Siobhan Whittaker, Assistant Headteacher (Teaching and Learning), Greenbank High School

In the pace of a busy school day, the final minutes of a lesson can easily slip away. Yet these moments are some of the most powerful in shaping learning. A strong finish is not simply a tidy conclusion; it is a crucial opportunity to reinforce understanding, assess progress, and prepare students for what comes next. When used intentionally, these closing moments can transform the effectiveness of a lesson and significantly improve long term retention.

Cognitive science highlights the primacy–recency effect, which shows that students remember the beginning and end of a learning episode more vividly than the middle. This means that the final minutes of a lesson are prime real estate for learning. When these moments are rushed or lost to packing away, transitions, or low level disruption, we miss a vital opportunity to consolidate knowledge. Just five minutes lost at the end of each lesson equates to 25 minutes a week – the equivalent of an entire lesson every fortnight.

Memory research reinforces this point, demonstrating how easily learning fades without structured consolidation. Strong finishes help students reflect, retain, and transfer knowledge into long term memory. They also provide teachers with essential formative assessment opportunities, enabling responsive planning and targeted intervention.

Effective end of lesson routines are not simply organisational tools; they are pedagogical tools. Predictable structures reduce anxiety, support emotional regulation, and help students focus. When students know what to expect, they can transition smoothly into reflection and retrieval. Routines also reduce cognitive load by automating procedural tasks, freeing up mental space for learning. This is particularly important for students with SEND, who benefit from clarity, consistency, and reduced ambiguity.

As Tom Bennett reminds us, behaviour must be taught, not assumed. Routines explicitly teach students how to behave and engage, minimising disruption and supporting inclusion. A well designed ending signals that learning matters right up to the final second. It reinforces that the classroom is a purposeful space where expectations are upheld consistently.

Reflecting on our own practice is key.

• How do we end our lessons?
• Are routines embedded and understood by all?
• Do they support students with early passes, sensory needs, or additional vulnerabilities?
• Do they reinforce our school values and expectations?

Strong finishes are not optional extras. They are essential tools for effective teaching and learning. By embedding purposeful routines and designing meaningful closing tasks, we can maximise the impact of every lesson and support our students in becoming confident, reflective learners.

Designing purposeful endings

A strong finish is more than a wrap up. It is a strategic moment that can deepen understanding, correct misconceptions, and prepare students for future learning. Thoughtful planning of these final minutes can transform classroom practice and boost student outcomes.

There are four key components to a strong finish:

1. Progress and application of learning
   
2. Addressing misconceptions
   
3. Resetting the classroom space
   
4. Managing dismissal
   

Each plays a vital role in reinforcing learning and setting the tone for what comes next.

1. Progress and application of learning

Progress tasks allow students to reflect on what they’ve learned. These can be independent or collaborative and should extend thinking rather than simply summarise content. Examples include:

• A short retrieval question
  
• A “one thing I learned today” reflection
  
• A mini whiteboard response
  
• A quick application task or hinge question.
  

Teachers can use this time to circulate, observe, and respond to student needs. This helps identify what has been understood and what requires further attention. It also builds metacognitive awareness, helping students recognise their own progress.

2. Addressing misconceptions

Misconceptions often surface at the end of a lesson. Targeted questions or quick assessments can uncover misunderstandings. Daisy Christodoulou’s approach of asking one key question is a simple yet powerful way to check comprehension and inform future planning. This ensures that gaps are addressed promptly rather than carried into the next lesson.

3. Resetting the classroom space

The physical environment matters. Resetting the space reinforces respect for the learning environment and prepares it for the next group. It provides a clear routine that students can follow, promoting calm and order. Delegating responsibilities to students can build ownership, develop leadership skills, and reward positive behaviour.

4. Managing dismissal

Dismissal routines are crucial for safety and control. A structured exit signals the end of the lesson and ensures that students leave calmly and purposefully. It also allows the teacher to maintain control of the space and prepare for the next class. Students should not be queuing at the door or wandering corridors before the bell. A calm dismissal sets the tone for the next transition and supports whole school behaviour expectations.
Doug Lemov’s Teach Like a Champion offers practical strategies for strong finishes, including summarising key points, previewing the next lesson, using exit tickets, and incorporating reflection. Each strategy helps students consolidate learning and stay engaged.

Aligning with Greenbank’s classroom principles

At Greenbank High School, our classroom principles emphasise engagement, inclusion, and respect. A strong finish aligns with these values by:

• Promoting student agency
  
• Supporting diverse needs
  
• Reinforcing high expectations
  
• Embedding routines that create calm, purposeful learning environments.
  

