EdenFiftyOne’s Tom Reynolds wants to rebuild literacy from the ground up

The EdenFiftyOne founder says English teaching has spent too long asking students to tackle literature, language, and exams without a clear system for the basics. His answer is a 51-skill platform built from classroom experience, dyslexia, and a refusal to accept that literacy gaps are inevitable.

Tom Reynolds does not talk about literacy as a soft issue or a background concern. He talks about it as infrastructure.

That framing sits at the center of both his own experience and the platform he has built. Reynolds is a former five-times Head of English and has also worked as a Nationwide English Advisor across multi-academy trusts, supporting teaching, learning, and curriculum development at scale.His perspective is grounded in direct experience of how literacy is taught, assessed, and often misunderstood in schools.

He argues that English education, particularly within the English schooling system, has normalized inconsistency in how foundational literacy is delivered.

Students are expected to analyze texts, write at length, and succeed in high-stakes exams. But the underlying skills that enable those outcomes are rarely mapped in a clear, shared way. For Reynolds, that gap is structural.

As he puts it: “Basic literacy information should be completely equitable and democratized across all classrooms. The lack of a definitive system means students receive different versions of basic literacy depending on their teacher or school.”

Within the English system, where literacy is often assumed to be secured during primary education before students transition into secondary-level literature and language study, that inconsistency becomes more visible. Many students arrive without secure foundations, but the system continues to move forward regardless.

Reynolds’ view is direct: the system has adapted around the problem rather than resolving it.

A diagnosis that reframed everything

Reynolds’ perspective is shaped by his own route into education. He was diagnosed with dyslexia at 21, just four days after completing his English degree. Rather than frustration, the diagnosis reframed his experience.

Reflecting on that moment, he says: “Finding out I had dyslexia was a relief because it offered clarity regarding my past educational struggles. It provided a sense of relief that my difficulties were not my fault.”

His dyslexia, more closely aligned with dysgraphia, made writing under pressure particularly challenging. Exams and extended writing tasks were where those difficulties became most visible, while verbal thinking came more naturally.

That contrast carried into his teaching career. Instead of accepting English as inherently complex, Reynolds began to question how it was being structured and delivered.

His instinct was practical: “I can demystify this. I can break this down.”

That thinking sharpened early in his career when he asked a question that did not have a clear answer: how many core literacy skills are students actually expected to learn?

The absence of a defined answer became a starting point.

The system problem hiding in plain sight

Reynolds is careful to position his critique: “This is not a teacher issue; it is a systemic failure.”

Within the English secondary system, students are expected to engage with increasingly complex texts and produce extended written responses, often under exam conditions. At the same time, teachers are working with cohorts where foundational literacy is uneven. The result is a structural mismatch.

As Reynolds describes it: “Secondary teachers are often forced to ‘ice cakes that aren’t baked properly,’ pushing students through advanced literature and prose when their fundamental literacy foundations aren’t yet set.”

That pressure plays out in day-to-day classroom practice. Teachers can identify issues in punctuation, sentence construction, or inference when marking work, but do not always have the time or structure to reteach those skills in a systematic way.

The curriculum continues, regardless of gaps.

He expands further: “We are forced to push students through content when they do not have the confidence or competence in the foundational literacy to support it.”

The consequence is not only attainment gaps, but student disengagement. English becomes something to get through, rather than something students can navigate with confidence.

Defining what was never defined

EdenFiftyOne began as an attempt to make those gaps visible and manageable. Working across multiple schools, Reynolds observed that while exam boards and specifications differed, the underlying literacy demands were consistent. The same core skills appeared repeatedly, but without a shared framework. He decided to map them.

He gathered exam specifications, broke them down, grouped overlapping skills, and removed duplication. The result was a defined set of 51 literacy skills spanning reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

The first version of this system existed in Excel, with students mapped against each skill using a color-coded system to indicate confidence and gaps. That visibility shifted how both students and teachers approached progress.

As Reynolds explains: “Students could see that they weren’t just a grade or a failure. They had strengths. They had areas to improve. It became tangible.”

Instead of broad feedback, students could focus on specific areas. Teachers could target precise gaps. That shift sits at the core of the platform.

Making English visible and teachable

A consistent theme in Reynolds’ thinking is that English is too often presented in ways students struggle to navigate, where improvement is expected but not clearly defined. EdenFiftyOne is structured to counter that.

Using a simple analogy, he explains: “These are the scales on the piano. These are the bits you need before you can play the music.”

The emphasis is on sequencing. Foundational clarity before higher-level interpretation. That does not remove creativity or subject depth, but it changes how students reach it.

Reynolds frames it simply: “Clarity comes before passion. Every time.”

He also challenges a common assumption in teaching: “Expecting students to love something because you love it doesn’t work.” For many students, particularly in large secondary settings, engagement is built through understanding. Without that, subject passion does not land.

From spreadsheet to platform

What began as a classroom tool developed into a platform as other schools began to adopt the model.

Reynolds stepped away from his role as an assistant headteacher to focus on building the platform, initially through advisory work and early trials. Schools began implementing the system in its simplest form, which led to further development and grant support.

Today, EdenFiftyOne has evolved into a full product and is used across a range of school contexts, reflecting steady growth since its early trials. Early implementation across pilot settings indicates that breaking English into discrete skills can support more targeted teaching and clearer identification of gaps. Schools using the framework describe improved visibility over student progress, with the structure helping to guide intervention and classroom planning.

Its structure remains consistent: a defined set of literacy skills, a visible progression model, and flexibility in how it is used within classrooms.

That flexibility is intentional. Teachers can integrate it actively into lessons or use it more passively to support independent student work.

Reynolds acknowledges the reality of workload in schools: “I completely understand teachers saying they don’t want another thing.”

The platform is designed to fit into existing practice.

Building with teachers, not around them

A key part of the EdenFiftyOne model is its “Build Together” feature, which allows teachers, leaders, and students to suggest and vote on new developments. For Reynolds, this is a structural decision.

As he explains: “I strongly recommend a permanent ‘Build Together’ feature. It ensures the community feels valued and heard.”

This reflects a broader position on EdTech design. Products should be shaped with classroom input, not imposed onto it.

That philosophy also shapes how feedback is handled more broadly. Reynolds notes: “When people say no, the why is just as important as when they say yes.”

Extending the model through AI

Looking ahead, Reynolds is focused on expanding the platform through teacher-informed AI. His approach centers on capturing insights from practicing teachers and embedding that knowledge into the system. As he puts it: “Teachers are sitting on a huge amount of knowledge that isn’t being shared.”

The aim is to build a shared layer of classroom expertise, where practical strategies can be accessed and applied more consistently across different school contexts. In practical terms, that could allow teachers to draw on approaches used by others facing similar challenges, within a structured framework that reflects real classroom conditions.

This direction reflects a broader view of AI in education, one grounded in practical use rather than positioning. For Reynolds, the priority is not adding another layer of technology, but building something that works within the realities of the classroom. In a space often driven by appearance, that focus on substance is what sets EdenFiftyOne apart.

Educators and organizations interested in exploring the framework can find more information via the EdenFiftyOne website.