BookTrust Learning Oversight Group

Our research, evaluation and learning activities are supported by expert input from our Learning Oversight Group.

Tim Hobbs, PhD (Chair of the Learning Oversight Group)

Tim Hobbs, PhD, is CEO at Dartington Design Lab, an independent research charity where he is responsible for shaping the ideas and strategic direction, and general oversight and running of the charity. Tim became a Trustee at BookTrust in 2024 and is Chair of our BookTrust Learning Oversight Group.

Tim has spent more than two decades working with numerous public systems, charities and foundations to help shape a series of bold investments and experiments designed to improve child outcomes. Underpinning all his work is a deep commitment to generating and using evidence, fused with human-centred and systemic design approaches.

Tim is also a Visiting Professor at UCL (School of Psychology and Language Sciences) and a 2021 Fellow of Practice at the Government Outcomes Lab (Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford University). He holds a first-class BSc in Psychology and Criminology and a PhD in Social and Policy Sciences.

Matt Barnard, PhD

Matt Barnard, PhD, is a consulting director at ICF and director of ICF's Centre for Behaviour Change.

He has 20 years' experience as a social researcher, behavioural scientist and evaluator specialising in mixed-method studies of vulnerable and under-served populations with the aim of understanding the complexity of people's lives and developing and assessing solutions to entrenched problems.

Matt has led major 'what works' programmes of learning and evaluation at the UK Health Security Agency and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and has been principal researcher on a range of high-profile studies, including a set of large, clustered randomised controlled trials for the Education Endowment Foundation, and is currently the principal investigator for two large-scale trials of interventions funded by the Youth Endowment Fund. He is also co-author of the textbook Qualitative Research Practice.

Prof. Teresa Cremin

Prof. Teresa Cremin is Professor of Education (Literacy) at the Open University, UK, and co-director of the Literacy and Social Justice Centre, which creates space for research, practice and advocacy to enrich educational opportunities for all. Teresa's research focuses on volitional reading and writing, teachers' and children's literate identities, and creative pedagogies.

An ex-teacher and teacher trainer, Teresa now undertakes research and consultancy and is a Fellow of the English Association, the Academy of Social Sciences, and the Royal Society of the Arts, a Trustee of both the UK Literacy Association and The Reading Agency, and an appointed DfE Reading for Pleasure expert.

Teresa has published over 30 books, most recently Reading for Pleasure: International Perspectives with S. McGeown (edited, 2025), Reading Teachers: Nurturing Reading for Pleasure (edited 2022), both Routledge, and Children Reading for Pleasure in the Digital Age (with N Kucirkova Sage, 2020).  Teresa is passionate about social justice and enabling all children to become keen readers, and leads a research and practice coalition to support the development of children's reading for pleasure.

Dr. Julian Grenier

Dr. Julian Grenier is the Senior Content and Engagement Manager for Early Years at the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF).Before joining the EEF, he was the headteacher of Sheringham Nursery School and Children's Centre in Newham, East London. During that time, he was a National Leader of Education and was also the Director of East London Research School.

Sheringham led the Brighter Start Stronger Practice Hub, the Mayor's Early Years Hub for East London, and the East London Early Years and Schools Partnership, a National Teaching School. Other roles include senior Early Years Adviser in Tower Hamlets and one of His Majesty's Inspectors of Schools (HMI) and Early Education Lead at Ofsted.

Julian is a member of the editorial board of Impact, the journal of the Chartered College of Teaching. He is a member of the Expert Advisory Group for Mobilise, an innovative project from PEDAL at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, and a trustee of the charity Thrive at Five. He has also served as a member of the Early Education route panel at the Institute for Apprenticeships. Julian is also a bestselling author and was awarded a CBE for services to Early Years Education in 2022.

Prof. Sarah McGeown

Prof. Sarah McGeown is Professor of Literacy at the University of Edinburgh.  Her research focuses on understanding and supporting children and young people's reading experiences, enjoyment, and engagement, and understanding the relationship between reading and wellbeing. 

Sarah is a mixed methods researcher and works in research-practice partnerships, or using participatory approaches, to involve children, young people, teachers, and other professionals more meaningfully in research. 

Sarah is currently Director of the Literacy Lab, an interdisciplinary research hub seeking to improve literacy experiences and outcomes, and enrich lives through literacy.

Louisa Reeves

Louisa Reeves is Director of Policy and Evidence at Speech and Language UK (formerly I CAN), which exists to help the more than 1.9 million children in the UK who face challenges in talking and understanding words by designing tools and training for nurseries and schools, giving advice and guidance to families, and putting pressure on politicians. 

Louisa is a speech and language therapist with many years of experience. She has been involved in a number of large scale projects developing and evaluating tools and programmes for early years settings and schools and is responsible for the evaluation of the outcomes and impact of all the charity's project and development work. She also leads on Speech and Language UK's policy work, including developing and implementing the charity's strategies to influence key decision makers, including politicians.

Dr. Priya Tah

Dr. Priya Tah is a Research Officer at the Rees Centre, University of Oxford, with experience in multi-method research studies. She previously completed work on the Reading Together Programme RCT, looking at a reading intervention for children in care, and was also part of the Timpson Programme research team, evaluating the impact of the Alex Timpson Attachment and Trauma and Programme in Schools.

Priya has recently completed a project with Kinship exploring the experiences of Black and Asian Kinship carers in London and the Midlands. Most of Priya's current research relates to the themes of 'Permanence' and 'Mental Health and Wellbeing'.

Priya's research interests lie in improving outcomes for children and young people, focusing on children in need (including children in care), mental health and wellbeing. She has extensive research experience working with children experiencing vulnerability and young people and their families.