Retrieval practice, responsive feedback, and digital competencies all play a role in making the end of a lesson meaningful. Strong finishes also support our wider curriculum intent by ensuring that learning is coherent, cumulative, and connected.

Conclusion

Designing purposeful endings is a powerful way to enhance teaching and learning. By focusing on progress, addressing misconceptions, managing the classroom space, and ensuring smooth dismissal, teachers can make every minute count. Strong finishes are not just about ending well – they are about preparing students to begin again with confidence, clarity, and curiosity.

Additional resources

We shared many of the ideas discussed in this blog post in a series of staff CPD sessions – available to explore below (NACE member login required):

• Strong finishes – session 1
  
• Strong finishes – session 2
  

Research base

• Ebbinghaus (1885) – The forgetting curve demonstrates how quickly information decays without structured review, reinforcing the need for purposeful end‑of‑lesson consolidation.
• Atkinson & Shiffrin (1968) – The multi‑store model of memory highlights the importance of rehearsal and retrieval in transferring learning to long‑term memory.
• Murdock (1962) – Research on the primacy–recency effect shows that students remember the beginning and end of learning episodes most clearly.
• Sweller (1988) – Cognitive Load Theory emphasises the need for predictable routines to reduce unnecessary cognitive strain and support working memory.

Formative assessment & misconceptions

• Daisy Christodoulou – Advocates for precise, well‑designed questions to identify misconceptions and strengthen understanding.
  
• Black & Wiliam (1998) – Formative assessment research shows that timely checks for understanding significantly improve learning outcomes.
  

Behaviour, routines & classroom culture

• Tom Bennett: Running the Room – Argues that routines must be explicitly taught and consistently reinforced to create calm, predictable learning environments.
• Doug Lemov: Teach Like a Champion – Provides practical strategies such as exit tickets, lesson previews, and structured dismissals to strengthen lesson endings.
• Rosenshine (2012) – Principles of Instruction highlight the importance of reviewing learning, checking for understanding, and providing guided practice.

In an education landscape filled with competing priorities, shifting policies and constant online commentary, it can sometimes feel as though value is linked to visibility. But in classrooms and schools, credibility isn’t built by volume. It’s built through consistent, evidence-informed practice that helps young people think deeply, ask better questions and develop confidence in their abilities.

At Amazelab, we work with schools to create STEAM experiences that prioritise clarity, curiosity and genuine understanding. Across that work, one lesson comes up time and time again: credibility grows when we slow down, strip away the noise and focus on what actually helps students learn.

Below are five practical ways that schools can build credibility into their STEAM, helping to create sustainability and long-term impact:

1. Prioritise clear, purposeful communication

STEAM subjects can quickly become overwhelming for learners if instructions, explanations or expectations aren’t clear. Whether you are introducing a practical activity or unpacking a complex concept, all students will benefit from structured, concise communication.

Try:

• Breaking instructions into short, sequential steps
• Using multiple modalities (diagram + demonstration + verbal explanation)
• Checking for understanding through low-stakes methods such as mini whiteboards or thumbs-up checks.

Clear communication doesn’t just support learning; it models scientific thinking. Students will absorb the message that clarity and precision matter, not performance or speed.

2. Make evidence the anchor of every activity

Young people live in a world filled with claims, opinions and information presented with confidence but not always with accuracy. STEAM education gives them the tools to navigate that world effectively. 

When we encourage learners to test their ideas, challenge their assumptions and evaluate the results, we show them that evidence matters much more than noise.

In practice, this might look like:

• Asking students to justify their answers, not just present them
• Encouraging discussion around “What surprised you?” or “What would you test next?”
• Affirming that getting things wrong is part of the process and not a performance failure.

These routines build scientific habits and, over time, students are able to grasp the idea that credibility is earned through investigation and reflection.

3. Celebrate process, not just outcomes

It is easy for STEAM to become product-focused – the finished model, the correct graph, the successful experiment – but this can lead students to prioritise speed or appearance over understanding.

Highlighting the process itself reframes STEAM as a space for thinking, exploring and iterating.

Ways to shift the focus:

• Display your students’ “workings out”, their early drafts or prototypes
• Ensure that you provide time for students to revisit and refine their ideas
• Use questions such as “What did you change?” or “What would you keep the same next time?”

