Strategic Hub Lead

Joanne Siddall - Headteacher 

Jo has been a teacher for nearly 22 years. In that time, she has taught in a wide variety of schools across Yorkshire and the Caribbean. She has always had a passion for English, being Literacy Lead at her first school, working with the Leeds 0-11 Learning Improvement Team on school improvement, moderating writing at KS2 and being accredited as an LLE for her work supporting schools across Bradford.

Jo has been the Headteacher at Burley and Woodhead CE Primary School since September 2015. She formed Burley Woodhead English Hub in 2018 and has successfully led it ever since. Since setting up the Hub, Jo has built the Burley Woodhead English Hub and is now strategic lead, ensuring that our team maintain the highest standards by keeping abreast of the latest evidence based information and working with the DfE to revise phonics programmes and develop early language support.

Hub Lead and Literacy Specialist

Sarah Scott - English Lead and Year 1 Teacher

 I have been teaching for 14 years in schools across Bradford. I have worked as a local authority moderator and across a range of schools sharing best practice in Early Years and Key Stage One. Throughout my career I have designed curriculums and led CPD for senior leaders, teachers and support staff. This has enabled schools to establish a clear and consistent approach for Literacy from EYFS to UKS2.  

Hub Manager

Janet Birch - English Hub Manager

I joined the team in September 2019 as the English Hub Manager.  With over 20 years in the private sector I have a wealth of experience in problem solving, driving excellence and raising standards.  I am passionate about supporting schools and the hub team.

Finance Officer

 Victoria Lister - Finance Officer

I am the Finance Officer for the Burley Woodhead English Hub. I have over 9 years’ experience working as a School Business Manager across Bradford and North Yorkshire. Prior to moving into education I worked in London in the charity sector managing a large fundraising budget.

Literary Specialists:

Abi Haddy - Phonics Lead and Year 1 Teacher

I have worked at Burley and Woodhead for 9 years and taught reception for 5 years before moving into Year 1. I am currently the Phonics and Early Reading lead in school where I support staff in ensuring high quality Phonics and Early Reading provision in our school. I am an enthusiastic teacher and love teaching the early steps of reading to children; it is wonderfully rewarding to see children develop their skill of reading as well as their love of reading.  I am passionate about teaching reading to young children as this is a crucial skill to have in order for children to become independent life-long learners.

I have worked for the Burley Woodhead English Hub for 2 years; I started my journey as an auditor before becoming a Literacy Specialist this year. As part of my role I have been lucky enough to work with colleagues across Bradford and North Yorkshire to improve outcomes in Early Reading for all children. This has included running training sessions in developing practitioner’s knowledge in Phonics and Early Reading.  

I have fond memories of books and reading from my own childhood and hope to pass this on to young children today through all the work I do as a teacher, and as part of working for the English hub. 

Charlotte Bingham - SLE and EYFS Leader and Year 1 Teacher

I am an experienced EYFS leader and KS1 teacher having taught in primary schools for the last ten years. I currently teach at Steeton Primary School and work as an Early Years Specialist for Bradford Birth to 19, Early Years programme. 

I have been fortunate enough to be part of the Burley Woodhead English Hub since it started in 2019. It is incredibly rewarding working with different schools across Bradford and North Yorkshire especially seeing the continued improvements and results for children in Early Reading and beyond. 

I am an enthusiastic, caring teacher who wants the best for our children in the Bradford area and beyond. I believe that laying the best foundations for our children is crucial to enable them to flourish and prosper in later life. I enjoy teaching children the early steps in reading and writing and giving our young learners the skills to enjoy books. Reading is one of the most important skills to give a child, all of us have been in the learn to read phase at some time in our lives. The quicker we learn to read, the sooner we can start to read to learn and this phase lasts for the rest of lives.

Charlotte Murray - 

I am an experienced KS1 and EYFS teacher and have a wealth of experience in the teaching of phonics and reading. Over the last 5 years, I have led English at Burley & Woodhead Primary School and have previously held the English Hub Lead position.

I have been lucky enough to have been part of the hub team since it started in 2018. Over the last four years, I have worked alongside several schools across Bradford and North Yorkshire providing intensive support and medium level support. I am extremely proud of the high quality support we have on offer.  

I am an enthusiastic, thoughtful and caring teacher. It is an amazing privilege to be able to teach children the joy that is reading and watch them progress from learning individual phonemes to using expression and understanding word meaning. I firmly believe every child deserves the best start in life with high quality phonics teaching and early reading skills. 

Emma Allen - Literacy Lead and Year 3 Teacher

I am a year 3 teacher and the leader of Literacy at Newby Primary. It is my belief that every child can succeed. Working within a thriving inner-city school has cemented this passion, as well as providing lots of opportunities to reflect and develop my own teaching practice to suit the needs of each unique child.  I believe that high-quality phonics and early reading teaching is fundamental to giving children the best start in life.

