Talk for writing training centre
Welcome To Monty's Talk For Writing Training Centre
Welcome To Monty's Talk For Writing Training Centre
Lift Montgomery is one of the highest performing schools in the Midlands. Since joining Talk for Writing over ten years ago, the school has undergone an astonishing transformation. In 2014, Montgomery (faced with mediocre results and an unexciting curriculum) embarked on their school improvement journey with Talk for Writing at the very centre of their change. A decade later, the school has become a beacon within its community, celebrated for its high results, ambitious curriculum and exceptional personal development opportunities.
A recipient of many accolades (including the IQM Centre of Excellence for Inclusion, Artsmark Gold Award, School Games Platinum Award and awards for highest attainment and progress for pupil premium children), Montgomery remains determined to further excel and to support other schools across the country.
The way in which Montgomery rolled out and embedded Talk for Writing across the school became the blueprint for other successful projects and is one of the reasons why over 80% of the pupils leave at age related expectations in reading, writing and maths, despite the fact that 98% of the school community have English as an additional language.
Developing a love for language and literacy is at the heart of our curriculum. Talk for Writing has been a driving force in our accelerated improvement in writing. It is embedded across the school, from Nursery to Year 6 and is led by a working party (known as ‘The Talk for Writing Team’), who work across the school to develop teaching and learning strategies. We have a strong commitment to staff training both in-house and action research with Pie Corbett. As a result, teacher confidence has grown throughout the school along with pupil enthusiasm and engagement.
Meet our trainers who work alongside Pie Corbett and Julia Strong. See who their literary icons are:
Literary icon: Benjamin Zephaniah
Literary icon: Dick King Smith
Literary icon: Khaled Hosseini
Literary icon: Charles Dickens
Literary icon: Judith Kerr
Our training is aimed at headteachers, teachers, subject leaders and teaching assistants. We are more than happy to welcome individuals from schools, teams or working parties. For bespoke training, please contact the school.
Current training offered:
Talk for Writing in Action
Our Talk for Writing in action mornings include:
• The opportunity to see TfW in action in classrooms
• Talk to school leaders, teachers and children about how TfW works in our school
• Look at the progress and standard of writing in the books.
Cost: £75 per person
2024/2025 dates:
I don’t know if you have any understanding of the impact you have had on the children and staff across these schools. It is huge and will be long lasting.
Thank you for all the support and guidance.
- Mrs Kelly Stokes, Primary Lead of Sapientia Education Trust
I just wanted to write on behalf of all the Essex headteachers who visited your school today what an amazing day we had. I began my time as a teacher in Birmingham (so I know the many challenges you face) and it brought back many happy memories to be back today. You are all doing such a marvellous job.
It was simply the best professional development day I have ever had. I cannot believe how well you tailored the day to our specific requirements and everyone who presented was so inspiring and knowledgeable. Our professional development days with the Essex writing project have been great but nothing beats talking to people doing it in a real setting knowing exactly what the challenges are and the next steps in the journey. It was such a pleasure to be in your school and we have all come out absolutely buzzing with where our Talk for Writing journey will take us next. Please pass on all our thanks to everyone involved – you thought of everything to make us welcome from the lovely lady on reception to the wonderful lunch and refreshments. It is hard to believe that a school would also have so many staff who are not only fantastic teachers but also superb facilitators.
Many, many thanks!
- Julie Puxley, Headteacher, Katherine Semar School, Essex.
As a school that was in special measures, the approach of Talk for Writing and the support to embed it across the school has had a significant impact on our school's improvement journey. Working with Montgomery has enabled our staff to see this approach in action and the significant impact that it has had on writing there. This in turn has impacted significantly on our writing this year across the school, and in particular boys’ writing has seen a significant improvement. The days attended at Montgomery have inspired staff to drive through the changes here, thank you.
- Karen Horne, Principal, Mansfield Green EAct Academy.
A significant proportion of pupils, approximately one third, have made outstanding progress, particularly in writing, having caught up on previously lost ground. This includes pupils who joined the school in the early stages of learning English as an additional language. Middle leaders effectively manage subjects in curriculum teams, as reflected in the ‘Talk for Writing’ project that has resulted in a significant improvement to standards in pupils’ writing across the school.
- Ofsted, 2014
Just wanted to say a big thank you to you and your amazing staff today. The feedback from the Coventry Heads and teachers was very positive with many photos taken and ideas magpied! Staff at our school were particularly impressed with your Nursery and Reception. It resonated with our ethos and philosophy.
- Dean Thompson, Talk for Writing Primary Expert and Consultant
