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NEXA ASCEND | ENTER NEXA VALLEY | CHARACTERS | SENTIS | PARENTS | TEACHERS | BOOKS
FOR TEACHERS
One story. Many ways to learn.
Nexa Ascend was created as a children's science-fiction adventure series but the questions its characters face reach far beyond the story.
Across the books, children encounter friendship and disagreement, courage and uncertainty, curiosity and responsibility. They investigate problems, consider evidence, work collaboratively, encounter different perspectives and make decisions when there isn't always an obvious right answer.
That makes Nexa Ascend particularly suited to international and values-led classrooms, with natural connections to the IB Primary Years Programme, the English National Curriculum, and the US curriculum frameworks.
CLASS NOVEL • LITERACY • INQUIRY • CHARACTER & VALUES • AGES 7–11+
BRING NEXA VALLEY INTO YOUR CLASSROOM
Use as much - or as little - as works for your class.
Nexa Ascend doesn't need to become a complete unit of work.
A teacher might use the whole novel across a term, select a chapter for a particular learning objective or simply use one character decision to begin a ten-minute discussion.
WHOLE-CLASS NOVEL
Read together and use the developing story for comprehension, prediction, discussion and extended writing.
GUIDED READING
Select passages for close reading, inference, vocabulary and evidence-based responses.
EARLY BOOK CLUBS
Give groups questions that encourage pupils to challenge interpretations and build on one another's ideas.
WRITING STIMULUS
Continue a scene. Change the viewpoint. Design a new location. Write a report. Explain a technology. Persuade the Unity Council.
DISCUSSION & DEBATE
Use the decisions characters make to explore responsibility, technology, friendship, rules, evidence and ethical dilemmas.
Whether Nexa Ascend becomes a class novel, a guided-reading text, an inquiry stimulus or simply a story your pupils love reading, the aim remains the same:
Start with a great story. Then see where the questions take you.
VALUES AND CHARACTER
Use the story to open the conversation.
Nexa Ascend gives teachers a range of story moments through which children can explore courage, responsibility, resilience, empathy, collaboration, belonging and ethical decision-making.
Nexa Ascend gives teachers a range of story moments through which children can explore courage, responsibility, resilience, empathy, collaboration, belonging and ethical decision-making.
The characters don't always make the right choices. They interrupt one another, take risks, disagree, worry about fitting in and sometimes realise too late that they should have listened. They also reflect, repair relationships, support one another and learn from what went wrong.
These moments give teachers a natural starting point for discussion, reflection and character development without stepping away from the story.
USE QUESTIONS STRAIGHT FROM THE STORY
Rather than discussing a value in isolation, teachers can return to decisions the children have actually encountered.
COURAGE & RESILIENCE
- Why does Ethan hesitate even when he knows what he wants to do?
- What helps him become braver as the story progresses?
- Is Ethan less courageous than Luna because he worries more?
RESPONSIBILITY & CHOICE
- Why does Luna launch her SkyPod before Ethan is ready?
- Why does Ethan follow when he knows he should wait?
- Who is responsible for what happens next?
FRIENDSHIP & COLLABORATION
- Why does Team Comet struggle to work together at first?
- Why does Rowan think Isla should be the team's caller?
- Why does Luna turn away from the finish when Ethan's AeroBlade overheats?
BELONGING & INCLUSION
- Why does Ethan worry about whether he will fit in at Nexa Valley?
- How do the other children help him begin to feel that he belongs?
- What can the group do when somebody new joins an established friendship?
CURIOSITY & CRITICAL THINKING
- Why does Ethan keep investigating when something at Echo Field One doesn't make sense?
- What evidence should the children trust when their recordings appear to disagree?
- When does curiosity become a responsibility?
EMPATHY & PERSPECTIVE
- Why do Luna, Ethan and Isla see the SkyPod accident differently?
- Why does Isla become frustrated when Luna and Ethan argue about what happened?
- How does watching the recording change the way they understand their own actions?
FITS THE VALUES LANGUAGE OF YOUR SCHOOL
The themes can sit alongside the values and character frameworks schools already use, rather than requiring a separate programme.
For IB schools, teachers can make connections with the IB Learner Profile — including Inquirers, Thinkers, Communicators, Principled, Open-minded, Caring, Risk-takers and Reflective. International Baccalaureate
Schools using other curricula or their own values frameworks can make the same connections through qualities such as respect, responsibility, resilience, integrity, empathy, collaboration, curiosity and courage.
