The Writer's Toolbox Story

Founded in 2011, Writer's Toolbox (previously known as Write that Essay), provides writing programmes to schools across Australia and New Zealand.  With offices in Auckland and Brisbane, Writer's Toolbox works with over 170 schools helping teachers and students lift writing outcomes.  Every day of the week—from Townsville to central Brisbane to New Zealand’s deep south, Writer's Toolbox coaches are busy in schools delivering workshops and coaching to lift teacher capability and student results.  

  Making a new generation of teachers—from every subject area—proficient in writing instruction is our goal.   

What’s unique about Writer's Toolbox

Unlike other writing programmes, Writer's Toolbox starts from the top down.  Dr Hunter, a former university professor, developed Writer's Toolbox with the key writing skills a student would need to excel in tertiary education and worked backwards: charting year-by-year the 20 key writing skills that should be taught in the life of the student.  No other writing programme in the world takes the student from Year 1 to their final senior year in an explicit, structured programme of incremental skill development.  Students learn the rules of great writing—anchored in 150 years of writing research—and are taught to write well across all their subjects.  

Dr Hunter founded Writer's Toolbox on two fundamental beliefs: that every student can be taught to write well—and grasp the life possibilities they deserve.  And that the teacher is the dynamic force for change in the classroom.  Teaching writing is every teacher’s responsibility.