Hi, I’m Kieron (also know as FREDsTeaching), the founder/creator of FREDsTeaching.
FREDs started out as a reading blog (Father Reading Every Day – hence FREDs) I ran with my eldest son. We read a picture book a day for a thousand days, interacted with authors and illustrators, attended protests to save our local library and shared our journey in a blog and then via YouTube! In the midst of this I began creating and sharing teaching resources based on some of our favourite picture books and comprehension activities using clips from Sir David Attenborough’s brilliant TV shows.
COVID hit, and with more time on my hands, the FREDsTeaching Facebook page and website were born, initially launching with just over 100 whole-class reading and reading comprehension resources. I’ve worked really hard to share my passion for reading and books, and the website is now close to a thousand resources covering reading, writing, assessment, oracy and more!
I wasn’t always a teacher. Having completed a Law degree, I spent some time lost in the boring wilderness of the corporate world before sacking that off to travel the world! I had the chance to work with children in South Africa and Fiji and this helped me to swerve more corporate boredom on my return to the UK and take the plunge on a career in education instead!
I now have over a decade of teaching experience in the primary classroom, having begun my career as a teaching assistant in a Year 6 classroom. I’ve lead pretty much every subject, but reading and writing have always been where my heart is! Now, I spend three days in the classroom and two days working from home on FREDs. One day I might go all in on the business, but for now I still absolutely love my job and wouldn’t want to give it up!
When I’m not working you’ll find me sharing a busy family home with my beautiful fiancee, Rachel, and our four children! I spend a fair amount of time in the gym and also enjoy playing/watching football and escaping to explore the world in our awesome campervan, Woody.
Three interesting facts about me…
- I once placed second to Gareth Gates in a Haven Holidays talent show having won a talent show the previous year in role as Baby Spice.
- I spent a year living in a van and travelling Australia. Highlights included Uluru, snorkelling at the Great Barrier Reef and falling victim to a Kookaburra stealing my crumpet!
- I spend far to much time and money following Blackburn Rovers – an activity that probably peaked in terms of success for the club when I was about 10 years old.
Favourite books…
Kids – Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve and The Runaways by Ruth Thomas.
Adult – Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak, A Painted House by John Grisham and anything written by the wicked mind of Will Carver.
