About

I am currently an Assistant Headteacher in a Secondary school in Hertfordshire as well as a librarian and literacy coordinator. I also work as an independent library, literacy and reading consultant working with schools and education authorities.

I have worked in school libraries for many years and have previously worked as a school advisor within Hertfordshire. This role included working with schools on raising their attainment through literacy and reading. I have also acted as an advisor to schools across the country, offering support as well as strategic development for school leadership teams.

In my current role I work closely with driving certain curriculum areas including Study Support as well as being an SSAT Lead Practitioner. I work closely on certain intervention strategies (including the use of new technologies) with poor literacy skills employing many of my own programmes to great success. I was selected this year as the SLA School Librarian of the Year for 2012/13.

I am a past Chair of national reading charity The Federation of Children’s Book Groups and sit on numerous boards and initiatives discussing literacy and reading within an educational context. I am also the founder of National Non Fiction Day a day dedicated to the enjoyment of reading non fiction for pleasure. I have sat on and run numerous sessions around Non Fiction for publishers, Library Authorities and other book related events such as the London Book Fair as well as many book award panels and numerous projects for the likes of Booktrust, The Reading Agency and The National Literacy Trust. I have also worked with CIVITAS and Save the Children on their literacy and education programmes.

I am also the founder of illustration and visual literacy project Illustr8or which works in areas of low literacy helping to enhance the learning of students through the use of visual storytelling techniques. As well as this I host a fortnightly children’s book chat on twitter.
I have worked with numerous publishers running sessions for staff on the importance of school libraries and their impact.
I am a published writer of poetry and short stories and run numerous creative writing workshops for adults and young people. My degree is in Educational Studies and English and I have subsequently gained MCLIP status from CILIP.