This approach not only strengthens learning but also reduces the pressure to “get it right first time”, which is especially important for high prior attainers who may fear making mistakes.

4. Build credibility through consistency

Whether in a single lesson or across a whole school approach, consistency builds trust. Students feel more secure and more able to take intellectual risks when routines and expectations are stable.

Examples include:

• The regular use of retrieval practice to reinforce long-term memory
• Consistent practical expectations for safe and successful experiments
• Developing a common language around problem-solving across subjects.

When your students know what to expect, they can focus on learning instead of navigating the unknown. Over time, this steady consistency sends a powerful message: your classroom is a place where thinking matters.

5. Model the quieter version of success

In an age of filtered perfection, instant gratification and noisy online debate, the classroom can serve as a grounding alternative. Teachers modelling calm problem solving, measured responses and curiosity shows students that another route to success is one built on integrity rather than performance.

You might model this by:

• Demonstrating thinking aloud through a challenging problem
• Showcasing how scientists continually revise their approaches
• Sharing your own learning journey or questions.

This humanises STEAM and shows students that expertise grows slowly and steadily.

Conclusion: credibility compounds over time

When we strip away the noise and focus on communication, evidence, process and consistency, we create STEAM environments where students thrive. These approaches may be quieter, but they are far more sustainable. They help young people see that success isn’t about being the loudest, it’s about thinking well, working carefully and trusting the process.

In Amazelab’s work with schools, such principles underpin every workshop and activity that we design. They offer students not just STEAM knowledge, but a mindset that will support them long after they leave the classroom.

About the author

5 steps to create an inclusive and challenging curriculum 

Donna Lee, Headteacher of Nettlesworth Primary School, County Durham

Designing a curriculum that is both inclusive and challenging is essential for ensuring every learner thrives. At Nettlesworth Primary School, we’ve worked hard to create an approach that raises expectations for all while celebrating diversity and individual strengths. Here’s our five-step plan, with practical examples from our journey.

Step 1: Start with a clear vision

An inclusive and challenging curriculum begins with a shared vision. Define what ‘inclusive’ and ‘challenging’ mean in your context. For us, inclusivity means every child feels valued and supported, regardless of ability, background, or need. Challenge means providing opportunities for deep thinking and problem-solving. Our school aims to provide all children with a well-planned and balanced education taking full account of national curriculum statutory requirements. Within the bounds of this we also provide for individual children’s special needs which may require more challenging work or additional help. We ensure there is a whole-school commitment and a clear focus to providing for more able, gifted and talented pupils. We provide pupils with a wide range of experiences and opportunities individualised to their personal needs and interests. Parents are closely involved in the education of their child and are consulted about their provision. 

Example: We held an inset day looking at developing our curriculum further to meet the individual needs of our children where staff and governors contributed ideas. Pupils created posters in a whole-school workshop showing what ‘challenge’ looks like in their learning –many highlighted resilience and curiosity rather than just ‘hard work.’ This helped us shape a vision that everyone understood and owned.

Step 2: Audit and adapt your curriculum

Once your vision is clear, review your curriculum through the lens of inclusivity and challenge. Ask:

Does every subject offer opportunities for higher-order thinking?

Are resources and texts representative of diverse cultures and perspectives?

Do we provide scaffolds for those who need support without capping expectations?

Example: During our curriculum audit, we made sure there were opportunities planned for the ability to think critically about history and communicate ideas confidently to a range of audiences; the ability to support, evaluate and challenge their own and others’ views using historical evidence from a range of sources; and the ability to think, reflect, debate, discuss and evaluate the past by formulating and refining questions and lines of enquiry. In maths, we added reasoning challenges to every lesson – such as ‘Explain why this method works’ –to deepen understanding.

Step 3: Embed differentiation and personalisation

Adaptive teaching isn’t about giving ‘more work’ to some and ‘less work’ to others. It’s about designing tasks that allow multiple entry points and varied outcomes.

Example: In Year 4 science, when exploring electricity, pupils could choose how to present their findings: a diagram, a written explanation, or a short video. This allowed all learners to access the challenge while showcasing their strengths.

Step 4: Foster a culture of high expectations

Curriculum design alone won’t create challenge unless it’s supported by a culture that values effort, resilience, and growth.

Example: We use growth mindset and games values to celebrate pupils who take risks and learn from mistakes. In maths, learn from each other and share our learning – pupils share an error they made and explain what they learned from it. This normalises mistakes and encourages reflection. Parents are involved too: we run workshops on growth mindset so the message continues at home.

