Eden Fifty One

01/09/2026

Last week’s headline was that GCSE English pass rates had fallen for a fifth year running 😔

But the overall figure combines two very different experiences.

In England, 𝟳𝟭.𝟰% 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗖𝗦𝗘 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲 entries from 𝟭𝟲-𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿-𝗼𝗹𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝟰 or above this summer, up from 70.5% last year. Among post-16 English Language entries, 𝟭𝟵.𝟴% 𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝟰 or above, down from 20.9%.

For learners sitting English again, a grade does not show which underlying skills need attention next.

A clearer view across reading, writing, speaking and listening can help schools and colleges decide where support should begin 📊

If resit support is one of your priorities this year, book a fifteen-minute conversation with Tom to explore how a skill-level view could help you identify intervention priorities for your learners (link in bio)

*Source: JCQ, GCSE results by subject and age, Summer 2026.

01/09/2026

Last week’s headline was that GCSE English pass rates had fallen for a fifth year running.

But the overall figure combines two very different experiences.

In England, 𝟳𝟭.𝟰% 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗖𝗦𝗘 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲 entries from 𝟭𝟲-𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿-𝗼𝗹𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝟰 or above this summer, up from 70.5% last year. Among post-16 English Language entries, 𝟭𝟵.𝟴% 𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝟰 or above, down from 20.9%.

For learners sitting English again, a grade does not show which underlying skills need attention next.

A clearer view across reading, writing, speaking and listening can help schools and colleges decide where support should begin 📊

If resit support is one of your priorities this year, book a fifteen-minute conversation with Tom to explore how a skill-level view could help you identify intervention priorities for your learners https://calendly.com/eden-fifty-one/

*Source: JCQ, GCSE results by subject and age, Summer 2026.

28/08/2026

Removing work is not always the same as supporting expertise.

When a teacher says marking takes too long, it can be tempting to hear a task that needs deleting. David Monis-Weston explains why that instinct can lead to the wrong solution. His reasoning is worth two minutes 💭

🎧 Watch the full conversation: https://youtu.be/T1J8d0sjAfA?si=nGn_pRd3NeKieKOc

27/08/2026

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 👀

Yesterday, a group of KS3 and KS4 learners put EFO’s new AI literacy skills assessments through their paces. They explored the platform, tried to catch it out and told us honestly what they liked the best, what they’d like tweaking and what they’d love to see embedded in the future.

Education technology should be built with teachers. Their professional judgement and day-to-day understanding of classroom, curriculum and assessment are essential.

But learners need a voice too 👏🏻

They navigate every element of the interface, experience every instruction, every button press and every line of feedback firsthand. Their perspective helps us see whether something feels right, not just whether it works as intended.

We watch, listen and learn. Because like literacy, learning is for life 💙

Is your school or college looking to get literacy skills ready for September? Say [email protected]

25/08/2026

Some of you are still on holiday. Some of you have had the laptop open since last Tuesday.

Either way, the new school year does not begin with a blank page. It begins with last year's priorities, a new timetable, changing cohorts and a list of jobs that all need doing before the first lesson.

Nothing has to be solved before students walk back in 💙

A smaller starting point is more useful:
✅ What do our pupils already do securely?
✅ Where are the shared gaps?
✅ Which one or two skills would make the biggest difference first?

A department that can answer those has somewhere manageable to begin in September.

What is at the top of your literacy list this term? Tell us below 💬

23/08/2026

Results week is over and September is already written. The planning was done before anyone knew how the year had gone.

If literacy is what you think is holding grades back, the thing to change now is not the scheme of work. There is no time, and it is not where the problem sits.

Tom spent years as a Head of English before building EdenFiftyOne. He is happy to talk through what actually shifted for other departments, and what it took 💙

📅 Book a fifteen minute call with Tom: https://calendly.com/eden-fifty-one/efo-discovery-call?back=1&month=2026-08

20/08/2026

GCSE results are out this morning. Congratulations to everyone who opened one 🎉

Two years of work sits behind each of those grades, and most of it happened in ways a single number was never going to show.

Well done to the teachers and families who got them there 💙

18/08/2026

Every edtech company says it was built by teachers 🧩

It isn't about who they invited to review it. It's about who is still in the room when a teacher says it doesn't work.

Before Friday's new episode with Al Kingsley, it's worth going back to this one.

🎧 Watch the full conversation between Tom Reynolds and Matt Jessop, where they discuss what children should leave primary school able to do, and what schools should actually look for in an edtech tool: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS3TTYYpw_s&t=49s

17/08/2026

Half of schools have no AI policy at all. Not for staff, not for pupils. That's from the National Education Union 2026 State of Education survey.

It's not hard to see why. Generic AI tools are broad, open-ended and change underneath you. Writing a policy for a tool that could do anything means writing a policy for everything.

We went the other way 🙌

Our AI doesn't know the entire internet, and it isn't meant to. It works inside a walled garden: your exam boards, your set texts, your resources, mapped against 51 literacy skills. Teachers set the boundaries, students work inside them, and nothing arrives from outside.

So the question changes shape. Not "what might this thing do" - but "here's what it can do, and here's who decided that".

From September, the garden grows a little: automated assessments, and a guided assistant for students that stays inside the same walls 🔒

If you want to see exactly what our AI can and can't do, that's what a walkthrough is for.

Schedule your session: https://calendly.com/eden-fifty-one/efo-discovery-call?back=1&month=2026-08

15/08/2026

𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗼𝗿𝘀, 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝘆𝗲𝘀?

Most people on a governing board did not come from education. They arrive with a working life built somewhere else, and a school gets the benefit of judgement that was formed outside it.

Nobody ends up in that room by accident. Every governor said yes to something.

What made you step forward? What matters most to you now? And what do you want to be different for young people because you were there?

If you govern in a secondary school or college anywhere in the UK, we would like to hear from you.

𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲: https://forms.gle/oDXa3xLSmynANEC97

It takes about 𝟮 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀, and you can choose to receive a summary of what we find 💙

At EdenFiftyOne, we are passionate about helping every learner develop the literacy skills, confidence and opportunities they need to succeed. We know that many school and college governors give their time for a very similar reason - because they care deeply about young people and want to make a pos...