About Gabrielle

For many years, I've worked at the heart of school libraries, first as a Teacher Librarian, then as the Head of Library and Information Services. I saw firsthand the incredible potential of these spaces – and the many challenges they faced.

As the Project Lead on the AIS School Based Action Research Project, I led the design and implementation of the internationally recognised 'Just Read' programme at Queenwood, a whole-school sustained silent reading initiative that delivered powerful results. It taught me the importance of research-backed strategies and the impact of a unified school vision.

But I also saw that the world was changing. Students were engaging with information in new ways, and the role of literacy leadership needed to evolve. I realised to create a truly successful literacy culture needed a different approach. It was no longer about running reading programmes; libraries needed to build literacy ecosystems, dynamic, interconnected environments where literacy was woven into the very fabric of the school.

This realisation led me on a new path. I began to focus on strategic literacy leadership, helping schools transform their reading culture from quiet repositories of books into vibrant hubs of learning and innovation. I wanted to empower teacher librarians to become game-changers in their schools, leading with purpose and vision.

Central to this vision is the power of inquiry. I have developed immersive, mystery-based learning experiences that are underpinned by self-determination theory (SDT). Beyond just engagement, my methodology cultivates cognitive patience, deep reading and reasoning, and relies on careful inquiry design. These experiences make literacy feel like a high-stakes adventure where students don't just read – they investigate. My approach moves beyond simple gamification to deep, inquiry-based literacy, guiding students through The Hook, rigorous Evidence Gathering, and Collaborative Deduction. By grounding literacy in authentic inquiry that respects the intelligence of the learner, I've seen firsthand how we can transform student engagement, turning disengaged readers into relentless investigators.