San Damiano College built Writer’s Toolbox into their DNA—every subject, every student, every teacher.  Here are the results.

San Damiano College in Yarrabilba, Brisbane opened in 2021.  The co-educational secondary college is part of the Brisbane Catholic Education network of schools.  A new school in a new suburb, San Damiano has quickly grown to over 1,250 students and plays a pivotal role in the growing community.

Committed to developing each and every student, there is a broad range of subjects on offer plus an innovative Genius Hour, where each week, students have the opportunity to explore a subject of their choice.

When shaping the school’s vision and delivery methods—how to give their students the best possible future—Deputy Principal Paul Mead and Principal Peter Edwards focused on literacy.  

Having experienced Writer’s Toolbox at previous schools, Mead knew the programme was exactly what San Damiano needed: a whole-school cohesive culture around writing and a scaffold for student learning.

"It's been life-changing for some of these students."

Implementing a shared language across all subjects 

The implementation of Writer’s Toolbox at San Damiano was successful and swift as Mead introduced the programme school wide—every skill level, year level, and subject.

“Writer’s Toolbox is used across all subjects so students get used to it quickly,” Mead explains. “The students know it’s cross-curricular, it’s not just an English-based programme or a humanities-based programme.  Starting with sentence structures and moving to specific subject areas, it’s the foundation of how they write—every single lesson.”

This dependable, consistent approach has given teachers and students a shorthand when discussing writing and a surety that supports them to flourish.  Head of English and the Arts Naomi Lindeberg recently joined San Damiano and was thrilled to discover an established writing culture.

Lindeberg says this makes her teaching role easier, “To walk into any classroom across the school and see how they are using the different sentence types or to see how they’re using a particular paragraph type, it’s a really powerful thing.  You can see them improving their work, producing higher-quality—not cookie-cutter—responses.”

Supporting teachers with the HOW of writing

Writing, and the teaching of writing, is hard.  A sticking point we often hear is the lack of explicit teacher training about how to teach the fundamentals of writing.  How do students improve their writing? How do we get them there?

Lindeberg has witnessed this gap in teacher confidence and skill in her career, “Teachers are struggling to teach structure because they themselves don’t have that confidence or that experience.  Writer’s Toolbox really gives every single teacher that experience and that tool.”

Mead agrees, “It’s difficult for teachers to separate the ‘what’ from the ‘how’.  The ‘what’ being the content and depth of ideas, and the ‘how’ being the expression, the sentence construction, genre, tone, and mood. We often focus on the ‘what’.  Writer’s Toolbox supports teachers to identify and explain the how as well.”

“Students know how to talk about types of sentences and structure. These two things have a huge bearing on the quality of writing and improved literacy.”

At San Damiano, explicit teaching has bred a whole-school writing culture and harnessed the potential of each student as a writer.

“Coming into the college where Writer’s Toolbox is very established, it’s exciting to have students who are really passionate about the language that comes with the programme,” says Lindeberg.

“They know how to talk about the different types of sentences.  They know how to talk about structure.  And those two things have a huge bearing on the quality of writing and improved literacy.”

Having a clear, scaffolded approach to surfacing thoughts takes away the fear of the blank page and gives structure to the waffler.  They know how to express themselves.  And that’s an exciting place to be for both student and teacher.

Improved writing outcomes and future possibilities

In History and English teacher Andrew Shackley’s classroom, both teacher and students are excited about the difference Writer’s Toolbox has made.

A teacher at San Damiano for two and a half years, from the moment he saw Writer’s Toolbox, Shackley was hooked.  He first encountered Writer’s Toolbox at a conference with Founder Dr Ian Hunter.

“I have a couple of students who have never passed English. They’re now achieving a C or C minus. I’ll take that.” 

“Within three hours, Dr Hunter’s writing system had improved my writing. I thought, ‘If he can improve my writing in such a short time, imagine what his system can do for my students.’ It felt revolutionary to me.”

Shackley continues, “Take the PEEL paragraph, why are we writing like this? Let’s teach the kids to finish with a power sentence.  They can transform a paragraph by changing one sentence style in one particular spot. That’s impact.”

Since introducing his students to Writer’s Toolbox, Shackley has seen profound change, “It almost brings you to tears because it’s been life-changing for some of these kids.”

Shackley has witnessed good writers become great, but for those struggling?  Passing English, and all that means for their future, is now within their grasp.

“Struggling writers need a hook to grab their attention and get them writing,” says Shackley. “The A and B students, they’re automatically using Writer’s Toolbox sentence styles and improving their writing.  But I have a couple of students who have never passed English. They’re now achieving a C or C minus. I’ll take that. That’s a win.”

Now fundamental to San Damiano’s culture, Writer’s Toolbox is woven into the fabric of the school, providing consistency across subjects and year levels. “It’s part of the school routine and gives students stability,” says Mead. “It’s how we do things here.”