Dean Kelley, Former Deputy Principal – Teaching and Learning, St Joseph's Catholic School Cloncurry, QLD, Australia

In his captivating keynote, Dean Kelley, Deputy Principal of Teaching and Learning at St Josephs Catholic School, will explore how increasing student outcomes begins with building teacher capacity and creating shared ownership of practice; when teachers grow in confidence and clarity, students inevitably thrive. He will discuss effective change management processes — practical, people-centred approaches that help bring everyone on board and move in the same direction with purpose. Finally, Dean will share strategies for building a positive writing culture across a school — one where leaders model a genuine commitment to writing by creating the conditions, conversations, and expectations that show it is valued by all.

Madam Azwiza Ahmad, Head of Department, English Language; Ms Tricia Lee Mei Qing, Senior Teacher, English Language; Mr Ng Aik Song, Subject Head, Student Leadership; Mr Brandon Goh Zhen Xiang, English Teacher, Chua Chu Kang Secondary School, Singapore

This presentation examines Chua Chu Kang Secondary School’s experience in integrating Writer’s Toolbox into its writing curriculum, guided by the theoretical underpinnings of Flower and Hayes’ Cognitive Process Model and Hyland’s Genre-Based Approach. Grounded in these frameworks, the implementation re-conceptualises writing as both a process of meaning-making and a socially situated practice.

The gamified features in Writer's Toolbox, real-time feedback, and differentiated learning modules have enhanced students’ metacognitive awareness, precision, and confidence in writing. For teachers, Writer's Toolbox has established a shared professional language and a consistent framework for unpacking Paper 1 rubric expectations—promoting coherence and clarity in instructional practice. The phased rollout, beginning with the Secondary Three cohort, created opportunities for capacity building, collaborative practice, and data-informed reflection; it also facilitated gradual refinement of pedagogy through iterative feedback and evaluation. The impact is clear.

The session will discuss the affordances and challenges encountered, illustrating how technology anchored in sound pedagogy can make writing instruction more purposeful, reflective and empowering.

Christine Jackson, Principal Researcher, Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO)

Students' ability to write – and write well – across subjects is important for their success at school.  Writing helps students synthesise knowledge, analyse information and develop logical relationships between ideas to express opinions.  It supports communication and collaboration, so it’s a key skill for academic achievement and life beyond school.  Central to developing writing is the concept of automaticity—the capacity to execute foundational writing skills so that cognitive resources can be devoted to higher‑order thinking such as planning, idea development, and sustained composition.

Supporting students to progress their writing skills requires strengthening teachers’ knowledge of effective writing instruction and ensuring alignment with curriculum expectations.  This keynote explores how school leaders can lead and approach to strengthening writing instruction at their schools and highlights how system-supported literacy coaches have enhanced teachers’ ability to transfer writing pedagogy into classroom practice.  The session will demonstrate the impact of these approaches on improving student writing outcomes and offer practical insights for sustaining and scaling effective practice.