Julie Holmwood

Julie’s 30-year career in education includes fifteen years as a primary school teacher. Her experiences range from teaching in a two-classroom village school in Shropshire to working in Germany for Service Children's Education. She also has extensive experience as an Education Improvement Adviser, providing support to schools and teachers in English and literacy, end of key stage assessment and, earlier in her career, for ICT.

Julie has recently gained a MA with distinction in Children’s Literature . Studying with the Education Studies department at Goldsmiths, University of London, allowed her to explore some of the big ideas in the fields of both children’s literature and education whilst having Professor Michael Rosen as one of her tutors. At the 26th IBBY UK/NCRCL  Annual Conference (2019), she presented a paper based on a school-based research project which examined children’s engagement with non-fiction picturebooks. For her dissertation research, she pursued her interest in challenging and controversial picturebooks, examining the concept of suitability.

She volunteers with Shropshire Bookfest, an award-winning charity that aims to inspire, enthuse and entertain children through literature and the art.