Here's what people are saying about Mathew's training and ideas...
Alan Peat Ltd presents... IMPROVING WRITING THROUGH COMICS AND EXCITING SENTENCES AT KS2 Village Hotel - Cheadle
Thank you so much Mathew for a wonderful day: so inspirational! (Trying to impress by using a De: de!) I have always loved the comic book genre - this has fuelled it even more!
Great CPD, so many ideas, and after using the 'Developing Writing Through Comics' book extensively for the last year it was really useful to finally see these approaches used by the creator. Highly recommended.
A very useful and informative day packed full of practical ideas to use in the classroom. Superb training!
Brilliant ideas put across in a manageable and inspiring, applicable way. Can't wait to put it into practise. Excellent day - many thanks.
Fantastic! Great to have a knowledgeable speaker with great ideas that can be used and adapted. Wonderful that Mathew is a working teacher who understands what is going on in school now. Lots of great ideas to use. Introduced to useful apps, books and resources. Can't wait to use them adapted lower to my Year 2 class and also to engage my comic-crazy ten year old son.
Thank you, the most useful and engaging course I've had - can't wait to take this back into the classroom and find a new way to enthuse my children.
Jam-packed with ideas all day. Can't wait to go back to school.
Engaging and inspiring - left with lots of ideas to use in class.
Totally inspired by Mathew!
Alan Peat Ltd presents... IMPROVING WRITING THROUGH COMICS AND EXCITING SENTENCES AT KS2 SUMMER TOUR
Wirral conference - Thornton Hall - Attendee feedback:
Great ideas to take back to school – full, packed day. Really useful, best training day I’ve been on in a long time.
Inspiring and motivational, lots of great ideas to implement in the classroom which will definitely improve the quality of writing.
Really appreciated all the ‘real’ school examples of children’s work – shows it works. Very engaging and has us hooked. Inspiring day – eager to get back to school and have a go!
Inspirational! Can’t wait to return to school and discuss ideas with staff. So many practical ideas and fun delivery. Thanks for a great day.
Practical and manageable ideas for the classroom. Brilliant use of children’s work to illustrate Mathew’s ideas. Very useful list of games too.
Full of interesting, useful and relevant ideas. Fast paced, fab day!
Amazing! Best course I’ve been on. Can’t wait to use ideas at school! Every teacher should have to go on this course.
Absolutely brilliant! Mat was completely passionate and inspiring! An amazing day.
Fantastic course, very inspiring – can’t wait to try out comic writing / plans / exciting sentences with my class and hopefully get some of the outcomes Mathew is getting. Loved it! Thank you!
Terrific delivery of wonderful ideas to take back to the classroom and use right away. One of the best courses I’ve ever attended, very inspirational! Thanks!
Walsall conference - Village Urban Resort - Attendee feedback:
Great ideas to motivate pupils. Although very familiar with Alan’s work, am really glad I came. Good to have another take on it – particularly use of ICT – thanks!
Highly knowledgeable and fully approachable. Lots of great ideas in order to fully engage children and to cover key aspects of literacy. Huge variety of support and interaction which can easily be replicated in teaching. Excellent.
Engaging – lots of useful tips, well delivered, with good real life examples. A fab course.
Absolutely brilliant, thanks! So many ideas that all make sense, can see the relevance and impact. Session delivered at a great pace. Can’t wait to try out all the ideas within class!
Outstanding content with clear examples of how to use effectively within the classroom. Very thorough – particularly liked how to effectively incorporate sentence types for characters and descriptions.
Can’t wait to teach and see these ideas being used in my classroom. Looking forward to sharing with other staff to ensure there is a successful whole-school approach.
Brilliant day. One of the best courses I have attended.
Engaging, stimulating, and I feel more confident in ideas to teach writing etc. because of the fantastic ideas provided by Mat!
A very enjoyable, informative and thought-provoking day! I will definitely be taking ideas from this and using in the classroom! Thank you.
Really enjoyed the children’s work and knowing how effectively the children were able to use it. Extremely informative and useful.
Engaging, useful ideas which can be easily used back at school. Simple methods which will have maximum impact!