Step 5: Review, reflect, and refine

Creating an inclusive and challenging curriculum is an ongoing process. Schedule regular reviews using data, observations, and feedback.

Example: Each term, we hold curriculum review meetings where staff share successes and challenges. Recently, feedback showed pupils wanted more collaborative tasks, so we introduced ‘Think-Pair-Share’ and group problem-solving in maths. We also use NACE’s audit tools annually to benchmark progress and set new goals.

Final thoughts

An inclusive and challenging curriculum isn’t about doing more; it’s about doing better. By following these five steps – vision, audit, differentiation, culture, and review – you can create a learning environment where every child feels included and inspired to achieve their best.

About the author

Donna Lee is committed to the highest standards of teaching and learning and believes that all children deserve teachers who believe in them and have high expectations of all. She has been an Inclusion Coordinator for over 25 years; inclusion and individualised learning were the focus for an MA in Special Educational Needs and NPQH. Donna believes you work in partnership with parents to develop a school where no one fails; every child leaves having identified a talent, a skill, an intelligence through which they can become whatever they want to be. She shares this belief and expertise through network meetings and conferences throughout the North East. 

In 2013-2014, Donna led Nettlesworth Primary School as Acting Deputy Headteacher in obtaining the NACE Challenge Award for the first time. She then became Headteacher of the school in January 2018, immediately leading the team through an Ofsted inspection, where they continue to be a good school. She has also led the school through NACE re-accreditation assessments in July 2018, July 2021 and 2024 – now as a NACE Ambassador School.  

Curriculum making: bringing an ambitious knowledge-rich curriculum to life

The Curriculum and Assessment Review published in late 2025 (DfE) sets out a bold and ambitious role for the English curriculum. As the report asserts:

“The refreshed curriculum must provide the knowledge and skills that will empower young people to thrive as citizens, in work and throughout life, in the light of the challenges and opportunities facing them today.” (p.47)

Realising this ambition in practice requires teachers to focus on what they are teaching, with an understanding of how our subject knowledge and skills can be empowering for young people. This means we need to think about knowledge less as a means to get through an exam, and more as a way to enable students to be productive, creative citizens of the modern world.

A curriculum is much more than a set of learning objectives or facts on a page. ‘Curriculum making’ describes the deliberate process that a teacher goes through to bring a curriculum to life. There are three main considerations, modelled by the overlapping circles in Figure 1: the subject, the student and the choices teachers make. 

 
Figure 1: Curriculum making – from Bustin (2024), p.73, based on Lambert and Morgan (2010)

The first consideration is the subject discipline itself. This includes the knowledge, skills and values that make up each school subject. The sort of knowledge that is inherent in this type of curriculum thinking is not an inert list of facts but is ‘powerful’ knowledge, a term from the work of Michael Young (e.g. 2008). This type of knowledge has derived from the disciplined thinking that comes from engagement with a school subject; it is the ‘best’ scholarly thought that has been developed within that particular discipline but is never a given as it can be replaced by better knowledge as more research is done. 

Powerful knowledge can include substantive knowledge – the claims of truth made by a subject; and procedural knowledge – knowing how to think with and through the subject, which often leads to distinctive subject-specific skills. Access to this sort of ambitious knowledge should be seen as a minimum curricular entitlement for all young people. Indeed, the Curriculum and Assessment Review contends that: 

“a curriculum centred on ‘powerful knowledge’ provides a shared frame of reference for children and young people from different backgrounds, enabling them to engage more effectively with issues affecting them and the world around them.” (p.45)

My own research with over 200 teachers across three schools, published in What are we Teaching? Powerful knowledge and a capabilities curriculum (Bustin, 2024) identifies how powerful knowledge might be expressed in different subjects across the curriculum.

A second consideration of curriculum making is the lived experiences of the young people themselves. Teachers understand their pupils, their motivations and their prior knowledge, which can be drawn upon to develop engaging lessons. Students’ own life experiences can also be a meaningful starting point for engagement.

The third consideration of curriculum making is teacher choices. Subject-specialist teachers are best placed to decide on the most appropriate pedagogy. This could include introducing more active learning activities, direct instruction, deliberate practice or factual recall. What is clear is that a lesson cannot be an ‘off the shelf’ presentation sent out to all teachers to deliver uncritically. Instead, it should involve a careful selection of content, framed for that particular class at that particular time. A lesson first thing on a Monday morning might look different to the same lesson taught on Friday afternoon.

