Creative and practical approaches for schools
Jane delivers outstanding consultancy, advice and training for primary and secondary schools. Drawing on 30 years' experience as teacher, leader, consultant and school governor, she prides herself on a warm and practical approach which supports colleagues in creative and manageable ways. A specialist in reading, writing and oracy, Jane is also an experienced Philosophy for Children trainer, and has written numerous student and teacher text books.
Meet Jane
Jane brings over thirty years' experience to her work as an education consultant and trainer. She's been an Advanced Skills Teacher, a head of department, a governor and a local authority education adviser.
Jane provides support and training directly to schools and in her other roles with ITT providers, governor services and as an associate trainer for the National Association for Able Children in Education. Teachers value working with Jane because their practice moves on and makes a real impact on pupils' engagement, enjoyment and success.
An experienced Philosophy for Children tutor, Jane also writes regularly for Oxford University Press. She is a chair of governors at a primary and a secondary school, and a trustee at a local MAT. She is an avid reader and in spare moments, loves to write stories.
Consultancy, training and development
Jane specialises in tailored and flexible training and advice. Following discussions with school leaders, she'll agree a programme and timeline for the improvements you want, whether it's a half-day's planning support, a twilight training session, or a comprehensive package of teacher or curriculum development over several terms. Below is a list of work recently carried out with schools - but if what you want isn't here, just ask!
"What an amazing morning we had with Jane. We managed to plan a whole term’s worth of English - very collaborative and everybody contributing. She has such a great way at thinking ‘globally’ about a text and giving the children lots of writing opportunities. I feel that it was really beneficial for us all to have the chance to work with her. Now we have all had her input we should be able to sustain this type of planning for coming terms. I know it will have a lasting effect for the children."
Year 4 Teacher, East Sussex
Courses and consultancy - English
Reading
Reading for pleasure
Developing reading teachers and teachers' reading
Higher-level reading
Improving reading
Reading into writing
Teaching poetry KS1-KS5
Writing
Improving writing
Talk for writing
Spelling
Assessment support, including standardisation and moderation
Creative writing masterclasses
Grammar
Grammar subject knowledge support
Teaching embedded grammar
Talk
Philosophy for Children
Effective classroom talk for learning
And also...
Early Career Teacher support
Senior leader support
Mastery in English
Literacy across the curriculum
Teacher development through lesson study
Shakespeare workshops
Subject knowledge refresher courses
Improving independent learning
Engaging boys
Coaching and mentoring
Assessment for learning
Lesson and unit planning
Developing active learning
Preparing for unseen texts
Resources
The East Sussex Way - improving literacy in primary and secondary schools
Good practice in oracy, vocabulary and reading
Written by East Sussex teachers and edited by Jane Branson
Research-based guidance written by primary and secondary teachers.
Download The East Sussex Way Y6-Y7
Research and best practice explained - with a focus on oracy, vocabulary and reading at the point of primary-secondary transition.
Download The ESW: Case Studies 2022-23
Explorations of a range of approaches, with an account of actions taken, impacts achieved and obstacles encountered.
Download The East Sussex Way EY-Y1
Guidance for schools on supporting the youngest pupils, arguably those most effective by the pandemic.
Philosophy for Children
PfC can improve oracy, literacy, social confidence and thinking skills. With a clear methodology that allows all learners to become confident philosophical enquirers, this can be a highly effective and enjoyable route to higher standards across the curriculum - teachers report positive impacts on soical, thinking and communication skills especially for children with lower self-confidence.
Jane is a experienced PfC trainer with a proven track record of leading whole-school PfC training and implementation in all phases.
PfC has really reinforced our culture of being a 'thinking school.' Jane's training is fantastic. It turned what seemed like quite a daunting subject into one of the most popular lessons with staff and children. Teachers feel confident and empowered. It moved us swiftly from the pedagogical through to how to have a classroom of philosophers. It's allowed us to talk about some really challenging ideas in a safe and respectful environment and has helped our children to develop a far more thoughtful and rich vocabulary.
