Improving student writing skills in 2025
by Ms Shareen Bottrell, Assistant Principal
Box Hill High School
As we move into 2025, our school remains committed to improving student writing skills. This year, we are taking a strategic approach to strengthen writing at every level. Building on our previous successes, we are consolidating a whole-school focus on explicit teaching strategies to enhance sentence-level writing.
A key aspect of our work this year is the continued implementation of effective teaching strategies such as co-constructing ideas, thinking aloud, and modelling. These strategies will be central to our approach as we focus on providing targeted feedback for students in developing their writing.
Our work is guided by The Writing Revolution 2 by Judith Hochman and Natalie Wexler, a research-based framework that provides specific, actionable strategies to improve writing at the sentence, paragraph, and sustained writing levels.
Professional Learning
To support our teachers in implementing these strategies effectively, we are thrilled to welcome James Pinnuck from Ticking Minds. James will be presenting to our teaching staff, revisiting the strategies we introduced last year, and providing fresh insights and tips for continued success. Teachers will have the opportunity to refine their practice and learn how to incorporate these methods into their lessons.
Key Strategies for 2025
In our ongoing commitment to improving writing instruction, we will be emphasising four essential strategies:
Identifying Sentence Fragments – Ensuring that students can spot incomplete sentences and learn how to fix them.
Using Subordinating Conjunctions – Helping students connect ideas and build more complex, sophisticated sentences.
Appositives – Teaching students how to use appositives to add detail and richness to their writing.
Because, But, So – Encouraging students to use these conjunctions to form more coherent and logical sentences.
Additionally, we are introducing new strategies that will focus on note-taking and sentence expansion. These strategies are designed to enhance students' ability to gather, organise, and elaborate on ideas, helping them become more effective writers and thinkers.
Supporting Students with Targeted Feedback
To further support our writing instruction, the Literacy Improvement Team has developed a Mechanics of Writing Rubric that teachers will trial in Term 2. This rubric will help teachers provide specific, intentional feedback, enabling students to set clear writing goals and understand what they need to do to meet those goals. The rubric is a valuable tool in ensuring that our feedback is not only constructive but also actionable, helping students take concrete steps toward improving their writing.
Excitement and Collaboration Ahead
Our teachers are incredibly excited to continue trialling these strategies with their students. We look forward to seeing the impact of these efforts on student writing and are confident that, with continued focus and support, our students will develop stronger, more confident writing skills throughout 2025.