A writing program with marked work every week.

What the writing program covers

Students plan, draft and edit one piece of writing each week, working across narrative, persuasive and informative styles in turn rather than repeating the same genre. A tutor marks each piece against a clear marking guide, the same kind of criteria used in NAPLAN writing and school assessment tasks, so your child learns what a marker is actually looking for, not just general writing advice.

Narrative pieces focus on structure and description, persuasive pieces on building an argument with evidence, and informative pieces on explaining a topic clearly. These are the three styles most primary and early high school writing tasks draw on, so rotating between them keeps your child ready for whichever one comes up at school.

How writing sessions run

Each week's session is 60 minutes long, run one to one or in a small group, in your home or at our Gregory Hills centre, and begins with feedback on the previous piece before moving on to planning the next one together. Your child then starts the draft while the tutor is there to help with structure and word choice.

Every piece comes home with written feedback attached, alongside the usual note covering what was worked on in the session. Small group sessions at the centre are capped at six students working at a similar level.

Who the writing program suits

This program suits a child who can generate ideas but struggles to structure them on the page, a strong reader who has not yet transferred that into strong writing, and a student preparing for NAPLAN writing, the Selective test writing component, or a school assessment task with a writing element. It also suits a reluctant writer, since a weekly piece with a clear structure to follow is often easier to start than a blank page at school.

It also suits a student who is working on one specific genre for an upcoming assessment, as well as a student who simply wants to build stronger writing habits over a full term rather than around a single deadline.

What to expect as a parent

You receive marked, written feedback on every piece plus the usual note after each session, and a broader conversation about progress each term. We mark honestly against the criteria rather than softening feedback, since that is what actually helps a child improve.