How Literacy Leaders Can Create (and Actually Deliver) Their Yearly Action Plan

Practical tips for a busy school year

As a literacy leader, the start of a new academic year is an exciting opportunity to set direction and make a real difference. But with competing priorities, endless initiatives and the day-to-day demands of school life, even the best literacy strategies can lose momentum by spring term.

So how do you not only create a strong action plan but also see it through to measurable impact? Here are some practical tips to help you build a literacy strategy that works across a busy school year.

1. Start with the Data, End with the Vision

Before setting goals, take a clear-eyed look at your school’s current literacy picture:

• Analyse your data, SATs outcomes, phonics screening and internal assessments.

• Visit classrooms and talk to staff about challenges.

• Consider pupil voice — what do they say about reading and writing?

From here, articulate a clear vision for literacy in your school. For example: “Every child leaves Year 6 as a confident, fluent reader with a love of books.” This anchors your action plan in purpose, not just tasks. Pinpointing the ‘why’ can feel cliché but it should drive your decision making and prioritisation.

2. Keep Priorities Manageable

Avoid trying to fix everything at once. Based on your data, choose two or three key priorities for the year (e.g., improving fluency in KS2, embedding vocabulary instruction across the curriculum or targeting interventions).
Link these directly to the School Development Plan so literacy doesn’t feel like “extra work” — it becomes part of the school’s core improvement journey.

3. Break the Plan Into Termly Milestones

A yearly action plan is easier to deliver when broken into smaller steps:

• Autumn: establish baseline data, launch CPD, set up monitoring.

• Spring: embed strategies, monitor progress through book looks, drop-ins or pupil voice.

• Summer: evaluate impact, adjust provision and celebrate progress.

This structure keeps the plan alive throughout the year and provides natural points to reflect and recalibrate. It should be a working document and things may change or move around as the year goes on.

4. Invest in Staff Development

The best literacy strategy fails without staff buy-in and confidence. Build time into your plan for:

• Whole-staff CPD on core strategies.

• Targeted coaching for specific teachers or year groups.

• Opportunities for staff to share good practice.

Small, regular inputs often have more impact than one-off INSET days.

5. Build Accountability Without Overload

To keep momentum:

• Share your action plan with SLT and governors so it has visibility.

• Keep staff updated with quick wins and successes in newsletters or briefings.

• Use simple monitoring tools — short learning walks, quick pupil conversations — to track progress without adding excessive workload.

6. Engage Parents and Pupils

Your strategy should involve the whole school community. For example:

• Launch a family reading initiative.

• Share recommended reading lists.

• Create pupil reading ambassadors to promote reading culture.

When parents and pupils are invested, your plan has wider reach and sustainability. A blog post on this is coming soon!

7. Plan for Sustainability

Think beyond this year: what will last? Avoid strategies that rely on one enthusiastic staff member or short-term funding. Focus on embedding routines, training and resources that can be sustained year after year.

Final Thoughts

A literacy action plan should be more than a paper exercise — it should be a roadmap that drives meaningful change. By setting a clear vision, keeping priorities focused, breaking the year into achievable milestones, and building staff and community buy-in, literacy leaders can create strategies that don’t just start strong but actually stick.

At Empowerment Consultancy, we believe every literacy plan has the potential to transform a school—if it’s designed and implemented effectively. We can help you create an action plan, set achievable milestones and build the culture to make it succeed. Together, we can turn your vision for literacy into real, lasting impact for every student.