Harbour Nursery and Primary School
Celebrate National Writing Day 2019
and honour the life and work of writer and illustrator
Judith Kerr (1923 – 2019)
This competition is now closed.
Altogether I received 65 entries from KS1 children and 73 from KS2 children, from eight schools across Brighton and East Sussex. It was a delight to read all the entries - I laughed, gasped and felt moved by the children's writing. Please find below some information about the winning entries.
Runner up - £10 National Book Token
Downs Junior KS2 pupil - a review of when Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit
As the only non-fiction entry and the only entry focusing on When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, this writing stood out. The pupil explained her views and opinions clearly, and demonstrated her understanding of the book as well as its context. I loved the way that she personalised her comments and included references to other reading.
Runner up - £10 National Book Token
St Pauls CE Academy KS2 pupil - an original Mog story
This story's references to the Mog character showed the pupil's reading of the original stories, and a new and interesting character was introduced in the form of the 'feisty boy' Mylo! The story was well developed and contained some really effective language choices ('thick hazelnut fur' and 'ocean blue eyes' - wow!), great vocabulary and striking details, such as the international setting and the food!
Runner up - £10 National Book Token
Peasmarsh KS2 pupil - an original story based on The Tiger Who Came To Tea and The Pied Piper
This story was a wonderful mix of Judith Kerr influences and Pied Piper references, and it made me laugh out loud when the rats listed their very particular cheesy choices and called out their gorgonzola chant! There were also some really effective language choices in the story - Peter's 'curly hair and crutches', for example.
Overall Winner - £20 National Book Token and £100 for the school to spend at The Book Nook in Hove
Bodiam KS1 pupil - a poem based on The Tiger Who Came To Tea
This well-composed poem took great care with language choices ('black pepper stripes' - wow!) and combined reminders of the original story (the cup of tea and tiger treats) with wonderful original touches, such as tree-climbing and premium chicken! I also loved the generosity of the poem, especially the kindness and thoughtfulness of the last line.
Testimonials
Thank you, always very insightful!
So useful and helpful for future planning.
I loved the INSET day so much! Thank you for your amazing hard work - I always learn so much when you come in.
Teachers, Brunswick Primary
The session was so informative and supportive. I really appreciate being part of such a collaborative team and look forward to continuing to share resources together.
The most useful task for my role was going through how to write Literacy Actions Plans. This will be my responsibility soon and now seems like a more manageable task.
Thanks, again, Jane for a very useful session! It's a pleasure working with you and always completely relevant and practical.
Secondary Literacy Leaders, Bexhill and Hastings, East Sussex
I just wanted to thank you for the training you delivered last week. Your personal passion was so engaging and the ideas that you shared with the staff team were being used the following day. You tailored the training wonderfully to our school needs.
Headteacher, The Haven VA C of E Primary school
Thank you so much for your brilliant staff meeting on reading into writing. The impact you have had on staff is immediate - I didn't walk past a teacher yesterday without a mention of how much they have taken either from the planning or staff session. I'll be in touch to discuss next steps, once the recent CPD is embedded.
English lead, St Andrew's C of E PriMary
Thank you very much for working with our year groups to develop reading into writing across the school. The support that you have given to our teachers is so valuable. All teachers come away from the planning sessions buzzing with ideas and feeling confident to deliver high quality provision.
HEADTEACHER, WILLINGDON PRIMARY SCHOOL
Jane's support with subject leads and class teachers for planning our Reading into Writing lessons has been exemplary. Her knowledge and ability to share this, whether with trainee teachers or those with years of experience, has helped us create a robust scheme of work that is moving our children's understanding and enjoyment of writing forwards. The only issue is that Jane is so popular that we have to get our diaries aligned early in the academic year to ensure we can gain her support when needed!
DEPUTY Head, heron park primary academy
'Wow! What an inspirational day, with so many practical ideas to take into the classroom. I loved the emphasis on 'purpose' of writing.'
'A really interactive session - great resources.'
'Fantastic text ideas and grammar and spelling actitvities.'
'Brilliant ideas for developing a reading climate.'
'Every aspect was very useful - fantastic input on all areas of English.'
