What I do...and why I do it
Science is fascinating, but too many children (and adults) are put off reading or learning about science
because they think it is too difficult, or not relevant to them (or both!). I see my job as helping to explain
science and technology in clear and interesting ways, whether in teaching courses used in schools, in
trade books or via websites or interactive activities.
My background
My first career was in engineering, working for British Aerospace on Jaguar and Tornado fighter aircraft. After
10 years of that I went into teaching secondary science. I became Head of Science
in a secondary school, and did some science writing for Longman in my spare time.
From there I went into educational publishing, commissioning and editing science courses for schools.
Now I am a full time writer and editor, with a little supply teaching on the side.
Writing & publishing work
I have co-written a number of science courses for use at home and in school, from Key Stage 1
to A level, including briefing interactive electronic materials. I have also commissioned and series-edited courses
for use in the UK and abroad.
These are all closely matched to the relevant curriculum or specification. See below for more
details.
I undertake writing, editing and copyediting. I can adapt existing materials to new curricula or specifications, and
I can also write interactive activities and animation briefs. I deliver materials to specification and on time.
My main areas of interest are Earth Sciences and Physics, but I can write about any area of science or
technology in all age ranges. I am continually updating my scientific knowledge
as I am hooked on Open University studying!
This is a revision guide for use at home or in school. It covers all the science in Key Stage 1, to back up and
reinforce what children learn in school. Answers are included, so that children (or parents!) can check their work.
Exploring Science 3-6 (co-authored with Mark Levesley)
Published by Pearson Education, under the Longman imprint.
This is a complete course for teaching Key Stage 2 Science. It comprises
Pupil textbooks, Teacher's Guides with lesson ideas, activities and answers, Copymaster files with
photocopiable worksheets, and CD-ROMs with interactive activities.
This is a revision guide for use at home or in school. It covers all the science in Key Stage 2, to back up and
reinforce what children learn in school. Answers are included, so that children (or parents!) can check their work.
The Revision Guide is accompanied by a book of practice papers, in the same format as the KS2 SATs.
A series of 6 learning workbooks for Key Stage 2, covering the whole science curriculum. Each book provides a concise summary
of the information you would expect to find in a textbook, along with questions and tasks that children need to consolidate learning.
The books are intended for children to use independently at home or in school.
Published by Pearson Education under the Longman imprint.
This is a complete course for teaching Key Stage 3 Science, under the series editorship of Mark Levesley. It comprises
Pupil textbooks, Teacher's Guides with lesson ideas, activities and answers, Copymaster files with
photocopiable worksheets, and CD-ROMs with interactive activities. This is the 3rd edition of this course, and it is proving to be a
market leader.
Courses such as Exploring Science are written to meet changes to the National Curriculum, and require an author team due to the tight
timescales and large volume of material. I wrote approximately half of the materials for the whole course for this and earlier editions.
This is a complete course for delivering the 2011 Edexcel Science course, including Student Books, Activity Packs, Teacher and
Technician Planning Packs and interactive activities. I wrote parts of the Physics and Chemistry units in the Science, Additional Science and Extension Units materials.
This is a complete course for AQA Science (2011), with Student's Books, Activity Packs and Teacher's notes. There are books for Core Science,
and Additional Science. The physics units from these, together with the extension unit needed for Triple Science, are published as a Physics book.
21st Century Science (comissioning editor, series editor and co-author)
Published by Pearson Education under the Longman imprint.
This is a complete course that exactly matches the OCR 21st Century Science specifications. As both commissioning editor (working
on a freelance basis) and series editor I
played a large part in defining how the course would look, how the differentiation works, and what additional support materials
would be provided. I also reviewed and edited materials produced by the other authors on the team to ensure consistency of
style, level and approach.
Ice to Steam (author)
Published by Rourke Publishing.
This book was written to cover aspects of particle theory for the Texas, California and Florida curricula, but intended for trade
sales. The reading age is 9 - 12.
This is a series of textbooks and teacher's guides for Ghana. The books were written by teachers in Ghana.
As series editor, I took their manuscripts and edited them to fit books laid out in double page spreads,
and also ensured that the whole of the Ghana Ministry of Education syllabus was covered. The books
were subsequenty adopted by the Minstry of Education.
