Part 2: The 5 Pillars of Effective Writing Instruction – 2.Quality Writing
In the second episode of their 2026 series, Phil and Sharon welcome back Danielle Monique and De Ludlum from Fairview Primary School in Collie, Western Australia, to explore the second of their five pillars of effective writing instruction: every student can produce quality writing.
De and Danielle open with the belief that underpins everything they do — that every child, regardless of ability or background, is capable of being a writer. This is not an aspiration. It is a daily operational reality, built through careful planning, consistent structures, and a classroom environment designed to support every student at every stage of the writing process.
The teachers walk listeners through the practical tools that bring this belief to life. Their word wall, Phrases We Love door display, anchor charts, graded writing samples, and critical features document work together to ensure that no student is ever left without a clear path forward. Plot in a Box provides a structured planning framework that students and teachers build together, with De and Danielle modelling every step before students attempt it independently. Plans are submitted and reviewed before drafting begins, and staged submission points throughout the unit keep every student on track.
Editing, the teachers reveal, has undergone the most significant transformation in their practice. Where once Danielle was rewriting student work in the early hours of the morning, editing now belongs to the students themselves — carried out in deliberate stages through a school-wide editing code, with teacher feedback focused on showing students not just what to fix, but how.
The episode concludes with interviews from two students, Riley and Kobi, whose candid, articulate reflections on what has helped them grow as writers provide the most compelling evidence of all: that when teachers build the right conditions and hold firm to high expectations, every child genuinely can produce quality writing.
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