iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Christopher Such

InsightHQ @insighthq.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

This time next week, it will all be over! The speakers are ready and there are some brilliant topics lined up for DISCO Birmingham 👇 @jpembroke.bsky.social @richardselfridge.bsky.social @joshuaperry.bsky.social @suchmo83.bsky.social

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Christopher Such @suchmo83.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Thanks for sharing, Mark. And I appreciate the kind words. 🙂

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Reposted by Christopher Such

Mark Goodrich @markgoodrich.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

First up, it's @suchmo83.bsky.social with a lot of FAQs on phonics which I would highly recommend to anyone who wants a grasp of the main ideas. Chris has been the biggest single influence on my teaching and this is great. substack.com/inbox/post/2...

substack.com

Phonics FAQ

After several years of discussing reading on social media, I have probably heard every question there is about the teaching of phonics.

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Reposted by Christopher Such

ATT Institute @attinstitute.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

Take a peek at today's #rEDEastAnglia session teaser 👇👀 Join us to dive into #literacy with @teachals.bsky.social, Charity Novick, @suchmo83.bsky.social & James Murphy 📖✈️ 📍Mildenhall | 🗓 13 June 🎟 Book now: tinyurl.com/mryr325c #TransformingPD #TransformingLives #EduSky @academytrust.bsky.social

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Academy Transformation Trust @academytrust.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

📢 Another fantastic speaker at #rEDEastAnglia this summer! @suchmo83.bsky.social's expert session identifies the valuable research that will help you support every pupil to become a confident reader 📖 🎟️Get tickets: tinyurl.com/57e67vsm #reading #literacy #researchED #teacherCPD #UKEduChat

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ATT Institute @attinstitute.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

📢 3 more expert speakers, 3 exciting, research-led perspectives, 1 powerful day of professional learning – @suchmo83.bsky.social, Amanda Wilson & Charity Novick are joining #rEDEastAnglia in Mildenhall this June! ✈️ 👉 Book now: tinyurl.com/mryr325c #TransformingPD #TransformingLives #EduSky

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Reposted by Christopher Such

Sara Hjelm @sarahjelm.bsky.social · 22/03/2026

Sunday & 4 links added to this collection of links to #freeaccess #edu content saraslistofedresources.wordpress.com Thanks to authors for these texts, relevant whereever you live❣️ Please forward if among your contacts! Spread here or in networks elsewhere-site is meant to be use Have a restful day!

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Reposted by Christopher Such

AR @psalisbury.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

Yet another blog from me, this time about...well, I am not sure what it's about really, just me banging on abut the dfe and those that talk in big pictures. philsalisbury.wordpress.com/2026/02/17/t...

philsalisbury.wordpress.com

Theoretical merry-go-rounds

Detaching from reality I have a theory that the more an individual blogs about strategic theories of education, or overarching principles, or underlying themes, the further they get from reality. L…

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Reposted by Christopher Such

Dr Katharine Barden @katharinebarden.bsky.social · 03/01/2026

My top 20 book recommendations for literacy interventionists #NationalYearOfReading Day 3: My top recommendation for an overview of the science of reading! @suchmo83.bsky.social explains the research clearly, with a view to how teachers can apply it in the classroom. tinyurl.com/z7nf7t9h

tinyurl.com

The Art and Science of Teaching Primary Reading — The Literacy Hub

Dr Katharine Barden from The Literacy Hub reviews 'The Art and Science of Teaching Primary Reading' by Christopher Such

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Reposted by Christopher Such

Mark Goodrich @markgoodrich.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

I personally hope that people continue to buy The Art and Science of Primary Reading not only because it raises money for a great cause but also because the two Christopher Such books on reading are complementary and both are great. open.substack.com/pub/markgood...

open.substack.com

A great new book on teaching reading

...but for me The Art and Science of Teaching Primary Reading is still the GOAT!

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Christopher Such @suchmo83.bsky.social · 08/11/2025

It would be remiss of me not to add that The Art and Science of Teaching Primary Reading has since been superseded by a much more useful book, Primary Reading Simplified. While this might be the last significant amount, I will ensure that all royalties continue to be donated.

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Christopher Such @suchmo83.bsky.social · 08/11/2025

Below is the receipt for this year's donation. Thank you again to everyone who bought a copy. >>

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Christopher Such @suchmo83.bsky.social · 08/11/2025

This year's royalties for The Art and Science of Teaching Primary Reading have arrived (£5477.65). As promised, this money has been donated to Malaria Consortium. This brings the running total donated (with Gift Aid) to about £57,000 in four years. >>

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Reposted by Christopher Such

Christopher Such @suchmo83.bsky.social · 14/09/2024

Following a few requests from teachers and school leaders, I've made a short video on the key ideas that I think teachers (and parents/carers) need to know about reading development, based on my reading concept map. youtu.be/JvtUxB5WM1k?...

youtu.be

The Reading Map - A Primer

YouTube video by Christopher Such

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Christopher Such @suchmo83.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

Thank you, Jon. This means a lot coming from you.

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Reposted by Christopher Such

Jon Biddle @jonnybid.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

Everyone working in primary schools wants to raise standards in reading. For me, the best starting point is Primary Reading Simplified by @suchmo83.bsky.social. It's superb and covers everything, with phonics, fluency, comprehension and RfP all being explored.

