Secondary CPD courses
Our offer
Having good literacy skills is key to academic success. We provide professional development for senior leaders, literacy leads, subject teachers, and librarians to develop a whole-school approach to literacy teaching in secondary schools.
Our training is aligned with evaluation and research from the Education Endowment Foundation and emphasises the practical application of research in the classroom.
We recognise the importance of supporting all practitioners to teach their students how to read, write and communicate effectively in their subject - what is known as disciplinary literacy. We provide a wide range of training to develop confidence, knowledge and understanding of how to teach disciplinary literacy.
We also offer CPD on reading for pleasure, which draws on our own research that when young people enjoy reading, they read more often, helping to build vital reading skills and bringing wider benefits for wellbeing, confidence and learning.
Why attend?
- Build confidence and knowledge in how to teach literacy in your subject
- Gain practical strategies to apply in your teaching
- Interact live with a specialist trainer
- Keep up to date with the latest literacy research
- Receive high-quality resources
For more information on literacy leadership
Read our blogs on literacy leadership for more insight into our CPD and training.
Explore our literacy CPD training pathways
Each pathway below suggests a sequence of courses to build skills and understanding in a specific literacy area. Each individual course can be purchased either as a scheduled ticketed event or as a group booking on a date of your choice.
- Introduction to disciplinary literacy
- Developing reading within the curriculum
- Developing disciplinary literacy within subject areas
- Supporting English teachers
Enquiries
For all ticketed events contact:
Jess Hirst, Project Officer, jess.hirst@literacytrust.org.uk
For all group or whole-school training enquiries contact:
Nisha Tank, Head of School Improvement, nisha.tank@literacytrust.org.uk
For any other secondary training enquiries please contact:
Kate Warde, kate.warde@literacytrust.org.uk or call 07742 768406
Secondary national conference 7 July 2025
Join us to hear first hand from our prestigious keynote speakers Alice Deignan and Kit De Waal who will share their expertise and insight when they spearhead this year's Secondary national conference.
Explore our literacy training pathways for 2025
Pathway one
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New to, or developing your understanding of the concept of disciplinary literacy? This course introduces the concept and explores practical classroom strategies.View details about What is disciplinary literacy?
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This training explores the role of talk as a tool for learning and promotes different ways of implementing exploratory talk activities in the classroom.View details about Talk for learning
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Learn what the research says works in teaching writing to adolescents and practical ways to apply this to develop students writing skills in the classroom and for exams.View details about Disciplinary writing in the secondary curriculum
Pathway two
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Examine the role of academic language in the secondary curriculum and promote ways of teaching different tiers of vocabulary in a range of subjects.View details about Building vocabulary in the secondary curriculum
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Learn how to develop the academic reading skills that students need to access knowledge and concepts in all subjects, and to do well in their exams.View details about Reading for learning
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This course explores ideas around reading motivation, the use of digital reading platforms and the importance of valuing and promoting all types of wider reading.View details about Reading for pleasure
Pathway three
These courses are ideal for practitioners, who are either new to, or developing an understanding of disciplinary literacy and how it can be taught in their subject. They are also suitable for literacy leads or line managers, who are supporting a subject area.
Sessions are live and interactive and grounded in literacy research and theory. They are designed to equip teachers with the knowledge, understanding and skills to teach the reading, writing and communication skills required for their subject and offer practical teaching strategies.
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This course is designed to equip maths teachers and subject leaders with the skills to develop literacy for learning mathematics in the classroomView details about Developing literacy in mathematics
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Using evidence from research and theory, this course investigates effective literacy strategies for teaching and learning in science.View details about Developing literacy in science
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Explore the use of reading strategies to support active reading of fiction, non-fiction and 19th century literary texts.View details about Developing literacy in English
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Learn how to make reading in geography interactive, improve extended writing and help students unpack exam questions.View details about Developing literacy in geography
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Explore the role of academic language and literacy in the secondary history curriculum, and how to promote ways of developing talk, reading and writing in this subject.View details about Developing literacy in history
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Build an understanding of the role of literacy in the secondary physical education curriculum, and how to promote ways of developing talk, reading and writing in this subject.View details about Developing literacy in physical education
Pathway four
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Explore the use of reading strategies to support active reading of fiction, non-fiction and 19th century literary texts.View details about Developing literacy in English
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This course explores ideas around reading motivation, the use of digital reading platforms and the importance of valuing and promoting all types of wider reading.View details about Reading for pleasure
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Acclaimed spoken-word artist and award-winning poet Steven Camden - aka Polarbear – delivers an energetic, interactive workshop, exemplifying his own collaborative practice of using...View details about Developing narrative and descriptive writing at KS3
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Booker-nominated author, Wyl Menmuir, leads a practical workshop exemplifying strategies for developing students’ descriptive writing skills for the GCSE exam.View details about Developing narrative and descriptive writing at KS4
