Variations in the quality of artwork I see displayed around schools suggest that behind exciting practice there usually lies an imaginative and aesthetically aware teacher.

In unpredictable ways teachers like this will draw inspiration from life around them and use it to excite and motivate their pupils.

For those - the majority perhaps - not so blessed and anyway busy with more pressing priorities, more methodical ways must be found to enable their pupils to develop their artistic skills and understanding.

It is to this latter group that Gloria Callaway and Mary Kear direct their energies in this densely packed manual. And the authors are certainly methodical.

Bullet pointed lists abound, drawing the reader’s attention to relevant sections of government documents in one chapter and to the possible contents of a collage in another.

Buried in the text are many good ideas, such as the use of photographs to develop primary portrait work, and the final chapter on resources and display will be particularly useful to the non-specialist. All that is missing is the vitalising touch of artistic flare. Come to this book for help in planning and organisation but not for inspiration.

David Hornbrook is a senior inspector for Camden LEA