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.

The annual subscription to the sequences is £180 +VAT, which includes at least 18 new teaching sequences each year.

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

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

This is an innovative package of support for English writing assessment.

It consists of samples of writing from Year 1 to Year 6, all of which have been assessed and annotated to show what the assessment criteria look like in children's writing.  Alongside the annotated examples of writing are unannotated versions which makes this a very flexible resource.

It also includes complete samples of childrens' writing assessed at Expected (EXS) and Greater Depth (GDS) for all year groups from Y1 to Y6. Visit our assessment page to see the Y3 example of EXS and to see our range of assessment tools for reading and writing.

Lastly, there is a third section that looks closely at pupil progress through a sequence of teaching from initial elicitation task to a final independent piece of writing. For each year group in the primary age range there are helpful notes and observations, written in a similar style to STA-produced statutory moderation commentaries.

Teachers have found this resource invaluable when making accurate judgements through standardisation and moderation. Schools have also used the materials to support teachers who have moved year groups and to help those who are using our teaching sequences to show the quality of work and progress that can be expected from the children.

The one-off cost for Assessment of Writing is £180 + VAT and is available as a single digital download.

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! 

The whole programme can be purchased now for just £200 (+VAT). Visit our online shop here!

This resource is a collection of reading plans based on high quality texts for teaching reading from Y1 to Y6. Although the texts are not included, many are well-known books that will be in school libraries and some are freely available online. Re-think Reading! is organised in phases of Y1, Y2, Y3/4 and Y5/6 with at least 12 sets of plans per phase. 

Re-think Reading! covers many aspects of the National Curriculum for reading but is not totally comprehensive. Some elements will need to be taught through teaching sequences, other curriculum areas or story times. Each set of plans consists of up to three consecutive lessons, usually based around a single text.

National Curriculum Objectives

Each set of session plans focuses on objectives from the National Curriculum for reading for the relevant year group or phase. The plans are independent of one another and there is no particular pathway or progression through them as this will be determined based on the developing needs of the children.

Reading methodology

The sessions are written primarily for small group guided reading. However, most are easily adaptable to whole class reading contexts. Additionally, all the plans can be adjusted to meet the needs of children.

Organisation of session plans

Each plan includes the following elements:

• The title and publisher’s details
• A brief synopsis of the book
• A list of other books by the same author and a list of other related texts
• National Curriculum objectives that are a focus in the sessions and how these are contextualised in the plans
• Up to three session plans with a structure of Book Introduction, Strategy Check, Independent Reading, Respond to Text
• Pre-reading and post-reading tasks where relevant for the teaching sessions
• Other independent activities (optional)
• Resources for the teaching sessions

Take a look at our free samples here.

Plans can be purchased individually for £3 (+VAT) each, by phase for £30 (+VAT) or for the whole school for just £100 (+VAT) - visit our online shop

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.

All of this for £299

To purchase a copy click here  To see training relating to this product, click here. Visit our Spelling page for more spelling resources.

No Nonsense Grammar

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.