Kathy Roe is an experienced primary school teacher and leader. She is now Deputy Lead Adviser of the Primary English Team at HFL Education. She supports schools and teachers in Hertfordshire and beyond. Kathy is proud to lead HFL’s Reading Fluency Project.

Emma Mudge has over 20 years of experience working in primary education. Throughout this time, she has become a leader in a wide variety of areas throughout the school including Assessment, Teaching and Learning, Curriculum Management and Lead DSL, to name but a few. As Deputy Head Teacher and Acting Head Teacher, she has been at the forefront of school leadership and improvement. During her role as English leader, she successfully introduced new approaches which significantly raised attainment. This led her to be approached to support other English coordinators across Birmingham, make presentations to school leaders and become a member of a small group of specialist teachers and leaders, tasked with improving the reading attainment in a number of schools across the city.

Mat Tobin teaches English and Children’s Literature on the Primary BA ITT course. He also leads an MA/PGCert Course in Children’s Literature and Reading for Pleasure. Since joining Brookes in 2014 after 16 years of Primary teaching in Oxfordshire, Mat is continually invited to deliver keynotes and workshops across the UK on Reading for Pleasure, Picturebooks and engaging children (and all stakeholders) in the reading and writing process. He is currently writing a doctorate on Children’s Literature and the outdoors: he is interested in the link between comprehension, language and locality through high-quality children’s literature. In 2021 his co-written book, Understanding and Teaching Primary English, was published by Sage. Mat is also passionate about sharing the high-quality work that his students do on his module. These cross-curricular plans focus on the teacher ‘knowing the text’ and ‘blending objectives across the curriculum.

Sonia Thompson is the Headteacher at St Matthew’s C.E. Primary School and the Director of St Matthew’s EEF (Education Endowment Foundation) Research School, in Nechells Birmingham. St Matthew’s is a Talk for Writing Training Centre and previously held DfE Teaching School status. Her school regularly hosts’ visits for teachers, Headteachers and MATs, who want to see evidence-informed practice across the curriculum. Sonia recently published a book called, An Ethic of Excellence in Action; has had articles published and regularly reviews blogs for SchoolsWeek. She has a chapter in, the researchED Guide to the Curriculum and is a contributor to the new WALKTHRUs 3 book. Sonia is a board member of the UKLA National Council and the Birmingham Diocese. She is also a trustee for the Church of England National Society, Classics for All and the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF). Sonia is regularly asked to deliver keynotes and training at various conferences and events, across the country.