Two undergraduate students in the Department of Education have become the first Sussex students to be awarded sponsorships from the UK Literacy Association to attend their annual international conference and book awards ceremony.

Emily Ford and George Hinton, first year students studying on the Primary and Early Years Education BA course, were among hundreds of students nominated for sponsorships by tutors from Universities across the UK and two of the six students awarded them.

About his award, George said:

“My dissertation is on multicultural literature, so seeing so many diverse representations of characters in these books has been a breath of fresh air for both me and everyone else! The UKLA is something that is so helpful for students on teaching courses. It really embeds the need for good quality books for children to learn literacy. I am delighted to have received a place!”

Sponsorships enable attendance at this years UKLA International Conference for which the theme is ‘Writing Matters’. The Conference is located at the University of Exeter and runs from 23-25 June, 2023.

About her award, Emily said:

“I have always had a passion for teaching, so when the chance arose to enter myself for the UKLA conference I took the chance! I thoroughly enjoyed the Developing Children's Communication, Language and Literacy module on my course which also furthered my decision to apply for the conference. I felt that it would be a great opportunity to learn more about this topic and speak to some influential people within UKLA.”

The sponsorship package includes attendance at the Book Awards ceremony on Friday 23 June (at which certificates will be presented to all winning students), a special post-ceremony dinner – an opportunity to meet some of the Book Award authors and illustrators and get own books signed, overnight accommodation, full conference attendance on Saturday 24 June, and UKLA membership for a year.