Improving literacy standards in primary schools for 50 years. Teach Primary Award Winners.
The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) is an independent UK charity that promotes the effective teaching of children’s literacy. Our work emphasises the importance of children’s literature in enabling children to become confident and enthusiastic readers and writers with all the benefits this brings.
This week’s Early Years pick: I Can't Sleep by Emma Farrarons, published by Rocket Bird Books. It stars two brothers in a very familiar bedtime scenario of one child being ready for bed and the other having just a few more questions to ask. More: https://clpe.org.uk/blog/
We’re so excited to host the CLiPPA 2026 award show on 9 July!
Here’s one of the 2025 winning school shadowing groups performing "A Short Introduction to the Doggish Language" by Brian Bilston.
We can’t wait to see this year’s winners take to the stage and share their performances.
Our latest blog by Becca Breedon, Assistant Headteacher at Pears Family School, explores how a bespoke, text-led curriculum developed in partnership with CLPE is helping students recover their relationship with reading and writing, develop key life skills, and re-engage with education.
Read the full piece on our website: clpe.org.uk/blog
✨ New blog post ✨
Charley Rabbit shares her motivations for writing 'Monsieur Mustard: The Disappearance of Fabio Fangtooth' as well as a glimpse into her influences and inspirations.
Read more: https://clpe.org.uk/blog/monsieur-mustard-blog-charley-rabbit
Did you know that we have videos on our website of all of the CLiPPA poets performing their poetry that schools can access for free? 😍
This is an excerpt from 'Points of View of Professor Peekaboo' from nominated title 'The Poetry World of John Agard' by John Agard, performed by illustrator Shirley Hottier and published by Otter-Barry Books
11/06/2026
An amazing day yesterday with the first of our Power of Reading final days, an extra special group: the first cohort of our EEF-funded research trial. Incredible practice, huge impact on pupil engagement & attainment, esp boys, FSM, EAL & SEND. Teachers loving teaching again! And already hearing the same story from the groups we're running in Nottingham, Manchester and Leeds...
What happens when schools place high-quality children's literature at the heart of literacy teaching?
In our latest blog post, Joyti Azad, Primary Teaching and Learning Consultant and Strategic Lead for Literacy at Brighton & Hove City Council, reflects on the impact of the Power of Reading approach across schools in the region.
From improving pupils' enjoyment of reading and writing to increasing teacher confidence and raising the quality of writing outcomes, Joyti shares how a text-based approach has inspired creativity, enriched vocabulary and transformed literacy practice in classrooms.
Read the full piece on our website: clpe.org.uk/blog
Children need support to understand that there are many forms of poetry, and it doesn’t always rhyme! Teachers can help by introducing children to a variety of poetic forms, including those with defined structures, rhythms and patterns and free verse, that can be used to shape experience and provide a stimulus for writing.
Explore why poetry is so important to developing literacy skills: https://clpe.org.uk/research/poetry-primary-schools-what-we-know-works
Did you know our Power of Reading training uses research-proven approaches to develop literacy? It empowers children to become engaged readers, boosting comprehension, creative thinking, and confident writing.
As Lucy Challand from Sydenham Primary says:
"What we love is immersing children in a book thoroughly, developing empathy, writing for different purposes and cross-curricular links."
Booking for the 2026-27 academic year is now open — find out more at https://clpe.org.uk/training