Game Changers - sample resources

What is Game Changers?

Game Changers is a 20-session reading programme specifically designed for excluded secondary students. Find out more about Game Changers.

On this page, you can find a variety of resources as a pre-purchase sample of the programme.

Sample resources aim to demonstrate the ethos that underpins Game Changers – as well as to indicate its level, format and content. Download all sample materials from the 'available files' section of this page.

If you are interested in running practical football sessions alongside the classroom resources, you can also see a video trailer for these sessions.

Overview document

This four-page overview provides a fuller summary of Game Changers. The document covers:

• Outcome objectives
• Target audience
• Pedagogical approach
• Classroom resources
• Resources for (optional) football activities
• Evidence of impact
• Scheme of learning breakdown
• Links to the GCSE curriculum

We recommend reading through the overview before looking at any sample materials; as it shows how these resources fit into the wider scheme of learning.

Lesson samples

Introduction lesson sample

The ‘introduction lesson’ sample is taken from the second lesson of the programme – where students are taught three reading skills (looking, inferring and thinking). You can find:

• The entire PowerPoint for this lesson
• Screenshots of the accompanying student workbook

Reading lesson sample

After learning three reading skills, Game Changers participants are guided through five inspirational texts about role models with lived experience of school exclusion. The ‘reading lesson’ sample intends to demonstrate how these sessions work. Over the course of the programme, students spend three lessons on each text. In the sample, you can find:

• A PowerPoint example of the first lesson in this sequence
• Several screenshots of the accompanying student workbook

The text explored in this example is about Raheem Sterling – a footballer who was once excluded from Primary School.

Stickers and poster sample

Over the course of Game Changers, students can earn stickers for ‘respect’, ‘teamwork’ and ‘challenge’ – three values common to the classroom and the football pitch. Stickers are used to ‘boost stats’ both on a personalised ‘player card’ on the back of student workbooks, and in the collective team-sheet on the A1 classroom poster. We have provided a sample image of:

• The individual player card on the back of every student workbook
• The Game Changers classroom poster

Practical football sessions

Game Changers also includes resources for practical football sessions: as an optional reward and motivator for engagement in the classroom. These resources encourage students to practise freestyle football 'tricks'. At the end of each lesson you will find a link to a video tutorial for one of ten exciting 'tricks' - as well as a teaching plan organised around this video. You can view a video trailer for these practical sessions.

Buy Game Changers

Click here to buy Game Changers for £250

Or, if your school has current premium membership, see our Game Changers page for how to access a discounted price of £175.

This price includes:

• Printed materials and books for up to 10 students.
• Accompanying PowerPoints, teacher guidance and football video tutorials.
• Tickets for your group to attend an online author visit.
• Online training for an unlimited number of teachers.
• A 12-month National Literacy Trust premium membership.

If you wish to run Game Changers with more than 10 students, additional boxes can be purchased for an extra £175.

Each additional box provides:

• Printed resources (workbooks, poster, stickers) for 10 more students.
• 10 more books.
• Tickets for students to attend an additional online author visit in a subsequent term.

You can email the team if you have further questions.