Publications

BookWrites is an innovative support package containing teaching sequences for planning in English. (formerly No Nonsense Literacy)

The teaching sequences follow a three-part plan: Learning about the text, practising writing and independent writing. Each sequence is based on quality children's literature and has reading activities and grammar taught in context included.  There are over 200 sequences, all of which are available in Word format, so that teachers can make their own adaptations to suit their class. These sequences are a core element in raising standards in writing. See further information about teaching sequences here and the texts we have written the sequences around.

BookBuds are text-based plans enabling consistency in approach for BookWrites schools all the way from YR to Y6. The plans have been written to match the EY curriculum through collaboration between our team and two of our EY/KS1 Ambassador Subject Leaders, as well as support from one of our Early Years Advisors.

We offer a range of training to support the use of these resources.

The sequences in our BookWrites and BookBuds subscription  can also be purchased as individual teaching sequences via the shop.

The publication is designed to support teachers in making accurate, evidence-based assessments of writing across KS1 and KS2 where no national criteria or exemplification exists and therefore provide support for teachers in establishing appropriate expectations for their year group. Assessment of Writing comprises collections of writing assessed as EXS and GDS for every year group together with completed Evidence Gathering Grids (EGG) and detailed commentaries, providing exemplification in a similar style to the STA exemplification for Y2 and Y6.

All the collections of writing are from individual pupils from different schools with the standards awarded moderated by our team of STA approved statutory moderators. Across the whole resource, there is a range in terms of the strength of evidence that the writing demonstrates with some collections reflecting very secure evidence while others meet the criteria but with less security.

The materials can be used in a range of ways:

• To support in-school standardisation and moderation
• To support judgements for individual pupils
• To develop teacher subject knowledge

To view a few sample pages from the publication, please click here.

We offer a range of resources to support assessment on our Assessment page and can provide training and support in assessment of writing, standardisation and moderation.  Visit our School support and training pages to see the full range of support.

This suite of materials has been designed following several successful projects in Devon. Based on sound, up-to-date research into vocabulary development, we aim to provide CPD leaders in schools with the subject knowledge and high-quality materials they need in order to drive their own project and develop their school/department approach to teaching vocabulary. It supports a model of collaborative learning, which has been proven to have the greatest impact on both teachers and students.

The resources now include a 30-minute webinar to support you with implementing a successful whole-school approach. We aim to introduce the materials, advise on their use, and guide you through the strategic development of vocabulary in your school.

The electronic ‘pack’ contains...

• 6 detailed (roughly 90-minute) session plans/presenter notes (these include the subject knowledge needed to run training, links to further reading and a number of suggestions for adaptations)
• PowerPoint presentations for each session
• Photocopiable resource masters for the sessions

Plans have common features: suggested timings, descriptions and explanations of activities and reference to resources required. Pre- and post-session tasks are provided, with the expectation that participants will complete these in order to get the most out of each session.

Each begins with a ‘word warm-up’ to foster word consciousness and model activities worth doing with children; all end with a short activity to encourage reflection on what has been learned during the session.

Very many thanks to all the Devon schools involved in our vocabulary projects - we couldn't have created these materials without you! 

Re-think Reading! is a comprehensive resource to support the teaching of reading from Year 2 to Year 6 (with optional plans for Year 1). It contains detailed session plans, organised into a sequence of learning based on high quality texts: picture books, short stories, novels, poems and non-fiction.

Why choose Re-think Reading!?

• Teachers can construct bespoke curriculum pathways to suit school contexts, including all combinations of mixed ages.
• Can be used flexibly for whole class teaching, guided group teaching or a combination of teaching contexts. 
• Written around whole texts to broaden children’s experience of literature and provide an authentic reading experience.
• Builds reading skills, strategies and knowledge cumulatively and iteratively through practice in context with increasingly complex texts: ‘Pupils’ knowledge can be increased by wide reading across genres and subjects, by focusing on the knowledge they need to understand specific texts’ (The reading framework, DfE 2023 p.117)
• Wide variety of approaches support young readers to engage with each specific text. Plans are not formulaic. There are common elements (‘Book Introduction’, ‘Strategy Check’, ‘Independent Reading’, ‘Respond to Text’, Pre-reading and Post-session tasks) but the structure of each plan is determined by the reading demands of that text – a ‘real’ reading purpose.
• Fosters rich discussion between children and with teachers as the primary vehicle for exploration of the text: ‘Pupils will become better at each of the assessed aspects of reading when they read, think deeply about, and respond to texts through discussion and in writing.’ (The reading framework, DfE 2023 p.118)
• Independent reading activities integrated into the sequences of learning, enabling children to explore more deeply, practise, and develop responsibility for enquiry into text.
• Additional training and adviser support available.

Our new subscription offers the following:

• 30+ brand new reading plans for Years 2-6, giving teachers even greater choice and flexibility, including texts that represent diverse identities and experiences, ‘classic’ literature, novels, short stories and non-fiction.
• All 77 original plans for Years 1-6.
• Our commitment to ensuring there will always be enough plans based on available texts for full curriculum coverage - we will be periodically writing new plans to replace those on harder to source texts.
• New national curriculum reading objectives coverage charts to support schools in curriculum planning.
• A new Re-think Reading! subscribers area (microsite) to which further support materials will be added over time.

No Nonsense Spelling is a  complete spelling programme designed to cover the needs of the 2014 National Curriculum in a manageable way. Written by the Primary Literacy team, the programme is easy to use, flexible and comprehensive, providing sufficient guidance to implement an effective spelling teaching programme from Year 2 to Year 6. The programme consists of one book for each year group which contains a pathway through the year term by term as well as activities and resources for each session.

Included in the package is a USB stick with the whole programme in Word format so that schools can put it on their servers and teachers can download the sessions and make changes when required.

Visit the Raintree Publishing website to purchase this resource. To see training relating to this product, click here. Visit our Spelling page for more spelling resources.

Written by our Primary English Team and published by Raintree, this publication takes you through the grammar you need to teach to primary-aged children from year 1 to year 6 following the national curriculum. The resource contains progression charts, subject knowledge, activities to teach the grammar elements, resources needed and some books as PDFs. Also included is The Sentence Toolkit, a resource to support making grammar accessible to all. The publication is divided into three books, KS1, lower KS2 and upper KS2 with a USB stick of the whole publication for schools to upload to their server.

Visit the Raintree Publishing website to purchase this resource.