Alison has been a researcher, evaluator and project developer in adult literacy for 28 years. Currently she is the Manager, Literacy at COMET Auckland, an education trust linked to Auckland Council. COMET Auckland is working for systems change to make education in Auckland more effective and equitable. In 2015, Alison was awarded a Winston Churchill Memorial Fellowship which took her to England and the USA to look at what can be achieved through city-wide literacy action. A major new focus of Alison’s work is Talking Matter, raising awareness of the importance of oral language for literacy, so more children leave primary school at or above literacy standards. Adult and community education can play a key part in raising the skills and confidence of families and communities to talk more and talk differently to their children, to get them a great start.
ACE Conference 2016 - Alison Sutton.pdf