding expectations, give time for play & slow, deeply embedded learning, to connect with themselves & the world. This includes outdoor learning and time away from screens & technology.

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

All to draw attention from the fact that this is a societal issue, borne from an ever increasing inequality gap and an overwhelming desire to maintain an increasingly unworkable capitalist system in the West.

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

The blame, as with so many other issues around the world, will go to parents suffering from socio-economic inequality, certain ethnic groups and others being blamed for society’s ills.

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

Long thread alert🧵 I’ve been sitting on thoughts about this, but feel a need to post after the all too predictable parent bashing comments in the underbelly of social media. www.theguardian.com/books/2025/a...

theguardian.com

Most parents don’t enjoy reading to their children, survey suggests

Report from Nielsen and HarperCollins shows that parents see reading as a literacy skill, rather than something to encourage their children to love

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

Oof. This makes for grim reading and should be a huge wake up call on the need to rethink education, making it work for today’s children and teachers. Teaching should be one of the best jobs in the world, but too many things aren’t working for long term recruitment and retention.

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Charlotte Hacking @charliehacking.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

Thank you so much for reading! Would love to hear any thoughts…🙂

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Reposted by Charlotte Hacking

Books for Keeps, the children's books review journal @booksforkeeps.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

Great launch @theclpe.bsky.social for new BEYOND THE SECRET GARDEN book. Congrats @darrenchetty.bsky.social & Karen Sands-O'Connor & illus Lucy Farfort. We're proud to publish their columns in #BfK & delighted they're available (+ more) as an @engmediacentre.bsky.social book tinyurl.com/24j7wccf

Photograph of authors and academics Professor Karen Sands-O'Connor (left) and Dr Darren Chetty (right) with illustrator Lucy Farfort, holding copies of their new book Beyond the Secret Garden, which draws on and expands their long-running column in review journal Books for Keeps.

Cover of the book Beyond the Secret Garden, available now from the English and Media Centre, and basically essential reading.

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