This May e-newsletter comes to your inbox as schools are well into their important work of term 2. Teachers and school leaders are expert professionals in their field. On a recent school visit a member of the Foundation saw a team of teachers reflecting on the impact of their teaching with these questions led by their school leader:

• What’s working?
• For whom?
• Under what circumstances?
• And why?

The conversations were rich; it was evident every teacher knew their students well and these precise conversations with colleagues resulted in teachers walking away with adjustments to suit the needs of their individual students. Most impressive!

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2026 FFLL committee members
We have a vibrant and very talented group of current and former educators, school and system leaders and academics on our executive and general committees. They all volunteer their time and expertise to advocate for the best in learning and literacy for Australian schools, teachers and students. You can find out About Us here.

Our focus for this e-newsletter is to share our advocacy work in 2026. We have key Asks that we are discussing with politicians, their advisors and department senior leaders and highlighting in various submissions:

1. Include Australian school leaders and experienced classroom educators in policymaking and decision-making about learning and literacy education for schools and early learning centres.
2. Ensure literacy policy and professional practice is guided by peer-reviewed, extensive classrom-tested research.
3. Ensure experienced educators are represented in curriculum planning.
4. Ensure every school has a library and a Teacher librarian and is funded equitably whether regional, remote or metropolitan.
5. Provide high quality and inclusive literature and resources for every Australian preschool and classroom. 

When meeting with politicians, their advisors and department senior leaders, we focus on teacher professionalism and the current equity issues around school libraries. While research is scarce and needs funding to take place, we know from South Australian research, colleagues and lived experience, that schools in regional and remote Australia are much less likely to have a school library with qualified staff than their metropolitan cousins. And there is also a greater equity divide between independent and public schools.

1. A fair and equitable society depends upon every citizen being able to speak, listen critically with confidence, read and write.
Touchstone 1 notes that Being literate gives people more equitable access to information, employment, enjoyment and further educational opportunities. Australia’s cultural and linguistic diversity, its obligations to its First Nations peoples, and its ongoing migrant and refugee intakes place great demands on Australian schools to develop the language and literacy resources of its diverse young people.
Well-resourced and suitably staffed school libraries go a long way to ensuring equitable access for children and young people. For that reason, the Foundation for Learning and Literacy is joining with partners in 2026 to raise awareness of the equity issues related to the funding, resourcing and staffing of school libraries.

Resources and articles related to teacher professionalism, the value of school libraries and reading for pleasure:

For all stakeholders

• The UK is having a Year of Reading and a spotlight on school libraries
• The NSW State Library is celebrating 200 years.
• ALIA, the Australian Library and Information Association has information and key research that promotes the value of school libraries and qualified library staff

For school and system leaders

• This 2024 article and research by Phillip Poulton concludes that Teachers need time, space, and support (not prescription or centralised materials), to help them sustain curriculum as a recognisable tenet of their professionalism.
• Paul Gardner’s recent article reminds us of the wealth of expertise in our profession and professional associations. In the wasteland of poorly funded educational research, mining the past to scope what we already know may be a strategy to revitalise pedagogy, curriculum and the agency of the learner and the teacher.

For teachers, pre-service teachers and middle leaders

• Noella Mackenzie’s and Martina Tassone’s article explores what the media say about reading and pose that perhaps Australia’s literacy outcomes have more to do with funding and fairness than pedagogy.
• British author Michael Rosen won the prestigious 2026 Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing. In this article he writes about reading for pleasure.
• See this NZ research on the benefits of reading for pleasure.

For families

• In this podcast Robyn Ewing talks about the need for all of us to keep reading fiction.

Past featured articles and resources can be accessed in the newsletter archive.

Yours in literacy,
The Executive and General Committees
Foundation for Learning and Literacy

In 2026 our tag line is We all like a good story: school libraries are places to discover stories.

We are aiming to go live with our 2026 symposium campaign early term 3.
In the meantime, revisit past symposia for rich videos that are a great resource for PLC and staff meetings.
We welcome your stories of the importance of school libraries and qualified library staff. Please write to us learningandliteracy2020@gmail.com
Partner Activity

• ASLA, the Australian School Libraries Association and CBCA are hosting a webinar on 3 June. CBCA- Children’s Book Week theme for 2026 is a Symphony of Stories.
• The Indigenous Literacy Foundation has a current campaign to put books in the hands of children in remote communities.
• ALEA- early bird registration for the Perth conference closes on 5 June.
• PETAA- early bird registration for the Sydney conference ends 26 June.
• It is National Simultaneous Storytime on May 27. See our resource for National Simultaneous Storytime 2026 - Reading Australia

What is the purpose of education in challenging times? This is a great opportunity to attend a

national education forum exploring the aims of education either in person if in Canberra or online on

28 July. For more information and to register please click here.

Our FFLL Socials and News

Please join us on our social media platforms below.

There is a large range of items related to all areas of literacy and learning in our NEWS area. These are just two of the articles that have been added since our last e-newsletter that resonated with schools:

• Curiosity, connection and the future of learning
• Is the loss of childhood imagination inevitable?

Reconciliation Week 2026 across Australia is 27 May to 3 June. Make it a focus in your lectures, classrooms and staffrooms. The official 2026 theme is "All In", calling on all Australians to actively engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures, and achievements rather than observing from the sidelines.

Want to get in touch with us with your ideas or feedback? Write to
learningandliteracy2020@gmail.com 

The members of the Foundation for Learning and Literacy acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the traditional owners of the country that we call Australia.

We pay our respects to Elders past, present and future.

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