Getting started in narratives is often the hardest part. Once a story is begun, it is a lot easier to continue and finish it.

Here in Australia, narratives and stories are required to be taught from a very young age. It is covered as early as kindergarten focusing on one single event and with every year beyond that, it increases in difficulty and complexity in terms of the way it is written and assessed. It is a key component in the NAPLAN test, Selective and all throughout high school including the HSC exam in year 12. There are many components of a narrative but they all will require an introduction.

Everyone knows that knowledge is power and, in this day, and age, nearly everyone under the sun knows that you can read to improve your knowledge. There are a few initiatives to encourage students and children to read more yet many teachers and parents do not introduce anything at all. It is a growing problem that needs to change.

In New South Wales (NSW), students who were not successful in getting into a selective high school in year 6 or who want to get into a better selective high school aim will try to transfer into one. For the top ranking selective high schools, they will have to complete the HAST test which is created and assessed by ACER as part of their application process.

In most writing tasks in Australian schools, students sometimes struggle to be top performers because they are unable to make their writing stand out. Following a set formula can get you some marks but the ones who get really high all have one thing in common, they incorporate unique twists in their ideas. John goes through some examples of this in popular movies today and breaks them down to show how students can incorporate twists in their own writing to stand out.

School Holidays can fly by so quickly if you do not have a plan. Do not keep letting them be wasted. Instead, try to make it more balanced and productive so you can get more out of it.

Does the Thinking Skills exam in the NSW OC & Selective Exam trouble you? What do we do when approaching verbal reasoning type questions from the beginning? Is there important information to keep in mind to best answer these types of questions?