Gary Toward

For most of my 'working' life I have been a teacher, working in 6 different schools across the UK. I was head teacher of three, but never left the classroom, always teaching at least one class.

After retiring from teaching I wanted to continue making a difference for kids and with my business partner, Chris Henley, developed our business, Decisive Element Ltd. We are international key note speakers, presenters and authors in the field of teaching and learning. We bring a combined 70+ years of experience with us and a different approach to presenting. Our books are designed to be both easy to read and give readers new and different approaches to their work in schools.

I am also a fiction writer and my first novel, The Magpie, was published in November 2017. It's a crime novel set accurately in the time of WW1. When I wrote it I had the adult market in mind but also as an ex English teacher, the KS3 curriculum too. It supports both KS3 History and English and I offer free author visits to schools. For schools who buy class sets, I also have developed free Power Point lessons to accompany the book.

Beyond all of this I enjoy most sports and still play football, ski, climb mountains, play bowls and watch Leicester Tigers. I am also a trustee of the inspirational Bamboozle Theatre Company which makes a huge difference to severely disabled kids.