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Research Profile

  • Gill studied for her first degree at the College of Ripon and York St John and was awarded a BEd (Hons) from Leeds University. Gill then worked in a range of primary schools in Nottinghamshire and Northamptonshire for 12 years. From 2000-2011, Gill worked as a Learning and Curriculum Adviser, for primary English, for Northamptonshire Local authority. She held the role of Lead Adviser for English, led CPD in schools and managed the  Every Child a Writer initiative for Northamptonshire.

    Gill joined the University of Northampton in 2011. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and gained a PGCTHE from the University of Northampton in 2013. Currently she leads the ITT English curriculum team and teaches English on the PGCE and BAQTS programmes.

    Gill also contributes to the Aspire Plus Change maker Programme in supporting reading achievement in Northamptonshire’s schools.

    Gills interests include phonics, reading, Philosophy for Children (P4C) and embedding digital media in teaching.

  • Gill teaches on the following modules:

    • PGCE 5-11: English
    • BA QTS Early years and Primary : Communication, Language and Literacy and English
    • BAQTS English specialism Year 2  – Philosophy for Children

    Gill also supervises the dissertations of Year 3 English specialist undergraduates on the BA QTS programme.

  • Gill’s current research focuses on:

    • The extent of the influence of the year phonics screening check on teaching and learning of early reading in primary schools.
    • Exploring and Evaluating Blended Learning in Initial Teacher Training.’

    She is working as part of a team led by Elaine Batchelor (Head of ITT) to evaluate how “learning events” and “online learning packages” enable students to make progress in their development as beginning teachers.