It is the centre point of the diagram above where the possibilities of curriculum making can be realised. Teachers make choices about what to teach, and how to teach it, and it is through engagement with the powerful knowledge of subjects that students can develop capabilities to see the world in new ways: to spot fake news, to understand nuance in complex debates, to think critically and become autonomous, free-thinking individuals. Subject-specialist teachers, given the autonomy to design their own lessons and decide on their own pedagogy, are key to realising this vision.

References:
Bustin, R. (2024). What are we Teaching? Powerful knowledge and a capabilities curriculum. Carmarthen: Crown House.
Department for Education (2025). Curriculum and Assessment review. Available: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/curriculum-and-assessment-review-final-report. Accessed December 2025.
Lambert, D. and Morgan, J. (2010). Teaching Geography 11-18: a conceptual approach. Maidenhead: Open University.
Young, M. (2008). Bringing knowledge back in: from social constructivism to social realism in the sociology of education. Abingdon: Routledge.

About the author

Dr Richard Bustin is Director of Pedagogy, Innovation and Staff Development and Head of Geography at Lancing College, UK. He is the author of What are we teaching? Powerful knowledge and a capabilities curriculum – available now from Crown House.

For discounts on this and all purchases from Crown House Publishing, log in for details of all NACE member offers.

As celebrations for the National Year of Reading 2026 get going, English Consultant Julie Sargent shares her pick of five picture books to inspire your KS1 learners…

In the current climate, there is a clear and welcome focus on securing key foundational skills for our younger children. Automaticity in both word reading and transcriptional skills helps children access a wide range of texts and share their ideas through writing.

Rich, authentic texts are a vital part of provision; they promote the pleasure and purpose of reading, deepening understanding of texts and exploring the craft of the writer. Yet in primary schools, it seems as if the purpose of reading is to answer questions correctly about a text, and writing is about producing a ‘type’ of text. The reality is that we read to escape, relate, explore and discover, and when writing, we think far more about what we want to say, why we want to say it and how best to get our meaning across.   

Working alongside many schools and trusts, I often talk about the importance of ‘creating writers, not writing’; the same applies to reading – we need to create real ‘readers’. High-quality texts allow us to do exactly that.

At Opening Doors, we believe challenge is for everyone, and access is key. By using high challenge, low threat strategies, every child can develop fully as a reader and a writer, including our younger learners.  

Here are five texts to get you started…

The Last Wolf by Mini Grey
Little Red ventures into the woods to catch a wolf in this humorous twist on the traditional tale of Little Red Riding Hood, featuring important environmental messages.

Ideas to engage and challenge:  

• When predicting, young children often focus on getting it right. However, authors often deliberately lead readers towards one thing before surprising them with something quite unexpected. Here, Little Red stalks what looks very much like a rabbit, but turns out to be something quite different. The reader is caught out! Another potential creature is spotted. Will the reader be caught out again, or will they be wise; there is more to the image than meets the eye? As readers, we wonder, notice, speculate, connect and take pleasure in being surprised and shocked as events unfold. Explore those ‘red herrings’ and the enjoyment of getting it wrong. Can we spot ‘red herrings’ in other stories? As we develop as writers, maybe we can include some?
• Why do we sense impending danger as Little Red travels through the forest? Darkening pictures, word choices, strange sounds, the size of our heroine, unanswered questions and broken up sentences all add to the tension. Is there danger? Or is this another ‘red herring’?
• Relish the vocabulary; alongside some great words to explore (‘supplies’, ‘lurked’ etc.), there are also some unusual and potentially unfamiliar phrases: ‘the good old days’, ‘world was awash’, ‘a square meal’, ‘pickings are slim’.
• Take making connections to other texts one step further. This author has made very deliberate links with another text. What connotations can be made by the inclusion of certain characters, the play on a name, the use of colour or a well-known phrase? All this brings to mind prior knowledge and perhaps more ‘red herrings’ – wolves should be dangerous! Over time, you might like to spot other stories that play on these links. Good Little Wolf by Nadia Shireen and A Tale of Two Beasts by Fiona Robertson are good examples.
• And why not have some playful fun with writing? Perhaps children could create a lunchbox for the wolf for Little Red’s next visit? Maybe they could write about a wolf chasing/hunting a sandwich/chocolate bar for their dinner?

The Secret Forest by Sandra Dieckmann
This interactive text invites readers to spot hidden secrets while journeying through the forest, meeting creatures and discovering fascinating information about life in the forest.

