Product reviews for Opening Doors to Quality Writing

The resource is innovative in that it sits happily between a scheme (which is something often requested but not always the best way of addressing school/teacher development needs) and a resource that is too general or academic. Opening Doors provides concrete steps towards delivering quality reading and writing teaching sequences. It uses common structures across its sections so that familiarity and confidence may develop. It guides teachers towards a deeper understanding of how to open up deeper understanding of texts and how to profitably explore them.

Teachers that have used the books report enhanced confidence, a broader range of teaching strategies and a greater sense of enjoyment and achievement (this last point extends to their pupils too). A number of teachers have come back to tell me that they trialled an initial unit following my recommendation and that they went on to deliver more in quick succession - largely due to the written outcomes they saw from their students and also the enthusiasm that their pupils have shown towards the texts used and the approaches deployed. In one school the pupils begged for more. Children begging for further exploration of classic texts is not to be sniffed at.



In terms of cost-effectiveness, it really seems self-evident: very reasonably priced books that are instantly accessible (so little in the way of teacher-time cost too) and which offer high quality learning outcomes with readily available and high quality resources. This reinforces the sense that we are dealing with an ethical tool that puts good learning and timeless teaching at the heart of its offer.