Cross-curricular Skills: Literacy Framework

HYWEL ROBERTS: TEACHER – WRITER – HUMOURIST – CURRICULUM IMAGINEER 

BOTHEREDNESS: a reverie in making learning matter A day of professional learning, curriculum, creativity, research, thinking, and fun

This professional learning session will focus on innovative and inspiring approaches to embedding Literacy across AoLEs. Author, educator, and storyteller Hywel Roberts will share his distinctive stories and pedagogy, demonstrating how to bring the curriculum to life in a way that captivates learners and fosters a genuine enthusiasm for learning. 

Hywel will introduce thinking and research around pupil motivation and the ingredients that can support a bespoke curriculum that allows teachers professional freedoms whilst enabling them to sleep well at night. We will engage with some planning examples and grow an understanding of how stories, narratives, and contexts are now being promoted by the cognitive science as useful vehicles for pupil learning. Teachers will leave with ideas that can be applied straight away in their classrooms. Ideas from the day are rooted in reality and will offer colleagues a renewed vigour. 

In addition, this professional learning session will explore how literacy can be developed in authentic and purposeful ways through approaches which utilise narrative, imagination, and curiosity to foster engagement with writing across various AoLEs.

Target Audience:

Primary School Teachers, Early Secondary School Teachers and LLC Leads. 

Session Aims:

• Developing promising practice with professional imagination 

• Being creative in a concrete system 

• Storytelling and learning: the research into how narratives can support progress and attainment in core areas 

• Embracing enactive practice through Drama pedagogy to aid understanding in key curriculum areas 

• Encouraging great oracy across the curriculum 

• Imaginative acetates – how curriculum intent is implemented creatively using practical examples from all Key Stages 

• Moving from engagement to investment in learning 

Funding:

A funding allocation of £250 per day per school is available to support attendance. Please note that funded places are limited. 

Date(s)/Venue(s):

Tuesday 14th October 2025

The Village Hotel, Langdon Road, Swansea. SA1 8QY  

9.30am - 3.00pm

Booking link: Click here to book

Making the Invisible Visible: Modelling the invisible skills behind fluent reading and deeper comprehension

This Professional Learning session will support teachers in deepening their understanding of how children learn to read by exploring Scarborough’s Reading Rope—a widely recognised model that illustrates the complex, intertwined strands required for proficient reading.

This professional learning session explores practical strategies for reading before, during and after a text, with a strong focus on higher‑order skills such as clarifying, summarising, connecting, comparing and inferring.

We will look at how to develop pupils’ metacognition in reading—helping learners think about their thinking so they engage actively, question purposefully and build deeper understanding.

The session also highlights effective teacher modelling and revisits the effective reading strategies to make the invisible skills of skilled readers visible in the classroom.

Target Audience:

Primary School Teachers, Early Secondary School Teachers and LLC Leads. 

Session Aims:

•  Deepen understanding of how children learn to read, including the strands of Scarborough’s Reading Rope.

•  Build knowledge of effective reading strategies before, during and after reading, with a focus on higher‑order skills.

•  Promote metacognitive approaches that help pupils think about their thinking and improve comprehension.

• Strengthen teacher modelling to make reading processes visible and explicit.

• Refresh and apply Higher‑Order Reading Skills to enhance classroom practice.

• Equip teachers with practical tools to develop confident, independent readers.

Funding:

Unfortunately, this PL will not be funded.

Date(s)/Venue(s):

Thursday 25th June 2026

Y Storfa, 277-278 Oxford Street, Swansea SA1 3EL 

9.30am - 3.00pm

Booking link: Click here to book

Model, Motivate, Transform: Building Confident Writers 

Through this PL we will be identifying and exploring 'What is progression in Writing?' and how we can plan, ensuring progression and continuity. 

By following the progression steps, we will examine how to effectively utilise the statements to support and advance learners in their extended writing development. 

We will revisit the Swansea Model of Sentence Structures Continuum, Sensational Sentences, and examine its impact on improving and enriching learners’ writing. This session will also provide an opportunity to deepen your understanding of the explicit teaching of text structures to support progression in extended writing. 

Target Audience:

Primary School Teachers, Early Secondary School Teachers and LLC Leads. 

Session Aims:

• Deepen Understanding of Literacy within the Curriculum for Wales 

• Equip teachers with strategies to support diverse learners effectively. 

• To explore the features and expectations of extended writing at each stage of progression 

• To examine how the explicit teaching of sentence structure through the Swansea Model of Sentence Structures Continuum 'Sensational Sentences' can enhance pupils' confidence, control, and creativity in writing. 

• To support effective planning that ensures coherent and continuous development of writing skills 

Funding:

A funding allocation of £250 per day per school is available to support attendance. Please note that funded places are limited. 

Date(s)/Venue(s):

New Date - Monday 21st September 2026

Friday 20th March 2026 

Swansea Arena, Oystermouth Rd, Maritime Quarter, Bae Copr Bay, Swansea SA1 3BX 

9.15am - 2.45pm

Booking link: Click here to book

Language Literacy and Communication Network Meeting

These termly meetings provide LLC Coordinators and other practitioners with a collaborative space to reflect, share best practices, and stay updated on the latest developments in LLC. 

Each session will have a topic of focus, which will be shared in the LLC newsletter. To receive the newsletter, please email Rhian.Price-Deer@swansea.gov.uk

Through interactive discussions, goal setting, and resource sharing, these meetings empower coordinators to refine their practice, build supportive networks, and implement strategies that lead to meaningful change in their schools.

Target Audience:

This series of meetings is primarily for LLC Coordinators and leaders responsible for Literacy within schools. However, other practitioners and school staff who would benefit from the discussions are also welcome to join.

Session Aims:

• Share updates, new initiatives, and key information relevant to LLC.

• Facilitate discussions on current challenges and opportunities within LLC.

• Provide a platform for sharing good practice and successful strategies for implementation.

Funding:

There will be no central funding available for these sessions.

Date(s)/ Venue(s):

Autumn 1: Wednesday 22nd October 2025 – Click here to book

Autumn 2: Wednesday 17th December 2025 - Click here to book

Spring 1: Wednesday 11th February 2026 – Click here to book

Spring 2: Wednesday 25th March 2026 - Click here to book

Summer 1: Wednesday 20th May 2026 – Click here to book

Summer 2: Wednesday 8th July 2026 - Click here to book

Swansea Arena, Oystermouth Rd, Maritime Quarter, Bae Copr Bay, Swansea SA1 3BX

09:15 – 12.00pm