Ideas to engage and challenge:

• The author continually engages with the reader, asking them to do something, notice something or on one occasion, sing an owl duet! Command sentences instruct the reader to notice something or warn of imminent danger. To be a great writer, sentences are crafted for the reader; we can show them how this is done.
• Adverbs of time are often covered in KS1. How many pieces of writing do we see that use the words first, then, next etc.?  This book contains some delightful phrases that show the time of day: ‘in the twilight of late evening’, and ‘the morning sun is rising’.  Why not collate these, model new ones and generate some together? They can be used orally to talk about time and events. Developing this over time is likely to lead into natural application within writing.

The Incredible Book Eating Boy by Oliver Jeffers
A humorous tale with an important message: read books, don’t eat them. Henry loves eating books and gets cleverer with each bite, but it doesn’t end well. He learns that reading is the better way (or does he?).

Ideas to engage and challenge:

• Explore engaging ways that stories are shared. The opening paragraph connects the author and reader through a shared interest and implies something slightly different about our main character. Sentence openers weave the magic of stories: ‘It all began quite by mistake…’, ‘Then, after a while, and almost by accident…’.  Note other books that acknowledge the reader, other openers that build the story. These could be used in any retelling or creation of stories.
• Alongside fascinating illustrations, the author uses unexpected features – a labelled diagram to explain a process, a footnote to explain an unfamiliar word – typically seen in non-fiction. Discuss where else these features might be found and explore Jeffers’ other books to see if you can find any similar features.
• Take some time to look at the blurb. What is a disclaimer? Why might the reader need a disclaimer? The short, one-line reviews are very cleverly worded, playing on words like ‘devour’ and ‘mouthwatering’, exploiting the meaning of these words in different contexts. Try ‘digest’ and ‘feast’.  How can they be used in a non-food context?
• Explore endings with a twist. We discover Henry, quietly reading a book, but what about that last line, and the mysterious poster/book? And what has happened to the back cover? Why might an author do this at the end of a book? What other stories have a ‘twist’ at the end?

The Big Book of the Blue by Yuval Zommer
This engaging, informative non-fiction text explores the ocean through fascinating illustrations and cleverly presented facts. With fiction, we often respond to the text by exploring our reactions; why not explore the delight of discovery alongside knowledge?

Ideas to engage and challenge:

• The first subheading on each page asks a question a reader might wonder about, often addressing potential misconceptions such as ‘Is a jellyfish made from jelly?’ Other subheadings use clever techniques such as playing on words: ‘In for the krill’ and ‘Good eye-dea’. There’s a great opportunity here for collecting these and linking them to the original phrase, thus developing knowledge of well-used phrases and idioms. You can also explore short, snappy subheadings, the use of alliteration and how the first subheading flows directly into the opening sentence (‘A crab says hello by…’), leaving the reader intrigued to read on.
• Another effective way of sharing information is using the language of comparison. Understanding is developed through showing a slight difference or an unusual link with something the reader is likely to know about. Pick out phrases such as ‘slippery as butter’, ‘looks like a flower’ to demonstrate this. Make links with writing; if your reader didn’t know what something was, what comparisons could you make? 
• The Fishy Phrases page provides an excellent example for teaching children subject-specific words and how these ‘expert’ words are used in information texts. Perhaps children could revisit other pages in the book and see if they can spot any ‘expert’ words!

I’ve yet to do the sardine challenge (posed for the reader at the beginning of the book) but I’m sure many children will be keen to have a go!

Nimesh the Adventurer by Ranjit Singh, illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini
A glorious text exploring the delight of using your imagination to have adventures wherever you are. It might be a school corridor, or is it the ocean depths – a place for daring adventures!

Finally, below is just a taster of what you can do with this book, as I’ve used it to create our first ever Opening Doors unit for reception and KS1. There are opportunities for:

• Oral, creative retelling of journeys
• Creating illustrations to ‘hint’ at adventures
• Building sentences to explore concepts
• Consideration to play and enhanced continuous provision
• A range of ‘wings to fly’ opportunities, accessible for all learners

If you’d like to explore this unit in full and deepen your understanding of the Opening Doors approach, you can purchase the unit via TES, and read more about Opening Doors.

Julie Sargent has over 10 years’ experience of working across the whole of the primary sector as an English Consultant. This includes developing bespoke CPD for individual schools, multi-academy trusts and local authorities. She has a particular interest in Early Years/KS1 and using high-quality texts to promote and develop all aspects of English. Read more about Julie, and follow her @Julie_Sargent1