What does a Literacy Tree INSET Look Like?

26th January 2024

Written by:

Alex Francis
Resource Manager and Senior Consultant

What does a Literacy Tree INSET look like?

As consultants, we are lucky enough to work with schools on a wide range of needs to support them with the teaching of English. As primary teachers, English specialists and Writing Moderators, we love nothing more than sharing our passion for all things English teaching with colleagues across the globe. At Literacy Tree HQ, September is referred to as ‘INSET season’, when our team of consultants depart, suitcases laden heavily with quality texts and sentence strips, for all corners of the UK and further afield. However, INSETs are not just September’s domain. At all times of the year, consultants are called upon to lead INSETs in schools across the world in different forms – whether this be in-person or online to support schools in their use of the Teach Through a Text pedagogy. So how can our INSETs be used to support the teaching of English and what different formats can they take?

Launching Literacy Tree

Most common at the start or end of an academic year, a Literacy Tree launch INSET is one of our most popular choices, sometimes booked up over a year in advance. For some schools, this may be their very first foray into the world of Literacy Tree. For others, they may have trialled a few of our resources in the run-up to the INSET, allowing them to experiment with the approach before the training. In a typical launch INSET, we explore what children need in order to be successful writers and how our quality book-based curriculum supports this. We dive into book selection and what makes a quality text, exploring the glorious diversity and beautiful range of books on offer in our curriculum maps. Delving deeper, we unpick how to create meaningful, carefully sequenced journeys through a book, exploring the pedagogy and principles of the Teach Through a Text approach. As the vast majority of our schools launch with Writing Roots, we embed this further by exemplifying the approach using one of our texts, journeying teachers through the sequence with practical examples of the different aspects of our approach, from the Discovery Point through to the extended outcome. Staff get busy with post-it notes, snippy with sentence strips and imaginative with instant publishing to really put themselves in children’s shoes as they journey through a text. We deliberately choose task designs which are easily applicable and adaptable across different year groups and actively explore opportunities for adaptive teaching and ways to scaffold learning. Alongside this, there is time for reflection and opportunities for staff to discuss and consider upcoming texts and how they can apply the learning from the day to the books they will be using with their children next. The aim of these INSETs is that staff leave feeling inspired, excited and confident to begin their Literacy Tree journey, and we are proud that feedback overwhelmingly tells us this is so.

Embedding Literacy Tree

For many of our schools, a launch INSET is not the only time they engage with whole-school training with Literacy Tree. Further down the line, schools may request a refresher INSET – perhaps a number of new staff have joined the team since they launched; subject leaders and teaching staff might be looking to develop their practice further with a specific focus on an area like shared writing or scaffolding, or maybe the school is looking to grow a new ‘branch’ of their tree by launching Literary Leaves or Spelling Seeds. An ‘Embedding Literacy Tree’ INSET, like all of our INSETs, is tailored to the needs of individual schools but the principle aim is to support staff to deepen their understanding of the approach and familiarise themselves with any new aspects they are taking on as a school. For schools looking to embed the approach through the use of Literary Leaves, these INSETs explore effective teaching of reading using whole books, how our pedagogy and approach aligns with the DFE Reading Framework and creative ways of recording reading outcomes. Spelling Seed INSETs involve deepening understanding of the different strategies for the teaching of spelling, alongside practical activities and examples for the teaching of spelling in the context of a quality text.

Online INSETs

At the latest count, Literacy Tree is used in 92 countries across the world. While we are lucky enough at times to travel to different corners of the world to deliver INSETs, our remote INSETs are becoming an increasingly popular option, not just for our international schools but also schools all over the UK. So how do we ensure our remote sessions are as practical and engaging as our in-person training? We pride ourselves on ensuring that every INSET we deliver, whether face-to-face or via a screen gets staff talking, writing and fully engaging with our quality texts and resources. We model with our trusty armoury of practical resources, supporting staff to do the same. Shared Writing is explored and demonstrated practically and interactively and we facilitate teachers sharing ideas through regular use of feedback opportunities and online chat functions. Feedback from these online INSETs is overwhelmingly positive, with schools sharing the engagement and excitement of staff to put the learning into practice.

Every INSET we deliver is tailored to the specific needs of the individual school, but we hope this gives you an insight into the possibilities a Literacy Tree INSET can offer. It is a huge honour to be invited into schools to share our love of English and support schools on their journey, no matter how far along that journey they may be. If you’re interested in finding out more about what we can offer for your setting, don’t hesitate to get in touch!

We love receiving feedback!

“Our best INSET for a long time. Teachers are really excited to get stuck in!” Karen Taylor - Assistant Head Teacher - St Ignatius Catholic Primary School
“What a fantastic day it was! (The consultant’s) enthusiasm for the programme and the teaching of high-quality English really shone through and has motivated our staff so much – it was worth every penny!” – Sarah Parr - Assistant Headteacher - Dale Primary School
“Incredibly well received… the delivery and connection with the staff was excellent.” – Steve Coles - Principal - Island Primary
“Thank you for your wonderful resources and amazingly inspiring INSET” Chloe Warburton – Class Teacher - Barlborough Hall School
“Thank you for such an inspiring INSET – we were all genuinely excited to think about what we can now do with the Literacy Tree approach. As someone whose strength isn’t English, I just really want to get in the classroom and teach it myself. A wonderful day – thank you! Children and staff are now highly engaged, which is exactly what we wanted. There is now such a buzz around writing – Rebecca Hadfield – Headteacher – Bosley Primary School
“Thank you for a fantastic INSET. It was very inspiring and I’m excited to get started!” Class teacher - Gretton Primary School