Students’ ability to write – and write well – across subjects is important for their success at school. Writing helps students synthesise knowledge, analyse information and develop logical relationships between ideas to express opinions. It supports communication and collaboration, so it’s a key skill for academic achievement and life beyond school.
The most effective way to improve student writing is to systematically build teachers' knowledge and skills in teaching the types of writing that align with the curriculum and support them to apply these in their teaching practice.
AERO’s 2022 analysis of more than 10 million NAPLAN writing results found that students’ writing skills had declined from 2011 to 2021. Our report recommended prioritising teaching writing across the curriculum and increasing teachers’ access to evidence-based resources on best practice writing pedagogies. These findings led us to develop these resources to support leaders and teachers with writing instruction.
Our SWIF comprises professional learning resources designed to strengthen your knowledge of and confidence in teaching writing across subject areas. They can be used alongside our writing fundamentals resources to support you in delivering evidence-based writing instruction to all students in your school.
The SWIF resources include:
- a model that introduces an explicit and systematic approach to teaching writing
- a practice resource designed to help school leaders lead an approach to strengthening writing instruction at their schools
- 3 professional learning courses designed to build knowledge about supporting explicit writing instruction and planning, designing and assessing writing in different subject areas.
Resources in this collection
Writing instruction model
This model introduces an approach to teaching writing that is explicit and systematic, and that can be used in all subject areas that require students to write.
Leading writing instruction
This practice resource will support school leaders in leading an approach to strengthening writing instruction at their schools.
Professional development courses
These courses align with and support the implementation of the writing instruction model. All courses are free and can be accessed via your browser. No login is required. The first course is for school leaders, and the second and third courses are both teachers and school leaders.
