“Emma and her team are always very helpful, supportive and positive. We have worked with them for phonics for the last 18 months already, and the whole experience has been worthwhile - we can see the impact in our school.”

“It’s been a long time since I emailed, and I just wanted to say THANK YOU.
Visiting your school and being inspired by your passion, dedication, and commitment to teaching phonics brilliantly (yet incredible simply!) has transformed our little school. It has taken a lot of hard work, being very single minded, but the impact it is having is immense. Children’s reading has never been as good despite Lockdown after Christmas” “Thank you for letting us join the Hub, I cannot explain highly enough the impact you have had in our school Emma. I walk around phonics lesson and see it being taught with fidelity and the impact it is having on reading is tremendous.”

“We were in need of support to set up, adopt and embed a new synthetic phonics scheme, and both the scheme and support given has had a really positive impact on standards in our school. I worked closely with Caroline Bridge who was so easy to talk to, she was bubbly, positive, welcoming, understanding, supportive, professional at all times, and had a vast knowledge of the programme. Equally, she was motivating and inspiring about reading as a whole and her school is a fantastic advocate for a school who had embedded ‘a love of reading’ throughout, and for whom reading was a top priority.

They led by example and Caroline was always happy to demonstrate lessons or ‘jump in’ at various parts to model to staff how to do things. She had a great relationship with our staff who respected her advice and constructive criticism.

Even throughout lockdown, when face to face was not possible, Caroline kept in touch via zoom and was always making suggestions for parents and home learning.
Working with the hub supports us to consistently reflect on our practice and keep moving forward. I can’t sing their praises enough and would highly recommend any school to become part of a hub, as the support given has been invaluable.”

“The support that has been provided by the English Hub has been invaluable. It has been bespoke to the needs of our school and has had a significant impact through support for the English subject leader, and the school as a whole. They have supported us to embed our Phonics Programme and the children have benefitted significantly from this.”

“We are so grateful for the support that the Hub has provided to our school. It has made changes to our phonic programme, that were previously out of reach possible, and those changes are already having an amazingly positive impact on our children and staff.

We are now able to provide our children with a high quality, systematic well- resourced phonic programme that is championed by our reading lead and taught by our Teaching Assistants who have all received high quality, accessible training, and guidance.”

“Working with the St John Vianney Hub is an absolute pleasure. The team are full of energy and enthusiasm and are passionate about phonics and early reading. The support offered is tailor made, always child-centred, focused on improving outcomes as well as promoting a love of reading and learning.”

The support we have received from the English HUB has had such a positive impact on the teaching of phonics and early reading at our school.
Emma, our HUB Lead, has given us the strategies and upskilled the Reading Leads to ensure that our chosen SSP is embedded throughout school. Not only do we start the delivery of our SSP in Nursery, but we also continue it into Key Stage 2. Emma has supported us in making the best use of data, to ensure no child is left behind. We now have targeted interventions which are short, specific, and effective. She has given us constructive feedback, supported the Phonics Leads through coaching sessions, as well as mentored staff. From the support we have received, many staff are now active in their own personal development and CPD. With support and guidance from the HUB, we now have a team of expert reading teachers. 1:1 coaching and in house training led by the Reading Leads with guidance from the HUB, has ensured staff have designated practise sessions to build on their knowledge and share expertise and good practice, making sure learning is accessible for all pupils.
Phonics is now of the highest priority and staff have regained a passion and love for the teaching of phonics.
Thank you to all the team for your hard work and support.

I would like to pass on our thanks to the HUB team for the guidance and support they have given our setting. Emma has been a welcome addition to our school family - her warm, friendly yet focussed nature has helped us to improve our subject offer. Emma has taken the time to get to know our setting and our staff ensuring that advice was bespoke to the needs of our school. She has supported us in making significant changes to the way we both view and deliver our Phonics Programme. As a result, our phonics results have improved dramatically, and we look forward to continued improvement.

The support that we have received from the English Hub has been invaluable. It began with support to implement a new synthetic phonics scheme across school and embed this. Over the past 4 years, the individualised support for our school development and the development of the Early Reading Leader has been excellent and has resulted in significant improvements in our Y1 Phonics screening results. The relentless focus on delivering high quality CPD lesson feedback and mentoring for staff has resulted in a highly effective phonics teaching team. The impact of the involvement with the English Hub has been rapid and sustained and pupil progress in phonics has been monitored carefully with interventions implemented when necessary.

The English Hub has been invaluable support for our small school at Little Digmoor. Our previous phonics data had been low for a few years and with intensive support from the English Hub, our date doubled from 2022 - 2023. We are currently on track for another successful year. St John Vianney supported us with the introduction of our new Phonics SSP; Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised. Additionally, they assisted us with funding towards our new scheme. We are grateful to the English Hub for all of their dedication and support and would highly recommend them to other schools.

The head teacher and I first visited St John Vianney in July 2022 for the English hub showcase. Due to our schools demographic we were eligible for further support from the English Hub, which has been invaluable over the past two years. The English Hub have supported us with the implementation of our new phonics scheme and through support from the literacy specialists we now have a consistent and rigorous approach to phonics. Our results are improving and the phonics lead is confident in leading the team thanks to this support provided. The phonics lead has attended a variety of events and courses run by the English Hub, as has the school reading lead and the Year 1 class teacher. The resources and training provided have been extremely useful for the whole school team. We are about to graduate from the Hub and their support has been recognised and progress acknowledged by the whole school team. Thank you!

Eighteen months ago we completed an audit with you. The audit gave us a chance to focus on areas of strengths and areas of development. You really gave us the confidence and the advice that we really needed and eighteen months on we are in a stronger position and embedding our phonics scheme.

Speaking to Caroline has shown that our phonics journey could not have been possible without your support and advice from the hub. We wanted to say a BIG thank you.
Your expertise has been truly valued.