Different framework. Different terminology. The same story can start the conversation.
Want to take the discussion further?
The free Nexa Ascend Values & Character Teacher Guide provides additional story-specific questions, discussion prompts and classroom activities linked to the books.
NEXA ASCEND & THE IB PYP
A story world built for inquiry, reflection and meaningful questions.
Nexa Ascend gives students a story in which questions matter. The characters notice, investigate, communicate, collaborate, make decisions, reconsider their thinking and reflect on what they have learned.
Rather than presenting inquiry as a separate classroom activity, the novels place it inside the story. A strange observation becomes a question. A question leads to evidence. Evidence creates different interpretations. And those interpretations lead to decisions that have consequences.
This makes Nexa Ascend a particularly natural stimulus for IB classrooms, with opportunities to connect the story to the Learner Profile, Approaches to Learning and inquiry-led learning.
LEARNER PROFILE THROUGH THE STORY
The Learner Profile can be explored through what the characters actually do, the choices they make and how they develop as the story progresses.
INQUIRERS - Ethan's determination to understand things that don't make sense takes him from noticing unusual Senti behaviour to searching for answers about Echo Field One.
THINKERS - Ethan, Rowan and the others examine recordings, compare evidence and look for patterns when what they discover doesn't match what they expected.
COMMUNICATORS - Team Comet's early SkyPod failures show what happens when Luna doesn't listen, Ethan gives too many instructions and Isla's warnings are lost. They have to learn how to communicate before they can succeed as a team.
PRINCIPLED - At Echo Field One, the students are trusted to work within clear boundaries. Their curiosity forces them to consider whether discovering something interesting is enough reason to push those boundaries.
OPEN-MINDED - When Avery joins Team Comet for the Echo Field expedition, the group has to make room for a new person, a different Senti and another way of noticing and interpreting what is happening around them.
CARING - During the SkyTrials, Luna has a chance to continue towards the finish when Ethan's AeroBlade overheats. Instead, she turns back, Isla reorganises the formation and the three cross the finish together.
RISK-TAKERS - Ethan is naturally cautious, but repeatedly has to step into uncertainty: flying after an early failure, joining the Echo Field expedition and deciding what to do when the evidence challenges everything he expected.
REFLECTIVE - After Team Comet's mistakes, Luna, Ethan and Isla don't simply try again. They review what happened, recognise their individual contributions to the failure, change their plan and gradually learn to fly as one team.
APPROACHES TO LEARNING
Nexa Ascend provides a shared story context in which students can practise and discuss the five ATL skill categories:
THINKING - Interpreting evidence, identifying patterns, questioning assumptions and considering alternative explanations.
RESEARCH - Gathering information, comparing observations and deciding which evidence is useful or reliable.
COMMUNICATION - Explaining ideas, listening carefully, asking questions and adapting communication when a team isn't working effectively.
SOCIAL - Collaborating, resolving disagreement, making space for different perspectives and recognising the contribution of others.
SELF-MANAGEMENT - Responding to uncertainty, managing emotions, learning from mistakes and making more considered decisions the next time.
The story allows teachers to move naturally through an inquiry:
What happened? → Why did it happen? → What evidence do we have? → What other explanations are possible? → What should happen next?
INQUIRY STARTS WITH THE STORY
The mysteries and decisions within Nexa Ascend can become starting points for broader student inquiry.
How do we know what is true?
Begin with the conflicting evidence surrounding Echo Field One and explore how we decide whether information is reliable.
When does curiosity become responsibility?
Use Ethan's investigations to consider whether wanting an answer always means we should continue looking for one.
How does technology change the way we live?
Start with Sentis, HoverCams, AeroBlades or intelligent homes before considering technologies in students' own lives.
What makes somewhere feel like home?
Use Luna and Ethan's arrival at Nexa Valley to explore belonging, identity, community and change.
How do people respond to the unknown?
Compare how different characters react when they encounter something they cannot immediately explain.
What responsibilities come with discovery?
Use the children's experiences at Echo Field One to explore what should happen when new knowledge could affect other people.
