Photograph above – With the staff of Alegra College Madrid – September 2017
Philip is an Independent Primary Literacy Consultant working mainly in the Keighley and Bradford areas of West Yorkshire but also nationally and internationally. He has forty years experience as a teacher, middle leader and consultant.
Philip began his teaching career as a middle school PE teacher but soon discovered that this involved being very cold for much of the year. He moved into the classroom when computers were invented. He took on the role of ICT coordinator which involved wheeling the BBC computer into different rooms each day and loading up Granny’s Garden. A new colleague, who could also mend printers, was appointed and Philip was asked to take up the role as English leader.
Thinking that his career had peaked as Head of Silent Reading, he was unaware that just around the corner was the invention of… The Literacy Hour! Soon he found himself working as a National Strategies Literacy Consultant before returning for another spell in the classroom. During this time, he acted as a Leading Literacy Teacher and appeared on TV as a finalist in the ‘Teacher of the Year’ competition in the ITV Calendar region.
Philip left the classroom again to work for the Local Authority as a Literacy Consultant but then departed to work for the Keighley Learning Hub schools and as an independent consultant.
He supports schools in all aspects of primary literacy and can even be persuaded to lead writing moderation.
He is not sure why he has written this in the third person but that seems to be the convention.