While she was at the Reading Rocks North conference, Claire had the privilege of talking to renowned education consultant Jane Considine about all things reading and writing in primary schools. Jane’s sparky nature and good humour make her a captivating listen and she imparts wisdom acquired through many years of experience.
Growing up in Birmingham, Jane often had to fend for herself as her mother was also in a teacher. Despite this, Jane never had the desire to pursue this for her own career when she was young and instead, chose to complete a retail management scheme (her singing ability let her down for her dream of being a ‘triple threat’ West End performer, despite her excellent tap dancing and drama skills!). Jane excelled in retail and earned awards for her customer service but it wasn’t until she took up a role in the training department that she realised that her heart was actually in teaching. From here, Jane completed a teacher training course at Newman Teacher Training College and graduated with a first-class honours degree, despite becoming pregnant in her second year at this Catholic college.
Jane taught for a number of years in the classroom before being chosen for a Local Authority job in Northampton, where she relocated with her family. It was here that she became one of the first National Literacy Strategy trainers who delivered training across the UK.
After deciding that she had bigger ideas than those she was able to communicate under the watchful eye of the DfE, Jane branched out on her own and went freelance, delivering training to schools and creating a vast wealth of resources and writing books. Because of her knowledge and experience, Jane has established her reputation as an education consultant who delivers real results for schools and teachers in the UK.
By speaking about her background and experience, Jane gives real, useful tips that can be easily incorporated by teachers into their own planning, and she speaks passionately about the need for teachers of reading and writing to be confident in doing so to achieve the best results for their children.
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