Testimonials

“Work in pupils’ books shows that standards of writing throughout the school have improved. This is a result of leaders introducing successfully a new scheme in writing. All pupils are making rapid gains from early years onwards, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those for whom English is an additional language. This is due to the way teachers have appropriately adapted work for them.

Pupils are very enthusiastic about their learning. The recent changes leaders have made to the way teachers teach subjects mean that the pupils are now doing very well in their learning. This includes in writing, where they have made rapid improvements this year after low standards and progress in in previous years.”

Ofsted report, Ladypool school, Birmingham. May 2023

“We introduced the Clever Writer approach to our school, this year, and it has had an extremely positive impact on both teacher subject knowledge and writing standards across the school.

Sarah, has delivered whole school training professionally and effectively with her subject knowledge shining through. Everyone in the school is clear of the expectations, in writing, and what is needed to be successful. Through joint planning sessions, with class teachers from year 1-5, Sarah is able to give regular impact and astute feedback to facilitate learning sequences where the match and pitch of objectives meet the learners’ needs. Teachers are very pleased with the impact Sarah has had on their planning and are happy to be challenged through professional conversations.

The pupils have a positive attitude to writing and benefit from having the Clever Writer checklist to refer to. They have increased confidence and take real pride in their work.

I would thoroughly recommend the ‘I am a Clever Writer’ approach and Sarah’s delivery of it. Her passion and knowledge of writing is evident from the moment you meet her. As a school, we are looking forward to continue working with her going forward.”

Mr Adam Spencer – Deputy Headteacher, St Andrew’s CE School, Evesham

“The feedback from staff training has been nothing but positive! It has created some great discussion with our staff and they are already adapting some of their ideas, especially for our writers who struggle. I know staff have mentioned that it is some of the best CPD they have been to.”

Ben Atkinson – Assistant Principal – Griffin Primary School – March 2025

“We’ve been using ‘I am a Clever Writer’ for almost the whole yearly cycle now and are thrilled with the clear progress being made across the school. Most impressive is the increased level of children’s engagement which was almost instant and improvements in their writing composition and attainment followed closely. ‘I am a Clever Writer’ has empowered children to engage fully with the writing process, talking about their writing and the tools they can use to make sure they are ‘clever writers’. They are writing with confidence and increasing accuracy and we can’t wait to see where the journey takes us in the long-term.”