In our quest to help children discover the joys of books and improve reading attainment, have we missed the most obvious solution? | via @marymyatt.bsky.social

Reading aloud – Can this simple strategy boost reading age?

Reading aloud to pupils from ambitious, challenging texts, every day, is essential. Here. Mary Myatt explains why...

teachwire.net

When Key Stage 3 matters in its own right substack.com/@marymyatt/n...

When Key Stage 3 matters in its own right

Well hello there, and welcome to update #200!

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Do you need any fun poems to see you through the week ahead? Loads for FREE on my website - www.joshuaseigal.co.uk - including the poem below. Enjoy, and feel free to share! #BookSky #EduSky #teachers #KidLitUK

I've been in schools where reading feels like a gift. And schools where it feels like a fix. The difference? Positioning. When reading is squeezed to the edges, pupils get the message: this is remedial. This is not the real work.

A week in with KS3: The Ambitious Years. @samgibbs.bsky.social review: "Every young person has a right to an education that is rich in knowledge, high in challenge and rooted in belonging. That is not a luxury for some children; it is an entitlement for all." open.substack.com/pub/marymyat...

# A week in It’s been almost a week since 𝘒𝘚3: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 was published, and I wanted to pause and share something of what this week has felt like. I’ve been genuinely moved by the responses coming in. open.substack.com/pub/marymyat...

# A week in

Well hello there, and welcome to update #194!

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What are pupils being included in? At KS3, the real question isn't just "do they belong?" — it's "what do they belong to?" Rich knowledge? Demanding texts? Or a thinner curriculum because we've decided that's what they can manage? /1

"Every young person has a right to an education that is rich in knowledge, high in challenge and rooted in belonging. That is not a luxury for some children; it is an entitlement for all." @samgibbs.bsky.social on KS3: The Ambitious Years 🙏 amzn.to/4ue27Bk

KS3 The Ambitious Years: Why Years 7-9 matter more than we think

Buy KS3 The Ambitious Years: Why Years 7-9 matter more than we think by Myatt, Mary (ISBN: 9780995668720) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.

amzn.to

The 5 questions I asked every school while writing 'KS3: The Ambitious Years'. I started with assumptions. Some were wrong. 🧵

Very grateful for this generous response from @spryke2.bsky.social If you've been thinking about getting a copy, the paperback is now available here: amzn.eu/d/0eywWJAr KS3 isn’t the bridge. It’s the foundation. Thank you, Stuart.

For colleagues who asked about the paperback: KS3: The Ambitious Years is now available earlier than expected. amzn.eu/d/0eywWJAr The book makes the case that KS3 isn’t the waiting room for GCSE, it’s the foundation. Thank you for all the support around this work.

1/ For too long, KS3 has been treated as the bit in between. Not quite primary. Not yet GCSE. A bridge. A waiting room. A place where ambition quietly becomes diluted.

1/ If KS3 doesn’t matter, why do we keep paying for it at KS4? Across schools and trusts, we see the same pattern: intervention increases workload rises pressure builds But the root of the issue often sits earlier.

New post: High expectations, high support on the great work of Charlotte Bunyan and colleagues @theeducakers.bsky.social substack.com/@marymyatt/n...

High expectations, high support

Well hello there, and welcome to update #192!

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“This book is a supportive and inspiring guide to embracing your unique strengths as an introvert”. #QuietLeadership makes it easy with examples and practical tools that leaders can use immediately: buff.ly/zmsifzS @exheadteacher.bsky.social

Today is publication day! So pleased that @hachettelibrary.bsky.social have made a sample chapter available FREE - download it here www.swillshawconsulting.co.uk/functionally... @marymyatt.bsky.social @barbarableiman.bsky.social @bobeaglestone.bsky.social

The Functionally Fluent Teacher by Steve Willshaw

The Functionally Fluent Teacher is your roadmap to a different way of being. It provides a shared language and a psychological "internal compass" to help you move from autopilot to agency.

swillshawconsulting.co.uk

The DfE white paper is clear: literacy is every teacher's responsibility. Primary leaders, ask yourselves: Is your September INSET truly preparing colleagues to deliver on this?

Stories do more than engage. They build knowledge, they deepen vocabulary, and they give pupils access to worlds, people, places and ideas they might not otherwise meet. That is why story-rich curriculum work matters.

On 1 September, we’re hosting a big online curriculum inset day for schools using The Teachers’ Collection. 9.30–3.30. Schools with a subscription can send as many staff as they like. A strong start to a richer, more text-led curriculum. theteacherscollection.com

The Teachers' Collection - Resources to support curriculum planning

We suggest stories and texts to underpin teaching in every subject. We drafted some outline plans and pulled together important vocabulary for each unit.

theteacherscollection.com

A range of events open to all in various locations for Jewish Culture Month beginning on the 16th May. Great for TeamRE 😊 Find out more here 👉🏼 jewishculturemonth.org.uk

Well… 😂

Strong KS3 does not begin in Year 10. It begins in Year 7, when pupils are given serious texts, serious ideas and serious intellectual attention. KS3 isn’t the bridge, it’s the foundation. www.myattandco.com/ks3-the-ambi...

Key Stage 3: The Ambitious Years | Myatt & Co

Explore KS3 curriculum resources and downloadable booklets on History, Geography and RE for Year 7. Quality teaching materials by Myatt & Co.

myattandco.com

Secondary schools receive data, but they rarely receive information about the curriculum. They know what score a pupil achieved, but they don't know what they've read, written, discussed, or argued. And in the absence of that knowledge, the professional default is to begin again

Who gains most when Key Stage 3 is ambitious, and who loses most when it is not? There's a compelling educational case for an ambitious KS3: it builds the knowledge and habits of mind that make later learning possible, and gives ages 11–14 the seriousness they deserve.

Year 9 is where ambition goes to die in too many schools . Options are chosen, GCSEs are looming and the curriculum quietly thins out. Teachers know it, pupils feel it. And yet we treat it as inevitable, a structural feature of secondary education, as opposed to a design flaw

Year 7 pupils don't need easier work, instead they need richer work, with the right support. That's the thinking behind KS3: The Ambitious Years. Ofsted called it 'The Wasted Years'. We're calling it something different. /1

I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with @marymyatt.bsky.social for this Chalk Learning Chalk Talk session. Our conversation explored design for learning and, as we discussed, perhaps more accurately, high quality and beautiful design for all. open.substack.com/pub/chalklea...

Mary Myatt and Karl McGrath: Design for Learning

A Morrisonian approach to creating beautiful learning materials

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"She acted because she believed it was the right thing to do, and that takes courage." I'm taking this thought into work with me next week. A thought provoking piece from Mary Myatt here. Having moved from secondary to primary, I fully agree that so much more can be done with KS3.

Mary Myatt@marymyatt.bsky.social · 4mo ago

From coverage to coherence: open.substack.com/pub/marymyat...

Thanks for this! Here's similar thoughts on languages and the need for pupils to have their own snowball of language to roll from topic to topic, getting bigger and bigger. Much better than an even coverage. Which will just have melted away. whoteacheslanguages.blogspot.com/2025/10/am-i...

From coverage to coherence: open.substack.com/pub/marymyat...

From coverage to coherence

Well hello there, and welcome to update #187!

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