In order to build a firm language foundation at primary school level, students need to be given opportunities to develop effective writing habits. A purposeful writing task set in an authentic context can help engage students in writing different text types, such as letters and invitation cards, which students can easily come across in their daily lives. The ability to write a variety of text types for different purposes and in different contexts helps students to not only apply vocabulary and grammar learnt in class in meaningful ways but through the connections it makes to the students’ lives, it also contributes to the development of a positive life-long learning attitude.

Given the complexities involved in writing – for example, the need to remember lexical sets relevant to the task, putting those lexical sets into correctly formed sentences that express ideas organised logically, linking different sentences to form paragraphs and linking paragraphs to form cohesive texts – a group of teachers in St. Francis of Assisi’s Caritas School decided to take a gradual approach to helping students complete writing tasks. This consisted of subdividing tasks into smaller steps to make them more manageable and help create the conditions for students to experience greater success. The teachers’ main goal was to sow the seeds of intrinsic motivation and help students develop a sense of achievement that comes from a successful writing experience.