The King and I (Lesa that is)

King Charles played host to a special evening to at Windsor Castle to celebrate the extensive works of William Shakespeare - and Lesa Garside was there to stress the importance of words and reading to the Bay's young schoolchildren.
The event was staged to mark the 400th anniversary of The Bard’s work being issued in the First Folio, which was the first printed edition of Shakespeare’s collection of plays.

Widely considered to be the greatest writer in the English language, the event sought to pay tribute to Shakespeare’s magnificent plays, poems and verses, as well as the enormous contribution he made to the English language as we know it today.

During the evening, a small ensemble of actors took to the stage to read extracts from Macbeth, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, Twelfth Night, Antony and Cleopatra and The Tempest.
Lesa Garside, the Learning Academy Partnership’s Regional Director of Education and Torquay's Ilsham Hub Strategic Lead was among the VIP guests.
She said: "It really was a wonderfully special experience, and I felt extremely honoured to have been invited to such a prestigious event. From beginning to end, the whole thing was just lovely. The setting, my fellow guests, the flowing Champagne and the chance to meet and speak to King Charles.
“I wasn’t going to leave Windsor Castle until I’d had the opportunity to talk to His Majesty about early reading. It’s a day that will live very, very long in the memory.”

The Learning Academy Partnership is a multi-school trust, which has 16 schools under its wing across Devon and Cornwall, including Ilsham, Warberry and Ellacombe in Torquay and St Michael’s in Paignton.

The Ilsham English Hub grew out of Ilsham C of E Academy, which is the founding school in the Partnership. The school was designated as an English Hub due to its track record in excellent phonics and reading outcomes.

There are just 34 English Hubs across England, all of which were selected for their expertise in teaching reading and supporting schools in their surrounding area. Hubs are designed to promote a love of reading and to help schools provide excellent teaching in phonics and early language. They focus on supporting the slowest progress children in Reception and Year 1, and aim to ensure that every child is successful, regardless of background, needs or abilities.

Trust Lead, Tracey Cleverly told us; “This is great recognition for the Trust who operate the English Hub. We work very hard to ensure that all our children are given the opportunity to access and experience an excellent curriculum. We care passionately about children. We collaborate and work with other schools and School Trusts as well as being a National English Hub that specialises in early reading and phonics.

"I want to thank Lesa for representing our Trust so admirably and highlighting the work we all do as an English Hub.”