Simon Baddeley
@simbadd64.bsky.social
Owner of @LiteracyEngine.bsky.social
English Teacher | Teaching and Learning Geek | Visualiser Master Practitioner | Oracy for Learning | Lego Enthusiast
Literacyengine.co.uk
English Teacher | Teaching and Learning Geek | Visualiser Master Practitioner | Oracy for Learning | Lego Enthusiast
Literacyengine.co.uk
Pinned
Simon Baddeley
@simbadd64.bsky.social
· Nov 16
The Literacy Engine
The Literacy Engine - Driving Literacy Across The Curriculum. Weekly extended reading packs to embed reading in Form Tutor Time and # across the curriculum. Disciplinary Literacy in action
literacyengine.co.uk
Follow me on Bluesky for:
📚 Literacy, Oracy, & English teaching & learning stuff
⚙️ Updates from @literacyengine.bsky.social about the cool work we do with schools across the UK
🏫 All things evidence informed in education
🤓 Random nonsense about Lego & other geekery
literacyengine.co.uk
📚 Literacy, Oracy, & English teaching & learning stuff
⚙️ Updates from @literacyengine.bsky.social about the cool work we do with schools across the UK
🏫 All things evidence informed in education
🤓 Random nonsense about Lego & other geekery
literacyengine.co.uk
I love the ##WinterOlympics. That's it. That's the post. 😆
a group of people wearing motorcycle helmets with the words feel the rhythm feel the rhyme below them
ALT: a group of people wearing motorcycle helmets with the words feel the rhythm feel the rhyme below them
media.tenor.com
February 7, 2026 at 9:21 AM
I love the ##WinterOlympics. That's it. That's the post. 😆
Reposted by Simon Baddeley
ICYMI This Week's Blog
Which Experts Should Be Leading Literacy?
We have a vast wealth of expertise in education across academia and classroom practice with experts across the board. But which experts should we listen to?
literacyengine.co.uk/index.php/20...
Which Experts Should Be Leading Literacy?
We have a vast wealth of expertise in education across academia and classroom practice with experts across the board. But which experts should we listen to?
literacyengine.co.uk/index.php/20...
Which Experts Should Be Leading Literacy? - The Literacy Engine
Academic Expert in Literacy vs. School‑Based Expert in Leading LiteracyThe worlds of academia and school based practice should be thriving together in the modern era of research informed teaching and ...
literacyengine.co.uk
February 6, 2026 at 5:13 PM
ICYMI This Week's Blog
Which Experts Should Be Leading Literacy?
We have a vast wealth of expertise in education across academia and classroom practice with experts across the board. But which experts should we listen to?
literacyengine.co.uk/index.php/20...
Which Experts Should Be Leading Literacy?
We have a vast wealth of expertise in education across academia and classroom practice with experts across the board. But which experts should we listen to?
literacyengine.co.uk/index.php/20...
Reposted by Simon Baddeley
Excellent summary of where the expertise of academic researchers vs classroom-based practitioners lies, and why it can be hard to bring together.
New Blog Alert
Which Experts Should Be Leading Literacy?
We have a vast wealth of expertise in education across academia and classroom practice with experts across the board. But which experts should we listen to?
literacyengine.co.uk/index.php/20...
Which Experts Should Be Leading Literacy?
We have a vast wealth of expertise in education across academia and classroom practice with experts across the board. But which experts should we listen to?
literacyengine.co.uk/index.php/20...
Which Experts Should Be Leading Literacy? - The Literacy Engine
Academic Expert in Literacy vs. School‑Based Expert in Leading LiteracyThe worlds of academia and school based practice should be thriving together in the modern era of research informed teaching and ...
literacyengine.co.uk
February 6, 2026 at 11:10 AM
Excellent summary of where the expertise of academic researchers vs classroom-based practitioners lies, and why it can be hard to bring together.
How much "surplus" do you have to have invested to earn £4million from it?!? 😲
Exclusive: The biggest MATs are making millions from investing surplus cash, according to Tes analysis that has sparked warnings of ‘inequalities’ in the sector
Revealed: How much the biggest MATs make from investments
The largest multi-academy trusts are generating millions by investing surplus cash, but sector leader warns this must not replace core funding
www.tes.com
February 6, 2026 at 7:16 AM
How much "surplus" do you have to have invested to earn £4million from it?!? 😲
Reposted by Simon Baddeley
New Blog Alert
Which Experts Should Be Leading Literacy?