During my time at Newby, I have taught in all of the key stages. I have a passion for child-lead and talk-rich learning. I am driven to give all children the chance to fall in love with reading.  Providing young children with the skills to read will unlock the opportunity to become lifelong learners.  

Within my current role, I have led many training sessions to both in-house and across schools in Bradford. I have a passion for coaching, through this model I have been able to support trainee teachers and share practice with practitioners in other settings.

I have been working with the Burley Woodhead English Hub since 2021. 

Emma Gallagher - Reception Teacher

I am currently a Reception teacher having previously had 6 years’ experience KS1. I am entering my fourth year as a Phonics leader. Within my role I have ensured a systematic, synthetic phonics programme is being taught with high expectations across Reception and Key Stage One.  I have responsibility for monitoring and assessing Phonics. I manage the Phonics and Early Reading budget. I have resourced, organised and labelled all new phonics books and resources in the library. I have supported staff to engage with parents. This included Phonics Workshops, ‘Book and a Bun’ in the Library as well as parents and governors reading to their child’s class.

My school’s new chosen phonics programme ‘Rocket Phonics’ is followed with rigour and fidelity which is ensuring the best possible outcomes for children. All staff are well supported in their knowledge and delivery of phonics provision. Assessments in phonics are rigorous and intervention is put in place immediately for children at risk of falling behind.

I am a passionate, thoughtful and caring teacher that wants the best for all children. I ensure all children make progress and have the very best start in life. It is essential all children are supported to read independently and the books they read are matched to their phonic knowledge.

At home I have two lovely children who love to be outdoors. We love to explore and read stories.

Fern Parkin - Phonics Lead and Year 1 Teacher

I have worked at my current school for seven years and I am currently a Year 1 teacher and Phonics lead. Within my current role, I have support staff to support pupils with their early reading skills. I have ensured that a systematic, synthetic phonics programme is being taught with high expectations across Early Years and key Stage One. My role has led me to conduct training sessions in Phonics both in
school and at other schools. I have worked alongside practitioners to ensure Phonics is taught with fidelity. Within my school, I have also coached and mentored all phonics teachers, ECT and trainee teachers to develop teaching and learning across all subjects.

I am a keen reader and an advocate for reading for pleasure. I enjoy exploring new books and researching different reading strategies. I am devoted to motivating all children to read, supporting them to become lifelong readers. I aspire that all children will be accurate and fluent readers who have developed a love for reading. I am an enthusiastic and passionate teacher, who believe that all children can succeed. It is a pleasure to teach children, watching them progress, explore and grow throughout their education. Helping them to develop the skills of reading, from sound knowledge, to blending and then reading with expression and understanding. I am looking forward to working alongside teachers in other settings and sharing our passion for early reading.

Heather Russell - English Advisor - North Yorkshire Education

I have over twenty years’ primary teaching experience. In my last senior post I was Leading Teacher for English for over four years. I have an enthusiasm and passion for all areas of English but with a particular focus on enabling children’s reading success and enjoyment.

As an English Adviser for over eight years I have supported my team to develop resources and lead high quality CPD; my work within schools to develop leadership and improve practice has had consistently excellent reviews. I am an accredited national trainer by Edge Hill University for leading phonics and reading training.

I have an enthusiasm to positively support schools with my practical and researched based background; I can help empower teachers with the confidence and skills necessary to improve children’s educational experiences.

Rachel Abbott - SLE , Assistant Head and Reception Teacher

I have been lucky enough to be part of the Burley Woodhead English Hub since 2019.  It has been incredibly rewarding working with colleagues across Bradford and North Yorkshire especially seeing the sustained improvements and outcomes for children in Early Reading.  It is great to be part of a team that has an ambitious vision in sharing great practice in our community and beyond.  

I am committed to inspiring a love of reading in children and ensuring that all children are confident and fluent readers by the time they leave primary school. I believe this includes careful planning to teach the skill of learning to read and embedding this learning in a way that is purposeful and meaningful to children. 

I am proud to have taught in Bradford for 19 years having being born and raised here.  I currently work as Assistant Head for Early Phase at Saltaire Primary and as Primary Course Leader for Bradford Birth to 19 teacher training programme. 

At home I am kept very busy looking after my two young children. I enjoy music, spending time outdoors, having fun with my family and of course reading!

Sian Porter - Assistant head for Early Year and Phonics Lead. 

I am an assistant head teacher at a Margaret McMillan primary school, this is a large primary school in the Manningham area of Bradford. I lead early years and phonics. I have been at the school for the last 3 years and during my time I have helped to transform phonics and early reading.

I am passionate about leading the Early years and feel very lucky to work alongside some excellent teachers and early years staff. The children who attend Margaret McMillan Primary school come from a range of backgrounds and I feel very privileged to work with them.

I have been an auditor with the Burley Woodhead English Hub since 2020.