Paua team have been writing their own books so they can share their stories with an audience.

The test of a good story is being able to sustain the listener's attention and to give lots of opportunities to get to know the characters. Antony and Annabelle are two students who have shared their books with me - they added the photos and illustrations to the story and produced their own book.

Motivation is building especially with the announcement that two of our students placed 1st and 3rd in the Year 5-6 Stylefit competition this year. It is very unusual for two students from the same school to be recognised in the top three in any category.

At Friday's assembly we welcomed Suraya Dewing, the creator of the Stylefit software, who travelled from Auckland to present Saraiah and Charles with their prizes. 

4,000 students from 400 schools across the motu took part in the competition.

Stylefit is a piece of software which offers alternatives for nouns and describing words; it guides writers in the style of writing they are using; it can help with surface features like grammar and spelling. Because writers get immediate feedback they continue to write rather than stopping their train of thought and waiting for a teacher to meet with them to discuss their writing. 

Charles invited his grandparents, his brother and his Mum to share the excitement. Saraiah invited her Dad and little sister.

Year 5-6 students have been using Stylefit for two years and we are seeing obvious improvements in writing achievement. Being concise and explicit in writing is essential as our students move into Year 7-10. Every curriculum area requires students to be able to record and write.