We have a vast wealth of expertise in education across academia and classroom practice with experts across the board. But which experts should we listen to?
literacyengine.co.uk/index.php/20...
Which Experts Should Be Leading Literacy?
We have a vast wealth of expertise in education across academia and classroom practice with experts across the board. But which experts should we listen to?
literacyengine.co.uk/index.php/20...
Which Experts Should Be Leading Literacy? - The Literacy Engine
Academic Expert in Literacy vs. School‑Based Expert in Leading LiteracyThe worlds of academia and school based practice should be thriving together in the modern era of research informed teaching and ...
literacyengine.co.uk
February 5, 2026 at 4:15 PM
New Blog Alert
Which Experts Should Be Leading Literacy?
We have a vast wealth of expertise in education across academia and classroom practice with experts across the board. But which experts should we listen to?
literacyengine.co.uk/index.php/20...
Which Experts Should Be Leading Literacy?
We have a vast wealth of expertise in education across academia and classroom practice with experts across the board. But which experts should we listen to?
literacyengine.co.uk/index.php/20...
Reposted by Simon Baddeley
My fears with oracy were always:
- promotes deficit narratives, especially around race and class
- is really about debunked approaches like enforced group work and 21st century skills
This seems to enthusiastically double down on both, plus makes some wild claims about the attainment gap, and AI.
- promotes deficit narratives, especially around race and class
- is really about debunked approaches like enforced group work and 21st century skills
This seems to enthusiastically double down on both, plus makes some wild claims about the attainment gap, and AI.
'Schools now have the impetus to make oracy the golden thread weaving through their plans, policies and curriculums. For schools serving deprived communities, this is the moment to place oracy at the heart of their mission'
schoolsweek.co.uk/talk-isnt-ch...
schoolsweek.co.uk/talk-isnt-ch...
Talk isn’t cheap: it sets up a child to thrive in class
Oracy must be nurtured across all settings – especially as navigating AI demands a mastery of language
schoolsweek.co.uk
February 4, 2026 at 6:36 PM
My fears with oracy were always:
- promotes deficit narratives, especially around race and class
- is really about debunked approaches like enforced group work and 21st century skills
This seems to enthusiastically double down on both, plus makes some wild claims about the attainment gap, and AI.
- promotes deficit narratives, especially around race and class
- is really about debunked approaches like enforced group work and 21st century skills
This seems to enthusiastically double down on both, plus makes some wild claims about the attainment gap, and AI.
Reposted by Simon Baddeley
🚨New Resources Alert🚨
March is now online featuring:
⚙️ Should social media influencers be more accountable for their content?
⚙️ Castle Bravo
⚙️ Aretha Franklin
⚙️ Have you ever wondered what taxes are spent on?
Comprehension starts with powerful knowledge
literacyengine.co.uk/index.php/ge...
March is now online featuring:
⚙️ Should social media influencers be more accountable for their content?
⚙️ Castle Bravo
⚙️ Aretha Franklin
⚙️ Have you ever wondered what taxes are spent on?
Comprehension starts with powerful knowledge
literacyengine.co.uk/index.php/ge...
February 1, 2026 at 9:52 AM
🚨New Resources Alert🚨
March is now online featuring:
⚙️ Should social media influencers be more accountable for their content?
⚙️ Castle Bravo
⚙️ Aretha Franklin
⚙️ Have you ever wondered what taxes are spent on?
Comprehension starts with powerful knowledge
literacyengine.co.uk/index.php/ge...
March is now online featuring:
⚙️ Should social media influencers be more accountable for their content?
⚙️ Castle Bravo
⚙️ Aretha Franklin
⚙️ Have you ever wondered what taxes are spent on?
Comprehension starts with powerful knowledge
literacyengine.co.uk/index.php/ge...
Reposted by Simon Baddeley
ICYMI This week's blog takes a look at how we can start to bridge the cultural disadvantage gap via reading.
Includes 5 evidence based strategies to use in your classroom.
#GetReadingIntoIt
literacyengine.co.uk/index.php/20...
Includes 5 evidence based strategies to use in your classroom.