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Reposted by Christopher Such

Haringey Education Partnership @haringeyeduc.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

A huge thanks to author and reading expert @suchmo83.bsky.social who led an inspiring virtual session on Wednesday afternoon 💻 📖 Chris explored what should follow phonics in the reading curriculum, sharing evidence-informed strategies to support effective and engaging reading lessons 🎓 More👇

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Christopher Such @suchmo83.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

I'm biased, but I think almost any assessment has a chance of leading to problems if teachers and school leaders don't have a sound grasp of reading development. And in my experience, I'm not sure it is common secondary school to have this understanding. (It's not even *that* common at primary.)

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Christopher Such @suchmo83.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

For example, imagine being a Y9 pupil who still needs support with reading difficulties. Are schools going to prioritise resources for this sort of pupil? Or are they incentivised to focus entirely on Y8 and Y9. >>

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Christopher Such @suchmo83.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

Personally, I'd rather see something like an alteration to the GCSE English Language papers to include a reading comprehension component. This would provide a measure for Ofsted to judge schools by without adding an extra assessment at a slightly odd time. >>

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Christopher Such @suchmo83.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

My fear is that making reading fluency a target could lead to issues with this that are counter-productive, not to mention the potential issues of schools teaching fluency in a way that attempts to game assessments in counterproductive ways (depending on the test's structure). >>

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Christopher Such @suchmo83.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

My biggest worry though is what happens to teaching when oral reading fluency becomes a measurable, accountability-linked goal. I've lost count of how many adults will profess that they were terrified of reading aloud in school because of pressurised experiences. >>

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Christopher Such @suchmo83.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

Also, to the best of my awareness, there isn't really a robust way to measure reading fluency of those with issues relating to speech dysfluency. I don't think, for example, that eye-tracking software is yet up to the task. >>

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Christopher Such @suchmo83.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

Oral reading fluency assessments are usually done on a 1:1 basis. Voice recognition technology might assist with administration, but I still can't imagine secondary schools doing 1:1 assessments with every pupil. >>

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Christopher Such @suchmo83.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

I'm interested in how they intend to assess fluency. There are programmes out there that do comprehension assessments and then essentially pretend that fluency can be determined from this. I hope it isn't something like this. However, alternatives have challenges. >>

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Christopher Such @suchmo83.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

Like Arteta, I am perhaps a little too defensive.

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Christopher Such @suchmo83.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

In short, Arsenal are probably as well set up as any team in European football to compete for the next 3-4 years, which feels like quite the opposite of 'now or never'.

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Christopher Such @suchmo83.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

I vividly remember seeing the same 'now or never' argument about the 22/23 season and the 23/24 season, and yet somehow there's always another season and another opportunity. >>

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Christopher Such @suchmo83.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

My point is that Arsenal probably have a 30-40% chance of winning the league this season, and the only reason that would significantly drop the following season (and the one after that) would be if they were stupid enough to sack Arteta. >>

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Christopher Such @suchmo83.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

It's perfectly possible that they get some terrible luck with injuries (see Odegaard setting a record by going off injured three PL games in a row) and fall short again. Would anyone be surprised if Haaland drags City to 90 points somehow? >>

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Christopher Such @suchmo83.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

Why? Their best players are all on long-term contracts and entering their prime years. The exception is Saka, and he's almost certain to sign on. >>

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Christopher Such @suchmo83.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

Thank you, Mark. I really appreciate it. I'm going to make more of an effort to post stuff on here in the coming months.

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Christopher Such @suchmo83.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

Yep. As I say, I think it's perfectly sensible for schools to be embedding pacy reading into their schools day, but it would be great to get some robust research to back it up.

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Christopher Such @suchmo83.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

But I've also read enough literacy research to be cautious in interpreting any single, unreplicated study with no effective control group that has results that appear too good to be true (for relatively weak readers, at least).

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Christopher Such @suchmo83.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

Again, a central message of my work with schools is that sheer quantity of reading experience is an underrated aspect of reading instruction efficacy, so I am incentivised to just accept the apparently remarkable results of this research. >>

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Christopher Such @suchmo83.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

Here is a study which apparently demonstrates readily achievable, remarkable progress for struggling readers with aspects of the study design that currently only allow for cautious interpretation... And six years after publishing there is no attempt at replication with a proper control group. >>

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Christopher Such @suchmo83.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

I also can't help but find it odd that there has been no attempt at replication by the researchers involved given how dramatic the results appear to be. >>

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Christopher Such @suchmo83.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

Equally, the schools involved being volunteers increases the possibility of Hawthorne effects. The researchers talk about how they reduced the possibility of Hawthorne effects *between groups* but given that both groups showed similar remarkable results, this is insufficient. >>

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Christopher Such @suchmo83.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

The fact that the tests used were multiple-choice tests - a type of test that pupils would have been largely unfamiliar with at the first attempt - increases this possibility, I suspect. >>

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Christopher Such @suchmo83.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

The lack of a control group could well mean that the dramatic effects are the result of weaker readers simply becoming more familiar with the reading test used to judge progress. >>

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Christopher Such @suchmo83.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

As someone who tends to believe that reading entire books at pace can be a powerful component of reading instruction, I am incentivised more than most to interpret this study favourably. But I think there are - as you suggest - reasons to be cautious. >>

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Christopher Such @suchmo83.bsky.social · 28/09/2025

Correction: earlier in the thread I missed out some words when describing prosody. It is meant to say 'the sound of speech' (I.e. the rhythm and intonation of spoken language).

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Christopher Such @suchmo83.bsky.social · 28/09/2025

Ultimately, I think that much of the profession hasn't fully come to terms with the reality that parents/carers are increasingly less likely to provide this scaffolded word recognition experience at home and that this is more than ever an essential part of teaching reading *in the classroom*.

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