FROM STORY TO INQUIRY
One moment in the novel can become the beginning of a much wider learning journey:
Notice → Question → Investigate → Interpret evidence → Consider different perspectives → Decide → Reflect
The teacher doesn't need to create an artificial inquiry around the book. The characters are already asking questions — the classroom can investigate them alongside them.
FLEXIBLE FOR YOUR IB CLASSROOM
Nexa Ascend can be used as a class novel, literature-circle text, inquiry stimulus, discussion text or starting point for transdisciplinary learning.
Teachers can select the chapters, characters and questions that connect naturally with the Learner Profile, ATL skills and the inquiries already taking place in their classroom.
Explore the IB connections in more detail
The Nexa Ascend IB Teacher Guide provides further story-linked inquiry questions, activities and curriculum connections for teachers who want to take the learning beyond the novel.
DOWNLOAD THE IB TEACHER GUIDE →
NEXA ASCEND & THE BRITISH CURRICULUM
A class novel built for reading, discussion and writing.
Nexa Ascend gives teachers an engaging science-fiction story through which pupils can develop the reading, writing and spoken-language skills central to the National Curriculum for England, with particularly strong opportunities across Years 3–6.
The stories provides plenty to work with: characters whose motivations can be questioned, decisions that can be debated, mysteries that invite prediction, and clues that require pupils to return to the text and justify their thinking with evidence.
Those same moments can then become purposeful writing opportunities, from narrative and viewpoint writing to explanation, persuasion and evidence-based responses, while the choices made by Luna, Ethan, Isla, Rowan and their friends create natural opportunities for discussion, debate and collaborative talk.
The science-fiction adventure keeps children reading. The questions inside it give teachers something to teach with.
READING
Nexa Ascend provides a rich text for developing retrieval, inference, prediction, vocabulary, character analysis and evidence-based comprehension.
Teachers can use key moments in the story to move beyond simple recall and ask pupils to interpret characters' actions and support their ideas from the text.
For example:
- What does Luna's decision to launch before Ethan is ready reveal about her character?
- How does the author show Ethan's uncertainty without always stating how he feels?
- What clues encourage the reader to question what is happening at Echo Field One?
WRITING
The characters, technology and world of Nexa Ascend provide meaningful contexts for narrative, descriptive, explanatory, persuasive and viewpoint writing.
Rather than using disconnected writing prompts, teachers can build tasks directly from events pupils already understand through the novel.
For example:
- Retell a key event from another character's perspective.
- Explain how a piece of Nexa technology might work.
- Write a persuasive argument about whether the children made the right decision.
- Continue a scene while maintaining the characters, setting and established story world.
SPOKEN LANGUAGE
The choices and disagreements within Nexa Ascend create natural opportunities for discussion, debate, justification, role play and collaborative talk.
Because pupils already understand the characters and circumstances, they can concentrate on explaining their reasoning, responding to alternative interpretations and supporting their views with evidence.
For example:
- Who was responsible for Team Comet's early SkyPod failure?
- Should the children continue investigating when the evidence from Echo Field One doesn't make sense?
- How might Luna, Ethan and Isla each explain the same event differently?
- Can a decision be understandable without being the right decision?
FROM READING TO RESPONSE
A single story moment can therefore move naturally through several areas of English:
Read the event → Interpret the characters → Find the evidence → Discuss different viewpoints → Create a written response
The novel becomes more than the text pupils are reading. It becomes the shared context through which they read closely, think critically, communicate ideas and write with purpose.
FLEXIBLE FOR YOUR CLASSROOM
Nexa Ascend can be used as a whole-class novel, guided-reading text or stimulus for individual lessons and writing sequences. Teachers can select the chapters, characters and story moments that best support the needs of their pupils and the learning taking place in their classroom.
Whether exploring a character's motivation, debating a difficult decision or using the world of Solana to inspire writing, the learning begins with a story children can become invested in.
Explore the curriculum connections in more detail
The Nexa Ascend British Curriculum Teacher Guide provides further story-linked activities, discussion questions and teaching opportunities connected to the National Curriculum for England.
DOWNLOAD THE BRITISH CURRICULUM TEACHER GUIDE →
NEXA ASCEND IN US CLASSROOMS
Read closely. Think critically. Use evidence.
Nexa Ascend provides an engaging shared text through which students can develop skills in reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language.