#GetReadingIntoIt
literacyengine.co.uk/index.php/20...
January 31, 2026 at 9:25 AM
ICYMI This week's blog takes a look at how we can start to bridge the cultural disadvantage gap via reading.
Includes 5 evidence based strategies to use in your classroom.
#GetReadingIntoIt
literacyengine.co.uk/index.php/20...
Includes 5 evidence based strategies to use in your classroom.
#GetReadingIntoIt
literacyengine.co.uk/index.php/20...
I've had to start pushing back when asked to do things.
"What would you like me to stop doing so I can do that?", is now a default answer. It's surprising how often the "new thing" becomes a "non thing" when you push back.
We can't start to tackle workload until we accept that we are at 100%.
"What would you like me to stop doing so I can do that?", is now a default answer. It's surprising how often the "new thing" becomes a "non thing" when you push back.
We can't start to tackle workload until we accept that we are at 100%.
"Every adult is being used for every minute of the day" is an excellent thing to consider for anyone who wants change in schools. The pace and intensity of work in schools is remarkable. It shocks people when they first experience it.
Also, in a one-form primary school (or smaller), who do they think is facilitating this and where is it happening? Most primaries do not have staff available to support this nor do they have spaces for it to happen. Every adult and every space is being used, every minute of the day.
January 31, 2026 at 8:44 AM
I've had to start pushing back when asked to do things.
"What would you like me to stop doing so I can do that?", is now a default answer. It's surprising how often the "new thing" becomes a "non thing" when you push back.
We can't start to tackle workload until we accept that we are at 100%.
"What would you like me to stop doing so I can do that?", is now a default answer. It's surprising how often the "new thing" becomes a "non thing" when you push back.
We can't start to tackle workload until we accept that we are at 100%.
Reposted by Simon Baddeley
"Every adult is being used for every minute of the day" is an excellent thing to consider for anyone who wants change in schools. The pace and intensity of work in schools is remarkable. It shocks people when they first experience it.
Also, in a one-form primary school (or smaller), who do they think is facilitating this and where is it happening? Most primaries do not have staff available to support this nor do they have spaces for it to happen. Every adult and every space is being used, every minute of the day.
6. Here we seem to be dreaming up from first principles the work skilled pastoral staff are doing every day already. This feels a bit insulting to them to say we're going to start doing this.
January 31, 2026 at 8:13 AM
"Every adult is being used for every minute of the day" is an excellent thing to consider for anyone who wants change in schools. The pace and intensity of work in schools is remarkable. It shocks people when they first experience it.
Hearing BBC Breakfast presenters cringe and contort over their pronunciation of 'Schitt's Creek' this morning is making me smile.
a woman in a black dress is smiling with #schitts creek written in the corner
ALT: a woman in a black dress is smiling with #schitts creek written in the corner
media.tenor.com
January 31, 2026 at 8:21 AM
Hearing BBC Breakfast presenters cringe and contort over their pronunciation of 'Schitt's Creek' this morning is making me smile.
It's ok. I'm sure the DfE will come up with an AI reading parent that children can read to instead. Then parents can stay at work even longer and not worry about silly things like reading. Yay!
Exclusive: 28% of parents avoid reading with or to their children because they worry about their own reading ability, survey reveals
Lack of home reading prompts school concerns over language skills
A quarter of parents avoid reading to their children because they lack belief in their own ability, finds Parentkind poll, as schools contend with ‘weaker language foundations’
www.tes.com
January 30, 2026 at 7:08 AM
It's ok. I'm sure the DfE will come up with an AI reading parent that children can read to instead. Then parents can stay at work even longer and not worry about silly things like reading. Yay!
Reposted by Simon Baddeley
This is a great thread...only thing I would add is that there is a removal of parental responsibility in some parts of proposal. If young people are gaming or online during suspension it is, surely, parents role to stop this. Likewise, support learning during off site exclusion. Or am I being crazy?
January 29, 2026 at 7:06 PM
This is a great thread...only thing I would add is that there is a removal of parental responsibility in some parts of proposal. If young people are gaming or online during suspension it is, surely, parents role to stop this. Likewise, support learning during off site exclusion. Or am I being crazy?
Reposted by Simon Baddeley
🚨BOOK GIVEAWAY🚨
To celebrate the release of Leading Secondary English from @bloomsburyed.bsky.social on 12 February, I am giving away not one, but TWO FREE COPIES.