Thank you for an inspiring and motivational presentation, with useful and easy to use ideas!
Knowledgeable, inspiring, fun. Good mixture of listening, talking and doing.
Mathew’s passion for writing was inspiring, which went hand in hand with his knowledge and bank of ideas. Thank you.
Inspirational ideas presented passionately by a class teacher, actually doing this in the classroom.
Really motivating! Easy to listen to. Great examples of children’s work. Thank you for all the great resources.
Fantastic examples and knowledge shown. Creative ways given to bring motivation and enthusiasm into the classroom.
Fantastic day. Tons of ideas to implement immediately. Passionately delivered – thank you.
Very relevant – lots of real-life activities to take straight into the classroom. It was good that the speaker was a teacher – it was related to things that happen in the classroom and the constraints / challenges posed by working in an area with disadvantaged children.
Really inspirational – all sounded like things we can really do with the children. Looking forward to going back to school and sharing with the rest of the staff. Very helpful and beneficial – lots to take on board and think about. Very interesting presentation – great to see it being used in a ‘real’ classroom.
Mat was really enthusiastic and has given me lots of ideas to go back to school with. Also, the fact that he has his own class allowed me to really connect with what he was saying. Thank you Mat for taking time out of your half term to come and see us.
An inspirational speaker. Highly knowledgeable, enthusiastic and passionate. Gave many excellent ideas which I will definitely want to take to my new job in September.
Really engaging, easy to listen to! When you realise how much comics can do; when you don’t fall asleep after ten minutes; when you don’t notice the time passing, then you know you’re listening to Mathew Sullivan. Thanks!
Fantastic delivery from Mat – kept us engaged throughout and have loads to take back to school. The venue was spot on, the food was amazing, but Mat was simply superb!
Brilliant ideas to take back into the classroom. When you discover the various uses of ‘as’; when you find yourself wanting to research every superhero’s origin story; when you suddenly actually want to teach literacy, then you know you’ve just been listening to Mathew Sullivan!
Alan Peat Ltd presents... IMPROVING WRITING THROUGH COMICS AND EXCITING SENTENCES AT KS2 Village Hotel - Ashton-Under-Lyne
This brand new, sold-out conference was a joy to deliver. The attendees were a wonderful group of enthusiastic, passionate teachers and their overwhelmingly positive response, both on the day and in their written feedback, was amazing. The day was made extra special by the fact that my first solo publication, Developing Writing Through Comics, was released to an equally fantastic reception.
Thank you to everyone who came, I am so pleased that you enjoyed the day!
Here's what people had to say...
Fantastic ideas, wide-ranging, very engaging and relevant to the interests of children today! Cannot wait to put them into practice!
Amazing CPD! So many resources and ideas to be inspired by, will definitely be keeping up to date with Mat’s work and trying out lots of the ideas In the book. Feeling very inspired!
Such an inspirational and engaging day. So engaging in fact, that it flew by too quickly and I didn’t want it to end. Would have happily stayed all weekend. Well done Mat! Very well presented.
The more Mat spoke, the more inspired we became. Some say he was great, others say he was out of this world!
Fantastic delivery, great ideas.
Engaging and gave detailed examples to key ideas – enjoyed learning new ways to engage students.
Very inspirational. Lots of great, useful ideas that can be taken and used in my class. If I’d had a teacher like you at school I would have enjoyed Literacy more!
A fantastic day. Great ideas to take back to the classroom – can’t wait to try them out!
Fantastic and inspirational – great ideas! Can’t wait to get started! First half term for next year sorted.
Excellent day. I’ve nearly filled an exercise book of ideas! Really excited about passing ideas on to colleagues to enthuse them too.
Wow! A truly inspirational day. Your passion for teaching shines through and I can’t wait to try it out with my class.
Loads of great content, really excited about trying all these activities out with my children. Thanks!
Informative, fun, interactive, practical, useful!
Brilliant! Lots of excellent ideas delivered in a down-to-Earth way. Loved the way you speak, love the way you teach.
