In his words, Ōtūmoetai College Social Science Teacher Phil Newton has been teaching ‘since last century’.  While we won’t call him a dinosaur, he knows his stuff—that writing is an ongoing challenge for many students and teachers.  A proponent of Writer’s Toolbox, Newton says it has given him an effective array of tools to teach the nuts and bolts.  With the Writer’s Toolbox approach, students easily understand the process.  The confidence and skill follows.

Newton has seen the programme work.  "The sentence and paragraph structures can serve the students from their early days in writing right through to tertiary level—they are that powerful.”

So powerful in fact that Newton has seen students from his literacy programme—with significant literacy issues—apply what they've learnt through Writer’s Toolbox and go on to postgraduate studies and writing their thesis.

Phil asserts that the strength of Writer’s Toolbox is not just growing student confidence and writing: Writer’s Toolbox has come alongside the staff at Ōtūmoetai College to help them embed the culture and practice.  “It’s been great to get to know the Writer’s Toolbox team and understand what’s behind the programme.  It’s not just a case of we buy the product and that’s the end of it.  They’ve been really strong allies; really supportive.”

"The sentence and paragraph structures can serve the students from their early days in writing right through to tertiary level—they are that powerful."