To be in for a chance of winning, simply 'like' and 'repost' below. 👇
Winners will be chosen on Monday 2nd February.
To celebrate the release of Leading Secondary English from @bloomsburyed.bsky.social on 12 February, I am giving away not one, but TWO FREE COPIES.
To be in for a chance of winning, simply 'like' and 'repost' below. 👇
Winners will be chosen on Monday 2nd February.
January 29, 2026 at 7:53 PM
🚨BOOK GIVEAWAY🚨
To celebrate the release of Leading Secondary English from @bloomsburyed.bsky.social on 12 February, I am giving away not one, but TWO FREE COPIES.
To be in for a chance of winning, simply 'like' and 'repost' below. 👇
Winners will be chosen on Monday 2nd February.
To celebrate the release of Leading Secondary English from @bloomsburyed.bsky.social on 12 February, I am giving away not one, but TWO FREE COPIES.
To be in for a chance of winning, simply 'like' and 'repost' below. 👇
Winners will be chosen on Monday 2nd February.
Reposted by Simon Baddeley
🚨New Blog🚨
Closing the Disadvantage Gap
We must not confuse disadvantage with inability. What interventions can we use to close the disadvantage gap & equip students with the rich knowledge they need to comprehend the curriculum & the world around them?
literacyengine.co.uk/index.php/20...
Closing the Disadvantage Gap
We must not confuse disadvantage with inability. What interventions can we use to close the disadvantage gap & equip students with the rich knowledge they need to comprehend the curriculum & the world around them?
literacyengine.co.uk/index.php/20...
January 29, 2026 at 6:10 PM
🚨New Blog🚨
Closing the Disadvantage Gap
We must not confuse disadvantage with inability. What interventions can we use to close the disadvantage gap & equip students with the rich knowledge they need to comprehend the curriculum & the world around them?
literacyengine.co.uk/index.php/20...
Closing the Disadvantage Gap
We must not confuse disadvantage with inability. What interventions can we use to close the disadvantage gap & equip students with the rich knowledge they need to comprehend the curriculum & the world around them?
literacyengine.co.uk/index.php/20...
Some really important points to consider here. A must read thread. 👏
You don't improve behaviour by reducing suspensions. You reduce suspensions by improving behaviour.
One of these things is really easy to do. The other requires far more widely reaching change.
You don't improve behaviour by reducing suspensions. You reduce suspensions by improving behaviour.
One of these things is really easy to do. The other requires far more widely reaching change.
January 29, 2026 at 5:00 PM
Some really important points to consider here. A must read thread. 👏
You don't improve behaviour by reducing suspensions. You reduce suspensions by improving behaviour.
One of these things is really easy to do. The other requires far more widely reaching change.
You don't improve behaviour by reducing suspensions. You reduce suspensions by improving behaviour.
One of these things is really easy to do. The other requires far more widely reaching change.
Reposted by Simon Baddeley
Agree ... they (Gov) have completley forgotten/ignored libraries and museum. Completely in thrall to their US tech comany paymasters.
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
The British library is in crisis: why does nobody care?
The widespread indifference to the British Library's crippling cyberattack demonstrates a perilous failure to value the knowledge infrastructure vital for national prosperity
www.cityam.com
January 29, 2026 at 1:30 PM
Agree ... they (Gov) have completley forgotten/ignored libraries and museum. Completely in thrall to their US tech comany paymasters.
Reposted by Simon Baddeley
In a world where screens and scrolling dominate the early development of too many children, get them out of your lessons and #GetReadingIntoIt.
literacyengine.co.uk/index.php/20...
literacyengine.co.uk/index.php/20...
Get Reading Into It - The Literacy Engine
Get Reading Into ItIn many classrooms, reading has quietly slipped from its central position. Screens have filled the gap. A short YouTube clip to “engage”, a recap video to save time, an animated exp...
literacyengine.co.uk
January 28, 2026 at 9:13 PM
In a world where screens and scrolling dominate the early development of too many children, get them out of your lessons and #GetReadingIntoIt.
literacyengine.co.uk/index.php/20...
literacyengine.co.uk/index.php/20...
