Teresa is a professor of education at the Open University and an avid reader of children’s books. Her research with UKLA established that primary teachers, whilst frequently keen adult readers, may not be as knowledgeable as they would like to be about children’s literature (Cremin et al, 2008). Consequently, Teresa led the "Teachers as Readers: Building Communities of Readers"project in 2008-9, which developed a reading for pleasure pedagogy and demonstrated the difference ‘Reading Teachers - teachers who read and readers who teach’ can make to children’s pleasure in reading and their attainment as readers. Recently Teresa, who is a Board member of Booktrust, the Poetry Archive and UKLA, has been exploring the nature of extra-curricular reading in primary and secondary schools when young people shadow the Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals.

Why did you get involved in Oxford BookMatch? I believe passionately that as teachers we can never know enough literature.

David is currently the President (2014-15) of the United Kingdom Literacy Association (UKLA) and Principal Adviser for primary schools in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. He is also a former Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Education, University of London. His publications include Guiding Reading - A Handbook for Teaching Guided Reading in KS2 (Institute of Education, with Angela Hobsbaum and Nikki Gamble) and Developing Writing For Different Purposes -Teaching About Genre In The Early Years (Paul Chapman, with Jeni Riley).

Why did you get involved in Oxford BookMatch? I am really excited about contributing to Oxford BookMatch as I believe that high quality children’s literature should be at the heart of the primary school curriculum and this resource will help to support that aim.

Nikki is a passionate advocate for children’s books and the role of quality literature in reading. She is the founder and director of Write Away and Just Imagine and associate consultant at the University of London, Institute of Education. Nikki is currently serving on the National Committee of UKLA and is a former member of the International Executive Committee of IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People). Nikki works extensively with Oxford University Press, advising on Key Stage 2 reading. Recent publications include Exploring Children’s Literature (2013) (3rd edit) Sage, Guiding Reading (2006) (2nd edit) (with Angela Hobsbaum and David Reedy) and Writers’ Secrets (2008).

Why did you get involved in Oxford BookMatch? As Director of Just Imagine I am often asked for advice on which books can best support children's reading and literacy teaching. Busy teachers tell me that finding the right book at the right time is an essential, but time consuming, aspect of good literacy teaching and with 15,000 new children's books published every year, keeping track of the best books can be daunting . So I am very pleased to be involved with Oxford BookMatch, a resource that is designed especially to make those choices easier, helping teachers find great books that have been tried and tested in classrooms and ensuring children have access to the highest quality children's literature.

Sarah works for Andrell Education Ltd. – the company behind Big Writing, Big Maths and Big Reading. Sarah is the lead consultant for reading and co-created Big Reading. She has worked in education for many years, latterly as a Local Authority consultant, prior to joining the Andrell team in 2011.

Sarah is an incredibly motivating and inspirational consultant. She has successfully worked with LAs, Heads, SLTs and teachers in schools across the country, focusing on raising standards in English. Sarah is passionate about the teaching of reading, reading for pleasure and about all things to do with children’s literature, especially in ‘hooking’ reluctant readers in through fantastic texts and by using inspiring learning strategies.
Sarah has been nominated twice for ‘The Teaching Awards, Primary Teacher of the Year’. She also openly admits she is addicted to children’s books!

Why did you get involved in Oxford BookMatch? I have chosen texts that have all been used and highly recommended in my ‘Big Reading’ schools and I am always on the look-out for new, exciting and engaging texts for children. I am an avid believer that all teachers should have a wealth of knowledge in children’s literature and wanted to join this expert panel to impart some of my knowledge of, and passion for, the teaching of reading with as many teachers as possible.

Ron has spent the past 40 years teaching in a wide range of learning environments. For the past 14 years he has been the head teacher of Forefield Junior School in Crosby, Liverpool. During this time the school has been twice judged “Outstanding” by OFSTED. The school puts great value on reading. High quality, inspiring texts in a wealth of genres are displayed in the library, corridors and classrooms. There is a whole school approach to engaging and enthusing children in their enjoyment of reading.

Ron has contributed to a variety of educational resources, including those sponsored by Comic Relief, the Football Association, and, most recently, the Sky Rainforest Amazon Week initiative. He worked alongside Jacqueline Wilson, Roger McGough and Phil Redmond to script and judge the DFE Key Stage Two 'Write Here, Write Now' competition which successfully ran for four years. Ron has also contributed as a speaker at national and regional conferences sharing his passion for the use of real books to inspire writing and exemplifying how this can be a successful approach to stimulate and improve learning.

Why did you get involved in Oxford BookMatch? It stemmed from my passionate belief that students who are encouraged and motivated to read for pleasure become more effective, engaged learners.