The NBDB citation reads:

“This year’s winning [English] book was rated number one by majority of the evaluators. Primarily, it is successful in naturally integrating the teaching and the development of the four macro skills with the teaching of study skills, most especially the students’ capability to undertake an academic investigation. In terms of helping students prepare for university work, specifically in learning to use English for academic purposes, the book promises to be helpful.

The book also gives attention to the teaching of grammar structures students will be in need of when writing an academic paper. This, it does, by providing exercises that cut across study and communication skills. While some activities are structural or form-focused in nature, there are provisions for the communicative use of the structures taught.

In a lesson, a student is guided through preliminary activities that challenge and prepare them for the lesson. In addition to this, learning aids like glossary, an index, a bibliography, and distinctly marked lesson components make the book learner-friendly.

Providing meaningful context to each lesson and unit is a theme used by the writer to weave the parts of the lesson together. Over all, the book reflects logic, coherence and integration within and across lessons.”

This is VPHI's fourth NBDB Quality Seal Award. Rainbows in English Grade 5 and Excelling in Mathematics Grade 3 bagged the quality seal award for English and Math respectively for 2008, and Experiencing Mathematics (Math XP) Advanced Algebra, Trigonometry and Statistics for 2007. 

The NBDB Quality Seal Award is given to textbooks whose content and physical features passed strict evaluation by a panel of evaluators from reputable learning institutions and research centers in the country. Started in 2007, this mechanism aims to recognize the best textbooks used in the private schools to further encourage publishers to produce superior educational materials.