In-School Programs
The Writing Workshop runs creative writing activities for years K–12 in schools throughout NSW. Incursions, workshop series, modelled lessons and tailored in-school programs are available every school day.
Why The Writing Workshop?
Entertaining, engaging, experienced and deeply knowledgeable about writing and teaching writing.
All presenters are published authors.
Established in 2006, we have worked with tens of thousands of young people in all school sectors and with all stages.
We have worked with hundreds of teachers to develop teaching skills in creative writing. (Please visit our TPD page for more details.)
Our services
Creative writing is both an art form and a tool for understanding human society and the natural world. We don't regard it as a small corner of the English curriculum, but as a way of engaging across an array of ways of thinking and experiencing.
The Writing Workshop offers half-day and full-day workshops, workshop series, and short and long-term residencies (one to four days per week). Our focus is on developing young people's writing through providing them with a deep, experiential understanding of the writing process, backed by creative modelling. All our programs are run by highly experienced published authors, and we concentrate on drawing young people into writing through their ideas and observations and individual aesthetics.
The Writing Workshop will work with any class or small group, and has the experience and capacity to add a creative writing element to other school activities such as museum, gallery or zoo visits. One-off workshops are available on a small group, whole class, whole year or whole school (truly!) basis.
We are happy to work with your regional school. In fact, we have worked from Moree to Leeton, from Taree to Dubbo, and as far south as Melbourne.
The Writing Workshop holds appropriate public liability insurance. All workshop leaders have current Working With Children Checks. Details on request.
Primary School workshops
The Writing Workshop switches children onto creative writing. We offer highly enjoyable writing workshops for all years from kindergarten up.
Focus with years K and 1 is usually on group story-telling and narrative structure. Creative writing can offer a third way into literacy for late readers as it provides pride-in-(concrete)-work and ownership of the literature.
From year 2, we use an exercise-based approach aimed at developing students' own ideas across a range of different literary techniques and forms. Children have the opportunity to write within their preferred genres and to develop and strengthen their own aesthetics.
Our writing workshops complement all aspects of the primary school curriculum - we use creative writing as a creative approach to measurements of probability; the development of human civilisation; life on Earth and aspects of all school subjects .
We specialise in small groups including gifted and talented, and are delighted to work with special needs and priority groups.
High school workshops
Stages 4-5
Our high school workshops, workshop series and presentations for years 7 to 10 provide practical writers' insights into making and understanding texts: developing relationships among setting, event and a deeper understanding of character to create powerful and engaging writing across a range of writing forms. All presenters are published authors and are experienced workshop leaders.
Workshops meet curriculum goals and can be customised according to school or student needs.
Extension or other specialised groups of all ages are very welcome.
Stage 6
The Writing Workshop’s programs for senior high school address creative writing within the NSW Higher School Certificate, including "Reading to Write" and "The Craft of Writing" units of study. Our workshops, workshop series and presentations demonstrate and inspire students in creative uses of literary and non-literary texts and forms, development of character, creation of narrative voice, imagery, setting and structure, and creative approaches to producing imaginative, persuasive, discursive and informative texts.
Our workshops can be customised to address your school’s areas of need.
For Extension students, we offer intensive sessions to help students get started and get finished: from initial planning and goal-setting through to final editing. Our presenters have extensive experience as senior editors with publishers, literary magazines and across a range of legal and professional publications.