Enhancing Student Writing
by Ms. Shareen Bottrell, Assistant Principal
Box Hill High School
Our Continued Commitment
“Writing is an act of discovering what you think and what you believe”
As part of our ongoing commitment to enhancing writing skills, this term we have focused on encouraging students to actively engage in improving their own writing abilities. Megan Metcalfe, our Learning Specialist for Literacy, introduced this initiative at all year level assemblies. She outlined our goal of improving writing, explained the rationale behind this focus, and described the role students play in enhancing their own writing.
Writing is a crucial life skill that unlocks numerous opportunities. It enhances our ability to think critically and understand complex concepts. Recent NAPLAN results indicate that while BHHS students excel in mechanics such as idea development, character creation, setting, and spelling, there are areas needing improvement. Specifically, sentence structure, punctuation, and paragraphing have been identified as areas for growth. Our teachers are addressing these areas through explicit instruction to help students improve.
Students have been introduced to their role in improving their own writing. To achieve maximum growth, it is essential for students to engage in active participation and adopt a growth mindset. This means:
Active Participation: Students should take initiative in their writing efforts.
Growth Mindset: Students should embrace feedback and incorporate it into their subsequent writing pieces.
Self-Regulation: Students need to focus, think critically, and sustain their writing efforts.
We encourage students to set personal goals related to their writing practices. Students have been asked to consider the following questions to guide their goal setting:
- Did you consider the audience, purpose, literary form, and conventions?
- Did you begin the writing activity promptly?
- How long did you maintain focus on your writing—five minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 60 minutes?
- Did you take effective breaks during writing sessions?
- Did you minimise distractions and respect others’ writing time?
- Did you edit your work to enhance its quality?
In Term 3, our teachers are collaborating in subject teams to implement new pedagogical strategies, such as modelling, co-constructing, and think-aloud techniques. These approaches aim to explicitly teach sentence-level writing strategies, helping students articulate their thoughts in a more complex and effective manner. We look forward to seeing how these strategies impact students' writing abilities and overall academic growth.