For schools using or drawing from Common Core ELA, the novels provide natural opportunities for close reading, inference, analysis, evidence-based responses and collaborative discussion. The developing mysteries encourage students to look for clues and justify interpretations, while the characters' decisions provide meaningful reasons to compare perspectives, examine motivation and return to the text for evidence.
READING & TEXT EVIDENCE
Use events and character decisions to move students from comprehension towards interpretation, analysis and evidence-based reasoning.
For example:
- Inference: What tells us Ethan is anxious about the SkyTrials even when he doesn't directly say that he is frightened?
- Character motivation: Why does Luna launch her SkyPod before Ethan is ready, and what does this reveal about her at this point in the story?
- Evidence & change: What evidence shows that Team Comet has learned from its earlier failures by the final SkyTrials?
- Comparing perspectives: How do Luna, Ethan and Isla understand the SkyPod accident differently? Which interpretations can be supported by evidence from the text?
- Prediction: What clues encourage the reader to question what is happening at Echo Field One?
WRITING
Use the characters, dilemmas and future world of Nexa Ascend to give students authentic reasons to write for different purposes and audiences.
For example:
- Narrative: Retell the SkyPod accident from Isla's point of view.
- Opinion / argument: Was Ethan right to continue investigating Echo Field One? Support your position with evidence from the story.
- Informative: Explain how a piece of technology from Nexa Valley works, using information from the novel alongside your own ideas.
- Viewpoint: Write Luna's reflection following Team Comet's unsuccessful flight.
- Evidence-based response: How does Ethan change during One Brave Step? Use events and details from the novel to support your response.
SPEAKING & LISTENING
The choices characters make provide a shared context for collaborative discussion, reasoned argument and responding to different interpretations.
For example:
- Discuss: Who carries responsibility for Team Comet's SkyPod accident — or is responsibility shared?
- Debate: Should the students continue investigating when the evidence from Echo Field One doesn't make sense?
- Consider another perspective: Why might Luna and Ethan respond differently to the same discovery?
- Collaborate: Agree on what Team Comet should do next and justify the group's decision using evidence from the story.
- Respond: Listen to another interpretation. Does their evidence challenge, change or strengthen your own?
FROM TEXT TO THINKING
A single chapter can move students naturally through several areas of ELA:
Read closely → Identify evidence → Interpret character and events → Discuss different perspectives → Develop a written response
The science-fiction setting provides the excitement, while the mysteries, relationships and decisions within the story give students something meaningful to analyse, discuss and write about.
FLEXIBLE FOR YOUR CLASSROOM
Nexa Ascend can be used as a whole-class novel, small-group text, book-club selection or stimulus for individual reading and writing lessons.
Teachers can select the chapters and story moments that best connect with the standards, skills and learning priorities of their own school or state.
Explore the classroom connections in more detail
The Nexa Ascend US Classroom Teacher Guide provides further story-linked questions, activities and teaching opportunities, with connections to widely used US ELA frameworks.
DOWNLOAD THE US CLASSROOM TEACHER GUIDE →
WHY I WROTE NEXA ASCEND
After nearly 25 years in education, I have seen the power of a story when a child recognises something of themselves in a character, connects with their journey and begins to see their own world a little differently.
For almost 25 years, I have worked with children, teachers and school communities in different countries around the world. During that time, I have seen curricula, programmes and educational approaches change, but one thing has remained remarkably consistent: children learn more deeply when they are curious, emotionally invested and given something meaningful to think about.
That thinking sits behind Nexa Ascend.
I wanted to write stories that children would choose to read because they were exciting — with mysteries, friendships, futuristic technology, extraordinary companions and characters they could care about. But I also wanted those stories to leave space for the conversations I have seen matter in classrooms: Why did they do that? Was that fair? What would you have done? What evidence do we have? What happens when people disagree? Could there be another explanation?
My experience in international education has also taught me that good learning cannot always be contained within one subject or one curriculum framework. A powerful story can lead naturally into literacy, science, technology, ethics, inquiry, wellbeing, values and discussions about the wider world.
That is why the teaching opportunities around Nexa Ascend are deliberately flexible. The books are not a curriculum programme, and they were never intended to tell teachers how to teach. They are stories designed to give teachers something useful to teach with.
Most importantly, I hope they give children something worth wondering about.
Mark Symmonds
Author of Nexa Ascend • International Educator
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