Product reviews for Uncharted Territories

Uncharted Territories has been an incredible resource for us at St Bernard's and across our Teaching School Alliance. The ideas that are shared across each chapter have been invaluable and have helped develop practice across so many of our classrooms. In our recent work with 53 schools to develop a curriculum around conservation, this book has been a central resource in each of them. Colleagues have been inspired by the ideas and examples within the book, which have really helped them to change what they do in order to invest pupils and deepen their learning. 

Uncharted Territories is different to so many other books and in many ways has become a handbook for our staff. Through its clear examples, links to curriculum areas and a wide range of prompts to support teachers, it's an ideal tool to deliver awesome learning experiences through the whole curriculum. With this book in hand, teachers have become more confident in delivering lessons and it's clear to see how the children have responded across each school. The impact has been fantastic!

The book has also supported us as we have redefined our curriculum. Through the examples in each chapter, we see how the curriculum experience we provide our children can be so much richer. This has led to groups of colleagues working together across the region to shape their own curriculum plans, incorporating the ideas developed within the book. The power of such a collaboration from one resource is a really exciting prospect.

For staff development too, the links to cognitive science and the -˜bedrock' of practice from which we work have been really useful. In a time in which evidence-based practice is key, staff are really empowered to see how such an approach makes a real impact on learning.

After developing the ideas shared within Uncharted Territories, several colleagues told us they were reminded of why they came into teaching in the first place. They have been reinvigorated and have developed their curriculum in ways they would never have previously thought. Equally powerful impact has been how, as a result of their teachers' practice developed from the book, children have grown in empathy and as agents of change. This has led to pupils taking action around areas of conservation and social justice. Many colleagues have quoted the first few pages of the book to me when they have discussed their revised curriculum and the impact this has made: -˜What are we if we are not architects of hope?'



This is how the book has made colleagues across our alliance feel. This is how I want all teachers to feel. If you're not currently excited by teaching, or haven't got this book in your school yet, you really need to buy it!