Primary conference 2025: Raising voices, raising literacy

Key event details

Date: 27 March 2027, 9.00am - 4.00pm

Tickets: Early bird rate - £150

Lunch and refreshments provided

Registration: Please complete the form at the end of this page.

Venue: Bradford City FC. Location BD8 7DY

About the primary conference

We are delighted to launch our next primary practitioner conference. Taking place in Bradford, the 2025 UK City of Culture, our primary conference will be on the theme of Raising voices, raising literacy will be a celebration of authentic self-expression.

Oracy is a key driver of the Labour government’s education pledge. We responded with the Creating confident communicators report, laying a roadmap for ensuring that every child – irrespective of their background – is empowered to find, develop and express their voice. At the conference we will continue our examination of spoken communication as a foundation for primary literacy.

Recent research shows that "children’s enjoyment of writing peaks when they start primary school, but steadily declines until they leave secondary school". What are the best ways to reverse this downward trend and nurture children’s creativity, self-expression and mental wellbeing? In line with our work in the Bradford Hub, we will welcome speakers from the world of poetry and academia to offer practical and creative ways to engage a generation of young writers.

At Raising voices, raising literacy we will consider how best to pool our expertise and resources to support young people’s written and spoken communication in the primary classroom.

We hope you will join the conversation.

Confirmed conference speakers:

• Jeffrey Boakye is a writer, speaker, broadcaster and educator with expertise in issues surrounding race, masculinity, education and popular culture. Jeffrey taught English in London and Yorkshire for 15 years and now provides training for educational establishments on race, identity, masculinity and education. He is a Senior Teaching Fellow at the University of Manchester’s Institute for Education, has written eight books including I Heard What You Said (Pan Macmillan, 2023) and Musical Truth (Faber, 2022) and hosts BBC Radio 4’s Add to Playlist.
  
• Jonny Walker is a children's writer, educator and workshop facilitator. He works across the UK and internationally, teaching children about mythology, nature, writing and poetry. Jonny is passionate about the transformative power of children's chat. He has written a host of books for children, as part of the Harper Collins Big Cat for Little Wandle Fluency series, about nature, mythology and more.
  
• Maddy Barnes is an experienced primary teacher, senior leader and English advisor who offers bespoke training across the UK and internationally. Maddy is also an established blogger and series editor and author for a Rising Stars and Prim-Ed Publishing. She is a DfE QA proofer for grammar and reading and a KS2 Writing Moderator. She is passionate about "getting it right" for children.

How to book your place

The primary conference booking form is coming soon - contact Ruth King to book in the meantime or if you have any questions.