Great ideas and reassuring to know SPAG can be done creatively through units of work and not taught explicitly. Thank you – a thoroughly enjoyable course with lots of great ideas that are easy to implement straight away.
Really engaging, with lots of practical examples that I’ll be able to start immediately. Thank you!
Amazing ideas which will work in the classroom – all practical, low preparation ideas. Would recommend to anyone – thought you did an excellent job and really passed on your enthusiasm for teaching!
Excellent content – so much to think about. What a fantastic tool Exciting Sentences are for teachers to have. Thank you for the inspiration – let’s pass it on to the children.
Brilliant content, well presented, FULL of brilliant ideas. I’m teaching Y2 and have so many ideas to use – so it’s applicable for all primary! Would recommend to all colleagues.
Mat gave us lots of great ideas that we can put into practise in the classroom. Looking forward to getting back and trying them out. A very good day.
Very useful and clearly explained with brilliant examples. Great day and can’t wait to start using the ideas.
Excellent day – linking work with what I’ve done with Alan and Lee. Can’t wait to get back and start – so many ideas!
Great practical examples of how children use these super sentences and strategies. Excellent delivery/pace/content throughout!
Brill – loads of great ideas – makes SPAG interesting!
Used real-life examples to support ideas. Great links to new curriculum and SPAG tests. Really inspiring – excited to add some ideas into planning for next year. Clear purpose for the use of new sentence structures with a ‘how to introduce’ approach.
Great, well done! Fast and full of ideas.
Great content, lots of good ideas, looking forward to using them in school.
Incredibly inspiring with fantastic practical ideas to really motivate pupils in their writing. The best course I’ve been on! Can’t wait to try everything out. Thank you so much!
Absolutely brilliant. Loads of ideas that will be easy to use immediately. Covered so much and lots of extra links like twitter. Can’t wait to try things myself!
Fantastic ideas that can be incorporated into lessons easily. Thank you!
Simply stunning – will be an invaluable resource for our Literacy in the future.
Word cloud created using 'Wordle', picks out most commonly occurring words and enlarges them! IDEAS that work!
The Literacy Shed Conference, 2014
What teachers think of 'Developing Writing through Comics'
“Inspiring ideas for engaging lessons. Right down to KS1 and Foundation Stage, comics can be used to enthuse and interest even the most disengaged children. The comic planner allows reluctant writers to be inventive and creative, and ideas like pathetic fallacy are presented in such an easy and intuitive way using comics. Excellent ideas for using comics in the classroom to raise children's enjoyment of writing.” Gaz Needle - St Joseph's R.C. Primary School, Oldham
“I have recently been introduced to the idea of using comics as a resource in the classroom by Mathew Sullivan. The impact has been phenomenal. Children who were reluctant writers are now desperate to finish their writing. The high standard of language all the children are using is a direct benefit of this approach.” Bryn Goodman - Moorside Primary School, Tameside
“Through the use of comics in class, writers are even more engaged, enthused and are finding literacy even more fun. Together, we have discovered rich descriptions, complex characters, emotions and language: things we might not have found in other literature.” John Cotter – RL Hughes Primary School, Wigan
“Just as Steve Rogers became Captain America after taking the Super Soldier Serum, my Year 5 class have started to become sentence making superheroes after we used Mat's amazing comic-based strategies to develop our writing. Constantly engaged, enthused and excited, both boys and girls have loved developing their language and writing through the use of comic stimuli. These ideas are a weapon, more powerful than Thor's hammer, in the fight to nurture exciting and expressive writing in today's classroom.” Gary Wilson – Heyes Lane Primary School, Altrincham
“In this digital age, where children are exposed to many exciting stimuli, comics are the perfect vibrant, dynamic starting point for both reading and writing learning. They are not only exciting and interesting to pupils, but full of fantastic vocabulary, storylines, writers’ tricks and much more. Mathew Sullivan is a treasure trove of terrific trialled and triumphed ideas for using comics, and a 'geekish' expert, to boot!” Heather Wright – The District CE Primary School, St. Helens
"Using comics in the classroom has not only revealed my inner geek, but has inspired and engaged my class in a wide range of subjects. Whether it is dialogue in Literacy, story planning for Viking sagas or organising and structuring information for reports, the children have been amazed that such a relatable and creative format can entice them into producing such brilliant work whilst having so much fun! Visually stimulating, readily differentiated and extremely on trend, Mat's inspirational comic book techniques have provided me with a timeless resource that I am looking forward to using over and over again!" Hayley Knowles – Mesne Lea Primary School
“These simple but extremely effective ideas engage even the most reluctant of writers: arming them with skills which are transferable across all genres. Whether you are a comic novice (like myself), or a self-confessed 'comic geek', the methods in this book are easy to implement and have a dramatic impact on children's writing. Superb!” Andrew Currie – Fulbridge Academy, Peterborough
"A fabulous resource that excites both boys and girls. Mat's techniques should be shared widely and celebrated." Henry Smith, LendMeYourLiteracy Co-founder
Feedback from the Literacy Shed Conference, Twickenham, London, 4th April, 2014.
