Since the pandemic, the face-to-face networking event has become a rare beast. Sue Pinnick explains how she revived the NATE Teach Meet for a brilliant summer end of term event.
What better way to round off the academic year than with an evening of ideas, conversation and encouragement? On Wednesday 8th July 2026, 30 recently qualified English teachers, student teachers for 2026-27, ECTs and experienced English teachers gathered for our summer Teach Meet: an energising event centred on sharing practical approaches, celebrating professional expertise and finding new ways to support young people as readers.
From the moment attendees arrived, the atmosphere was warm (literally!) and welcoming. Over refreshments, people had the chance to meet colleagues, reconnect with familiar faces, peruse books and resources provided by Pearson and begin the informal conversations that are such an important part of any successful Teach Meet. The event then opened with a keynote from Professor Julia Sutherland, followed by a short presentation from George Lippiett of Children’s BookFest. The programme then moved into a lively sequence of bite-sized sessions led by current classroom practitioners, giving everyone the opportunity to hear from a range of contributors from different settings.
Julia’s ‘Pedagogies of Hope’ keynote was a particular highlight, introducing the Faster, immersive read model, drawing on research that found that reading two high-quality, whole texts back-to-back over a term, supported by reading aloud, dialogic discussion and explicit comprehension strategies, enabled struggling, average and confident readers to make significant progress (Sutherland et al, 2023). The approach emphasises fluency, enjoyment and comprehension before analysis, offering students opportunities to develop confidence and persistence across whole texts. As one attendee commented, the session showed how ‘faster reads and enjoyment of texts comes before analysis’.
The sharing sessions offered an equally rich range of ideas. Juliet Farley presented research-based library lessons with a cross-curricular focus, while Qurat Ul Ain Khalil and Bronny Way explored reciprocal reading. Angela Jones shared work on paired reading, and Sarah Kruschandl introduced Pearson’s national book group for Key Stage 4. Together, these sessions foregrounded the many ways teachers can create more purposeful, social and supportive reading experiences.
There was plenty of inspiration for colleagues looking to develop creative approaches to English teaching. Nicola Garrard’s presentation, From creative writers to creative readers, focused on the value of free writing for disadvantaged students. Attendees found the session particularly clear and impactful, and it prompted reflection on how low-stakes, regular writing can help students find confidence and agency as readers and writers.
Elsewhere, Tom Davey from Bright Torches demonstrated active approaches to teaching Shakespeare, Tim Gurowich shared Mapping the Text, and Nikki Baird introduced a points-based Reading Challenge designed to encourage high prior-attaining students to read challenging texts, while Summer Dineen explored how drama can support inference for weaker readers. These sessions provided useful reminders that English classrooms can be active, collaborative and imaginative, while remaining firmly focused on developing students’ reading and interpretative skills.
The programme also included the Teen Reads end-of-year meeting and voting for the UKLA young adult fiction shortlist. With everyone welcome to join, this created another opportunity to celebrate young people’s reading, exchange recommendations and think together about the books that matter to secondary students.
Feedback from the event showed how much attendees valued the breadth and practicality of the programme. One participant particularly appreciated ‘hearing so many different ideas’, while another described the event as an opportunity to gather ‘tips for teaching’. Several comments highlighted the benefit of learning directly from experienced teachers and hearing about the methods they had developed in their own classrooms. As one attendee put it, these practical insights were ‘extremely useful’, and they expected to employ some of the techniques in future.
The range of speakers was also praised: ‘The different speakers all were very engaging and easy to follow.’ That combination of clarity, generosity and practical experience is at the heart of a good Teach Meet. Rather than presenting one definitive model of practice, the event offered a collection of possibilities for colleagues to adapt, question and take back to their own contexts.
Most importantly, the evening demonstrated the value of making space for teachers to learn with and from one another. A Teach Meet does not need to be a large conference or a heavily formalised event. With a welcoming structure, a varied programme and contributors willing to share what they have tried, it can become a powerful form of professional learning.
Our summer Teach Meet ended with plenty of ideas to take away, conversations still in progress and, we hope, renewed enthusiasm for the year ahead. For anyone considering organising their own event, our guide to ‘how to set up a Teach Meet’ offers practical suggestions for planning a similarly warm, collaborative and idea-rich gathering.
Featured image: iStock/Wirestock
