Christopher Such
@suchmo83.bsky.social
Experienced primary teacher, school leader and author.
Feel free to DM if you are looking for professional development relating to reading or just free advice.
Feel free to DM if you are looking for professional development relating to reading or just free advice.
It would be remiss of me not to add that The Art and Science of Teaching Primary Reading has since been superseded by a much more useful book, Primary Reading Simplified.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.
While this might be the last significant amount, I will ensure that all royalties continue to be donated.
November 8, 2025 at 12:55 PM
It would be remiss of me not to add that The Art and Science of Teaching Primary Reading has since been superseded by a much more useful book, Primary Reading Simplified.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.
While this might be the last significant amount, I will ensure that all royalties continue to be donated.
Below is the receipt for this year's donation.
Thank you again to everyone who bought a copy.
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Thank you again to everyone who bought a copy.
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November 8, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Below is the receipt for this year's donation.
Thank you again to everyone who bought a copy.
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Thank you again to everyone who bought a copy.
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Thank you, Jon. This means a lot coming from you.
October 22, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Thank you, Jon. This means a lot coming from you.
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.)
October 16, 2025 at 9:39 PM
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.)
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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October 16, 2025 at 9:39 PM
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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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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October 16, 2025 at 9:35 PM
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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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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October 16, 2025 at 9:34 PM
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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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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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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October 16, 2025 at 9:34 PM
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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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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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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October 16, 2025 at 9:31 PM
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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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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October 16, 2025 at 9:30 PM
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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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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October 16, 2025 at 9:27 PM
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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Like Arteta, I am perhaps a little too defensive.
October 4, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Like Arteta, I am perhaps a little too defensive.
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'.
October 4, 2025 at 7:23 PM
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'.
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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October 4, 2025 at 7:23 PM
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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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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October 4, 2025 at 7:23 PM
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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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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Would anyone be surprised if Haaland drags City to 90 points somehow?
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October 4, 2025 at 7:23 PM
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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Would anyone be surprised if Haaland drags City to 90 points somehow?
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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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October 4, 2025 at 7:23 PM
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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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.
October 3, 2025 at 10:46 AM
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.
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.
October 1, 2025 at 11:27 AM
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.
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).
October 1, 2025 at 10:06 AM
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).
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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October 1, 2025 at 10:06 AM
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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