Trainee teachers, East Sussex School centred itt programme
The training on writing really was first class and inspiring as always - thank you very much; I look forward to seeing the staff put your ideas into practice.
Headteacher, Ticehurst and Flimwell primary school
Thank you very, very much for your valuable contributions to our literacy across the curriculum day. You are an absolute mine of expertise and information and we so value everything you do with us; I've never had a session with you I didn't enjoy and there have been quite a few now! All of your sessions were exactly what we had wanted and were really very well received. I shall certainly recommend them as great CPD to other secondary schools.
School Leader, Uckfield college
I attended your course on Engaging Boys and I just wanted to say how great it was and how I am already beginning to think of how I can incorporate the amazing strategies you spoke about. I loved the ideas for children's narrative writing and all the great stimuli you used.
NQT, St Nicolas and St Mary CE Primary
Jane's training on writing and spelling was very well-pitched and very inspiring, delivered at a great pace. Jane is very approachable, doesn't patronise and is a great communicator.
Classteacher, Downs Junior SchooL
Thank you for the session you ran with Year 11. The resources and planning were exceptional and the students responded very well. This is a difficult time of year for students and teachers, so your input was particularly important in encouraging a group of bright students to achieve more highly in English Literature.
Subject Leader, Beacon Academy
Jane’s spelling workshop was one of those ‘lightbulb’ moments for me. As an experienced teacher, and one who has never had any trouble spelling, prior to the training I had limited strategies to offer pupils who were struggling. However, the strategies that Jane taught us suddenly enabled me to support so many other pupils. Once I’d passed this on to the pupils, they quickly took on the responsibility for their own learning and started to find strategies of their own. Dare I say, they even enjoyed it! Thank you Jane, spelling lessons will be a lot more enjoyable in future!
Year 6 Teacher, Chyngton Primary School
Fabulous integrated English training! Useful ways in that will engage the children in grammar. Thank you.
Class teachers, Patcham & Stanford Junior Schools
We have used Jane Branson's support in a range of ways: with children, staff, at INSET days, for lesson study and twilights, to introduce the Reading Toolkit, develop staff skills in GPaS, and to link writing to high quality texts. Jane has always been very well-prepared and we have found that our standards have improved as a result of her input which always has clarity and is highly practical. The lesson study sessions were particularly powerful involving staff from different age ranges in planning a lesson together with Jane and then co-delivering with her the next day. A well-organised and inspirational consultant.
Headteacher, St Marks C of E Primary, Hadlow Down
Thank you for your kind support and input. We both knew exactly what you were saying and felt we knew all of this... but somewhere along the way, we have lost those skills due to the demands placed upon us. We are so very grateful to you for sharing your passion and enthusiasm with us. It was infectious! As a result, tomorrow's planned lesson has incorporated many of your inference strategies and we will be looking to incorporate many of your ideas in the coming term.
Year 5 Teacher, Shinewater Primary, Eastbourne
Passionate, diligent and inspiring. Jane has often challenged my thinking and encouraged me to try out something new.
Class teacher, Willingdon Community School
We benefitted greatly from Jane's support and guidance over a two year period. We focused on an Integrated English approach and through Jane's clear direction, staff are now able to recognise opportunities to combine both reading and writing based around a class text. The improved impact on quality of teaching and learning is visible as children respond enthusiastically. The additional bonus has been the ongoing "drop-in surgery" approach, giving staff opportunity for ongoing mentoring as they gain confidence with a new way of working.
Deputy headteacher, Guestling Bradshaw CE Primary
Everyone went away from the day with something to use straight away in class. Children were at the heart of the learning, given ownership at all stages. Great!
Headteacher, Manor Primary School
The most inspiring staff meeting I've ever been to!
Class teacher, Hove Junior
Jane's reading course is brilliant. It made me change my teaching of reading - and encourage others to do the same. Lots of ideas to try - and the reasons why as well.
Class teacher, Harbour Primary and Nursery
Lots of practical examples, great ideas for use in the classroom - THANK YOU!
Headteacher, St Mary Magdalen's RC Primary and Nursery