All well and good but what criteria are you using to assess them? There is no agreed component knowledge bank that anyone could use so assessment is based on loosely defined skills. Most oracy frameworks are built on pedagogy not knowledge and I don't want oracy dictating my pedagogy.
With oracy becoming a key focus, how can schools track students' progress in developing these skills? Filming short videos is working for us, explains international teacher David Tuck
How to use video to improve students’ oracy skills
Filming short, simple videos of students’ spoken analysis can be a great way to help them refine their speaking skills, says this international educator
www.tes.com
January 26, 2026 at 7:46 AM
All well and good but what criteria are you using to assess them? There is no agreed component knowledge bank that anyone could use so assessment is based on loosely defined skills. Most oracy frameworks are built on pedagogy not knowledge and I don't want oracy dictating my pedagogy.
Reposted by Simon Baddeley
ICYMI Here's this week's blog offering practical classroom strategies to get reading into your lessons across the curriculum. This week, pledge to ditch YouTube just once and #GetReadingIntoIt
🚨New Blog Alert🚨
Get Reading Into It
We examine some of the barriers to reading for pleasure, and dig into some of the classroom practice that puts reading on the sideline.
There's also 5 Top Tips to get reading into your lessons!
literacyengine.co.uk/index.php/20...
Get Reading Into It
We examine some of the barriers to reading for pleasure, and dig into some of the classroom practice that puts reading on the sideline.
There's also 5 Top Tips to get reading into your lessons!
literacyengine.co.uk/index.php/20...
January 25, 2026 at 1:08 PM
ICYMI Here's this week's blog offering practical classroom strategies to get reading into your lessons across the curriculum. This week, pledge to ditch YouTube just once and #GetReadingIntoIt
Reposted by Simon Baddeley
My Twitter/X account has been hacked, and I can no longer access it. In other words, I'm no longer on Twitter/X and any new messages aren't from me. You can still follow me on BlueSky. Please spread the word here and also on Twitter/X.
January 25, 2026 at 6:04 PM
My Twitter/X account has been hacked, and I can no longer access it. In other words, I'm no longer on Twitter/X and any new messages aren't from me. You can still follow me on BlueSky. Please spread the word here and also on Twitter/X.
Banning children from social media risks undermining the role of schools as ‘places where pornography, extremist views, and addictive shortform video content can be encountered reflectively and with support’.
There. Fixed the post for you.
There. Fixed the post for you.
Banning children from social media risks undermining the role of schools as ‘places where risk can be encountered reflectively and with support’, writes teacher Simon Lightman
Why a social media ban would raise big questions for schools
Banning under-16s from social media would not remove the problem - and it could deny schools their role in empowering young people to protect themselves from danger, writes Simon Lightman
www.tes.com
January 25, 2026 at 8:17 AM
Banning children from social media risks undermining the role of schools as ‘places where pornography, extremist views, and addictive shortform video content can be encountered reflectively and with support’.
There. Fixed the post for you.
There. Fixed the post for you.
Reposted by Simon Baddeley
Not everything that feels supportive actually helps. Coloured paper and invented retention rates tell a bigger story about why bad ideas persist in schools.
open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...
open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...
The appeal of nonsense
How pseudoscience, placebo interventions and invented statistics continue to shape classroom practice despite decades of contrary evidence
open.substack.com
January 24, 2026 at 7:36 AM
Not everything that feels supportive actually helps. Coloured paper and invented retention rates tell a bigger story about why bad ideas persist in schools.
open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...
open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...
School leaders tend to have a "make it work" mentality. If they didn't, the system would collapse. But by propping up a broken and underfunded system it demonstrates that actually it does work. The funding is enough. So schools will never get the funding they need unless we let the wheels fall off.
ICYMI: Extending free schools meals eligibility to all children from families receiving universal credit will leave schools tens of millions of pounds further out of pocket despite a funding uplift, analysis suggests
Schools face £47.5m free school meals expansion shortfall
Leaders say government's plan to increase funding by 5p per meal goes 'nowhere near far enough'
schoolsweek.co.uk
January 24, 2026 at 7:24 AM
School leaders tend to have a "make it work" mentality. If they didn't, the system would collapse. But by propping up a broken and underfunded system it demonstrates that actually it does work. The funding is enough. So schools will never get the funding they need unless we let the wheels fall off.