English

Write it Right!

2025 marks the beginning of our ‘Write it Right’ program at Lilydale Heights. Drawing from data and teacher observation, we felt that we were not supporting our students enough with two very fundamental aspects of writing: punctuation and sentence structuring. So, the English Team designed this program which focuses entirely on these two aspects of writing. 

This program will occur four times a year at Years 7 and 8 and twice at Year 9.  Essentially students write a short piece based on a prompt relevant to an upcoming area of work. Teachers then collect these and assess this work on a Learning Pathway which lays out levels of complexity in punctuation and sentence structure. From here, students work on activities that are at their level and seek to understand the skills in these area that best fit their point of need. After a few weeks of building these skills, students rewrite their original draft, seeking to apply the skills they have been working on. Because the skills represent a span of late primary school through to the end of secondary school, English teachers are well placed to cross mark work, collaborate in professional discussion about the skills of English and generally get better at teaching the student, not the year level they are in. 

Most teachers have wrapped up this first round of ‘Write it Right’ and we have already collaborated on how we can make it better in the future. We have also been surveying students for their feedback. Most students so far have identified that they enjoyed the program, that it taught the specific skills they need and that the program was easy to follow and understand. So, we expect even more meaningful learning growth in our next round, which begins at the start of Term 2 for Years 7 and 8 and is at the end of year for Year 9 students. 

I’d like to express my appreciation for students who engaged so well in the program and to the English Team at The Heights who quickly adapted to this advanced and  thorough method of teaching: You are a great team!