April 28, 2020
Many St Mary’s Catholic College students will be using the COVID-19 lockdown to improve their writing skills, thanks to an innovative program which has been developed by teachers.
At the school’s recent Learning and Teaching Meeting, teachers decided to create an opportunity for students to write more frequently during this challenging and interesting time.
“We discussed the possibility that students might like to work on their writing while at home or at school, completing interactive online learning tasks and activities,” Head of Secondary Mandy Sullivan said.
“Over the past couple of years, we’ve been working to improve the writing outcomes of all our students from Prep to Year 12.
“This challenge provides an opportunity for students to engage with and develop their skills within the writing process.”
Mrs Sullivan and Secondary Literacy Leader Jess Cunningham have developed 20 pieces of stimulus for students to creatively respond to.
They include images, quotes, pieces of art (music, drama, dance and visual art), random words and daily activities.
Using these, the two teachers have designed 20 Daily Writing Challenges on which students can base their writing.
“We believe will be an interesting way to encourage all of our students to write on a regular basis,” Mandy said.
“This is an optional activity and students can choose pieces of stimulus that ignite their imagination.
“They will have the opportunity to write in different genres, with different purposes and for different audiences across the 20 days.”
All students from Prep to Year 12 can submit entries for each challenge.
Prep to Year 2 students are encouraged to enter labelled drawings as part of their entries, while students from Years 3-12 are encouraged to write and illustrate their entries if they wish.
There will be prizes at the end of the challenge, which will be delivered when all students are back on campus.