• Fab – I am a KS3/4 teacher and I teach largely low ability/mostly boys. Can’t wait to get on with it.
• Gave new ideas on how to set stories using ideas that children will be interested in especially low level children.
• Very inspired - will be planning a topic on superheroes in the summer term.
• Excellent, can’t wait to try out ideas.
• Wonderful ideas for further use of comics.
• Really interesting ideas and clear examples.
• Excellent – fun ideas to appeal particularly to reluctant writers.
• Great personality, fantastic resources and ideas.
• Great ideas, terrific, very motivating
• Some really practical things to take straight back to the classroom.
• My Y2 boys are mad about superheroes so I have started to use comics already (inspired by Mat through twitter) Loved Pathetic Fallacy
• Great ideas to use in classroom that are practical and can be used across different areas.
• Have created comic strips but never thought of using them for planning and moving writing on.
• Great inspiration for use of iPads and blogging.
• Great planning ideas
• Great ideas, with real examples!
• Great writing by children – love the vocabulary ideas.
• Inspiring, which ideas can I use first?
Feedback from attendees at the Literacy Shed Conference, Lancashire County Cricket Club, 17th January 2014
"Best Literacy training in 13 years of my career." "One of the best courses I have been on in a long time!" "A wonderful conference. I've been looking forward to attending since September and haven't been disappointed!" "Literacy is in the safe hands with the Literacy Shed Conference!"
On the day Mathew presented on the subject of using comics in the classroom to improve story planning, character development, locational writing and SPAG knowledge. This is what people had to say:
Very original ideas and ones which seem to grab learners attention. Will be sure to use them in the classroom.
Fab! Loved how much of the kids' work he showed - we could see how effective his ideas were. Lots of small ideas that coul be implemented on a day to day basis.
I look forward to his book. Really good ideas.
Great writing stimulus ideas.
Good, practical ideas to adapt in everyday lessons.
Like the idea, some new ideas!
As a fellow geek, it was great. Using comics is a top way of engaging and getting the best out of kids.
Lots of great planning ideas! Very inspiring - looking forward to reading the book and hopefully getting even more ideas.
Really liked the comic planner. THought the ways for improving and developing language were great.
Good - again lots of good ideas that I will use.
So many fav ideas for writing. I know what I'll be planning next week. Will definitely be using these ideas as easily accessible.
I agree that this sort of content appeals to girls. My daughter far prefers Dr Who and the Big Bang Theory to reading the classics.
Amazing ideas, especially the planning of stories. Will definitely look at using comic strip planning in my next unit.
Excellent – never thought of using comics as a tool before rather than an end outcome.
Super ideas – didn’t realise I liked ‘comics’ – more amazing ideas.
Lots of amazing ideas – wish you guys were my teachers (not only for today!)
Amazing day – thank you so much!
You have clearly done some fab stuff with your class – like the inspiration/skill balance.
Best Literacy training in 13 years of my career.
Wonderful ideas for engaging children in narrative writing. Really interesting and well presented.
Enjoyed it – think it was very different.
Really engaging session – very well planned and sequenced ideas that demonstrate the building blocks clearly.