When a Year 6 student tells their teacher, “I used to hate writing, now I LOVE it – it’s my favourite subject,” something is going right.
In schools across Australia, a quiet shift is happening. Teachers are moving away from rigid, dull lessons and surface-level grammar fixes. Instead, they’re embracing structured approaches like Seven Steps to Writing Success that focus on authorial techniques, creativity and expression – and students are thriving.
“I have seen my students go from disliking writing and actively avoiding it to feeling proud, engaged and excited by writing. It’s so rewarding,” shares teacher Kayla McNeill from Woy Woy South Public School. “I love when my less confident students feel proud and ask to share their work with peers.”
That change is backed by the numbers. Schools that have adopted frameworks that explicitly teach the craft of writing – step by step – are reporting stronger writing outcomes and increased engagement, especially among students who previously struggled or learned English as an additional language.
Crucially, this isn’t about lowering expectations. It’s about teaching explicitly, in manageable chunks, and giving students space to practise and experiment – a hallmark of the Seven Steps approach. As Fiona Bolton from St Patrick’s Primary School explains: “The explicit teaching and gradual release of responsibility gives them the confidence to write.”
And the benefits go beyond the classroom. In a world where AI tools can generate essays and check grammar in seconds, students need to bring something more: original thinking, authorial techniques and an ability to write for different audiences and purposes. “Students produce amazingly rich pieces of writing and it really encourages them to think creatively,” teacher Emma Roberts said.
From reluctant scribblers to confident storytellers, the message is clear: when writing instruction is explicit, engaging and creative – as it is in programs like Seven Steps – students don’t just improve. They fall in love with writing.
Perhaps Rachel Grech’s student put it best, “No teacher has ever taught us HOW to write before, they’ve just told us WHAT to write.” That shift – from being told what to do to learning how to do it – is at the heart of why students are reconnecting with writing.